Odd QIC-like tape

On 19 Aug 2007 at 23:24, Roy J. Tellason wrote: QIC-02 and QIC-36 relate to the drive interface; terms such as QIC- 525 relate to the number of tracks on a certain cartridge type (QIC- 525, for example records 26 tracks on a DC6525 cart). QIC-36 is the "dumb" interface. You'll usually see the controllers for these drives having an MPU and a bunch of memory as well as data separator circuitry. Think of it as a floppy controller for tape. Usually at least a 2/3-length ISA card. QIC-02 is the "smart" interface. QIC-02 cards typically have not very much circuitry--a couple of latches, some address decoding and perhaps some DMA and interrupt arbitration logic. Easy to fit on an half-length ISA card. There did exist QIC-36 to QIC-02 converter boards. Regardless of the controller used, software usually treats both types the same. In other words, I can change my Caliper QIC-36 drive with Wangtek controller for a Tandberg QIC-02 drive with Alliance controller without changing driver software. Even more confusing, both types of interface use a 50 pin cable and both have drive selects from 0 to 3. Nope-- even more confusing, on the one I have, there's a rotary unit selector switch that goes from 0-4 (!). I thought it might be QIC- 02, but it's not--won't even select the drive. Cheers, Chuck