Brad Parker wrote:
I have little/no experience with tk50/tk70 and I
transplanted a tk70
into a mv4000 and I'm curious about 'normal operation'
When it powers up the 3 leds all come on and then the write prot goes
out, the "in use" starts flashing and the 'handle' led (green) stays
on.
I notice that if the i/o connector is in backward all 3 leds will flash
and the handle led will never come on.
When the cable is in properly (I presume), the green led is on and the
'in use' just keeps flashing. Occationally it makes little scraping
noises like it's trying to load the tape.
I did try and load a tape and found it sucked the tape in but refused to
unload it. The in-use light just flashed and flashed. I found I had to
angle the tape it a bit to get the interlock to release so I could
insert the cart.
Is this drive dead/broken perhaps?
There is a tape leader built into the drive, one end attached to
the take-up reel and the other with a sorta rounded T shaped
hook on the end. This hooks onto the end of the tape in the tape
cartridge, and threads the tape into the takeup spool.
Yours sounds like it broke (very common occurrence), or became
disconnected (also common). You can sometimes just rethread,
reattach it, but if it has been thwaacking inside the drive for a
while, the hook is probably been beaten to death by now.
DEC used to sell them for about $1.00 per, but good like
finding one now.
-brad