10 Sep
2013
10 Sep
'13
3:41 p.m.
Hi folks,
I have three external DDS2 DAT drives for a Unisys machine I've been
restoring, and none of them work. The original owner of the machine
warned me they were not reliable, but I've actually found them quite
reliably non-functioning.
I performed the prerequisite Google search for information on repairing
these drives, and instead I got results about services who repair them.
I'm all for that, but of course which one to pick? So here I am, tapping
into the Group Wisdom.
Anyone have direct experience with such a firm in the United States?
Those to avoid are every bit as useful as those you recommend.
Thanks -- Ian
11 Sep
11 Sep
3:23 a.m.
Define not working. Do they grab tapes and spit them back out, completely
non functional, light flashing (could just need a cleaning tape), etc.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian King
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 3:41 PM
To: ClassicCmp Technical List
Subject: 4mm DAT repair recommendations?
Hi folks,
I have three external DDS2 DAT drives for a Unisys machine I've been
restoring, and none of them work. The original owner of the machine
warned me they were not reliable, but I've actually found them quite
reliably non-functioning.
I performed the prerequisite Google search for information on repairing
these drives, and instead I got results about services who repair them.
I'm all for that, but of course which one to pick? So here I am, tapping
into the Group Wisdom.
Anyone have direct experience with such a firm in the United States?
Those to avoid are every bit as useful as those you recommend.
Thanks -- Ian
12:39 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-
bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of TeoZ
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 12:23 AM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: 4mm DAT repair recommendations?
Define not working. Do they grab tapes and spit them back out, completely
non functional, light flashing (could just need a cleaning tape), etc.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian King
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 3:41 PM
To: ClassicCmp Technical List
Subject: 4mm DAT repair recommendations?
Hi folks,
I have three external DDS2 DAT drives for a Unisys machine I've been
restoring, and none of them work. The original owner of the machine
warned me they were not reliable, but I've actually found them quite reliably
non-functioning.
I performed the prerequisite Google search for information on repairing
these drives, and instead I got results about services who repair them.
I'm all for that, but of course which one to pick? So here I am, tapping into
the Group Wisdom.
Anyone have direct experience with such a firm in the United States?
Those to avoid are every bit as useful as those you recommend.
Thanks -- Ian
Not working: the system reports 'not ready' despite issuing the appropriate
commands. I have cleaned the drive multiple times, tried numerous scratch tapes, tried
several believed-good tapes with content - 'not ready'. The former owner of the
system reports they had similar, progressive problems near the end of the machine's
service life.
Sometimes lights flash, other times not, even with multiple attempts using the same tape.
5:25 p.m.
On 09/11/2013 09:39 AM, Ian King wrote:
Not working: the system reports 'not ready'
despite issuing the
appropriate commands. I have cleaned the drive multiple times, tried
numerous scratch tapes, tried several believed-good tapes with
content - 'not ready'. The former owner of the system reports they
had similar, progressive problems near the end of the machine's
service life.
Sometimes lights flash, other times not, even with multiple attempts
using the same tape.
Doesn't Mike Farris still handle vintage tape drives? Seems to me that
he does--if anyone, he'd know more about them than anyone else:
http://www.mfarris.com
--Chuck
7:41 p.m.
On Wed, 11 Sep 2013, Ian King wrote:
Do you have previously written tapes that you plan to recover with those
drives? The most common problem I used to run into with DAT and DDS2
drives in particular (other than dirt) was tape path alignment issues.
This made recovering existing tapes a challenge since those tapes would
have been written while the drive was misaligned and once the alignment
was corrected, the tapes couldn't be read again without intentionally
misadjusting the drive. You'll need an oscilloscope and a properly written
test tape to really be able to much of anything with the alignment if you
plan to do it yourself.
Hi folks,
I have three external DDS2 DAT drives for a Unisys machine I've been
restoring, and none of them work. The original owner of the machine
warned me they were not reliable, but I've actually found them quite reliably
non-functioning.
I performed the prerequisite Google search for information on repairing
these drives, and instead I got results about services who repair them.
I'm all for that, but of course which one to pick? So here I am, tapping into
the Group Wisdom.
Anyone have direct experience with such a firm in the United States?
Those to avoid are every bit as useful as those you recommend.
Not working: the system reports 'not ready' despite issuing the
appropriate commands. I have cleaned the drive multiple times, tried
numerous scratch tapes, tried several believed-good tapes with content -
'not ready'. The former owner of the system reports they had similar,
progressive problems near the end of the machine's service life.
Sometimes lights flash, other times not, even with multiple attempts
using the same tape.
