10 Feb
2002
10 Feb
'02
9:02 p.m.
On Sun, 10 Feb 2002, Curt Vendel wrote:
I installed an entire classroom of IBM PC's that
all had cassette interfaces
on them, but never have I ever seen an rebranded or OEM's tape drive
directly from IBM themselves. The Diagnostic tape, was it to run diags on
the IBM PC itself or was it a diagnostic tape for a tape drive??? I have
several diag tapes for the Atari 410 which test the alignment and speed of
the Atari 410 tape drives, so this is why I ask.
It is diagnostics for the PC.
Almost, or maybe exactly, the same as the diagnostics on disk.
I have never seem the "Advanced Diagnostics" on tape, but have been told
that it existed.
Perhaps the reason that nobody is familiar with the IBM cassette drive
might be because there never was one?
But the PC DID come with a diagnostics tape. It was simply assumed that
the tape drive would be user provided. That way IBM was off the hook when
it didn't work.