[Info-vax] TK50 - this is annoying...

[Johnny Billquist]

On 2012-10-06 06:18, JF Mezei wrote:
> On 12-10-05 23:56, Craig Ruff wrote:
>
>> Except when the drive refuses to perform the unload at all and just ends up
>> adding more tape to the take up reel, as I found out much to my annoyance a
>> couple of weeks ago.
>
>
> I used this once to my advantage last century.  Somehow, the TK50 was
> allowed out before it had rewound. So as I took the casette out, tape
> from inner reel unspooled onto the floor :-)
>
> When you plug the unit in with a tape in, it has an autonomic responce
> to try to load the tape until it sees the start of tape or some time
> out. (or something akin to this).
>
> In my case, the tape was already on the spool. So I plysically unplugged
> the drive (controller and power) and then plugged just power and was
> able to carefully guide the loose tape on floor back onto the unit. May
> have required a few time to get all the tape in, I don't recall.
>
> Eventually managed to get the TK50 inside. Then plugged the drive back
> in with both controller and power and got VMS to rewind it. And that worked.

In my experience, I have never been able to unload the tape cleanly when 
this happens. Power off, disconnect, whatever. The tape stays in. The 
only solution have been to manually take the tape out, and manually wind 
the tape back into the cartridge.

It's extremely annoying, and such a shitty thing that DEC didn't 
implement some way to force the drive to unload the tape.

The TK70 and newer are much better.

	Johnny

-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol