mrapple@quack.sac.ca.us (Nick Sayer) (03/22/91)
I have recently moved just about my whole Unix system up one generation. :-) In doing so, I moved from a CDC half-inch tape drive to a quarter-inch (DC-600A style) Wangtech drive. If it helps to describe, this wangtech is the kind where you put the tape in sideways and push it all the way in, then it pops out a little and locks in place. To eject it, you push it back in and it unlocks. I used to go over the tape path of the CDC with Q-tips and alcohol once in a while, but I never did any de-magging of the heads or anything (under the theories "ignorance is bliss" and "what if these things aren't supposed to be demagged?"). Looking at the Wangtech, I can't see anything that might need doing besides perhaps my usual routine on the head only. Looking at how these drives work, there's no capstan/pinch roller setup or tape path to clean. I should mention that my usage pattern is very, very sparse. I do a full disk backup once in a while (yes, I'll get burned some day, but those damn tapes are expensive!). -- Nick Sayer | Think of me as a recombinant | RIP: Mel Blanc mrapple@quack.sac.ca.us | Simpson: Homer's looks, Lisa's | 1908-1989 N6QQQ [44.2.1.17] | brains, Bart's manners, and | May he never 209-952-5347 (Telebit) | Maggie's appetite for TV. --Me | be silenced.