13 Sep
13 Sep
1:30 a.m.
On 9/11/13 4:41 PM, "Tothwolf" <tothwolf at concentric.net> wrote:
On Wed, 11 Sep 2013, Ian King wrote:
Do you have previously written tapes that you plan to recover with those
drives? The most common problem I used to run into with DAT and DDS2
drives in particular (other than dirt) was tape path alignment issues.
This made recovering existing tapes a challenge since those tapes would
have been written while the drive was misaligned and once the alignment
was corrected, the tapes couldn't be read again without intentionally
misadjusting the drive. You'll need an oscilloscope and a properly
written
test tape to really be able to much of anything with the alignment if you
plan to do it yourself.
Yes, I have a set of tapes holding file-copy backups (i.e. not some weird
container format). I suspect I'll have to transcribe the content to some
other (better) media, which from what I'm hearing here may mean buying a
new DAT drive, using it to do the transcription and then retiring it.
I recall hearing such stories about DAT back in the day, but I've slept
since then. It's been an unfun 'blast from the past' to revisit these
issues.
Thanks to everyone for their responses, public and private. -- Ian
Hi folks,
I have three external DDS2 DAT drives for a Unisys machine I've been
restoring, and none of them work. The original owner of the machine
warned me they were not reliable, but I've actually found them quite
reliably
non-functioning.
I performed the prerequisite Google search for information on repairing
these drives, and instead I got results about services who repair them.
I'm all for that, but of course which one to pick? So here I am,
tapping into
the Group Wisdom.
Anyone have direct experience with such a firm in the United States?
Those to avoid are every bit as useful as those you recommend.
Not working: the system reports 'not ready' despite issuing the
appropriate commands. I have cleaned the drive multiple times, tried
numerous scratch tapes, tried several believed-good tapes with content
-
'not ready'. The former owner of the system reports they had similar,
progressive problems near the end of the machine's service life.
Sometimes lights flash, other times not, even with multiple attempts
using the same tape. 
12 Sep
12 Sep
2:25 p.m.
On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:41:08 +0000
Ian King <IanK at LivingComputerMuseum.org> wrote:
I have three external DDS2 DAT drives [...], and none
of them work.
To my experience (and the experience of a lot of other people) thats
usual for DDS drives. Don't waste time or money on them. The one and
only thing you can do with them is moving them to trash bin. Really.
A friend called DDS drives "a spooling /dev/null". They work when new
halfway OK, but fail soon and usual there is no chance to get them back
to work.
--
\end{Jochen}
\ref{http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/}
4:58 p.m.
On Thu, 12 Sep 2013, Jochen Kunz wrote:
On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:41:08 +0000
Ian King <IanK at LivingComputerMuseum.org> wrote:
> I have three external DDS2 DAT drives [...], and none of them work.
To my experience (and the experience of a lot of other
people) thats
usual for DDS drives. Don't waste time or money on them. The one and
only thing you can do with them is moving them to trash bin. Really.
A friend called DDS drives "a spooling /dev/null". They work when new
halfway OK, but fail soon and usual there is no chance to get them back
to work.
That corresponds well to my experiences. After problems with both DAT and
8mm tape systems I ended up moving first to DLT and currently to LTO tapes
for backup.
--
13 Sep
13 Sep
2:10 a.m.
On Thu, 12 Sep 2013, Jochen Kunz wrote:
On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:41:08 +0000
Ian King <IanK at LivingComputerMuseum.org> wrote:
I'm not sure I'd go that far, but DAT drives tend to be higher
maintenance, maybe partly to do with their very small tolerances. I found
for serious work you pretty much had to have an identical spare and you
absolutely had to give them a regular cleaning (drives in their own
external enclosures tended to be easier to maintain, too). For routine
use, a yearly check/alignment is also pretty much mandatory if you want to
be able to read tapes you previously wrote. Still, I don't miss using them
on a regular basis.
I have three external DDS2 DAT drives [...], and
none of them work.
To my experience (and the experience of a lot of other people) thats
usual for DDS drives. Don't waste time or money on them. The one and
only thing you can do with them is moving them to trash bin. Really. A
friend called DDS drives "a spooling /dev/null". They work when new
halfway OK, but fail soon and usual there is no chance to get them back
to work.
3999
days inactive
4002
days old
8 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
cclist＠sydex.com -
IanK＠LivingComputerMuseum.org -
jkunz＠unixag-kl.fh-kl.de -
snhirsch＠gmail.com -
teoz＠neo.rr.com -
tothwolf＠concentric.net