24 Nov
2012
24 Nov
'12
11 a.m.
On Saturday (11/24/2012 at 02:06AM -0700), Eric Smith wrote:
I wrote:
I saved an image of the ROM while I had this unit apart but I see you
guys are already way ahead.
If the raw tapes more readily available, I think it would make sense to
pursue the ability to format them. But since it seems even raw tapes
are approaching unobtainium in any quantity, maybe it is time to revisit
the solid-state emulation. Perhaps a job for a BeagleBone or Raspberry
Pi these days...
Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
It is remotely possible that there's an
undocumented "format"
command in the protocol. However, I've heard multiple people
claim that special firmware was required.
I spent some time reverse-engineering the firmware. There is only
one undocumented opcode, decimal 10, and I haven't yet figured out
what it does, but it definitely doesn't format a tape.
I think I understand the code that writes a block, but of course
there's no code to write an address field. Writing formatter
firmware shouldn't be too hard, but it would be best to have a known
good tape to examine to find out the details of the gap lengths.