Date   : Sun, 02 Oct 2005 11:13:36 +0100
From   : "Ian Wolstenholme" <BBCMailingList@...>
Subject: Re: MDFS Tapes

Yes, the tapes do need formatting and there is an option in the Tape
Menu in Utility mode to do the format but it is here that I am getting
the "write protect" error.

By the way, I have discovered some commands which are not listed
on the Menu or documented in the Manual and wonder if anybody could
shed any light:

D - this appears to put the tape menu into Descriptive mode, giving more
information when accessing the tape

I - this comes up with "Maintainance? Y/N" if pressed

Y - here you get a message "Drv? (4..11, 12)"

Z - this rotates the tape back and forth a little bit but not as much as a
load/unload command.

Still no luck with the tapes.

I have another tape drive which will fit the tapes but it has a 34-way
connection like a 5.25" drive and not a SCSI connector.  Can this be
converted for use with the MDFS?

Best wishes,


Ian

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Tomlinson
To:  bbc-micro@...
Sent: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 00:05:46 +0100
Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] MDFS Tapes

In article <940F881755E047198F11BE40EB776E9E.MAI@...>, Ian
Wolstenholme <BBCMailingList@...> writes

>I wonder if it something to do with my using the DC 2060 tapes,
>which are the later version of the DC 2000.  Maybe my drive will only
>accept the old DC 2000 tapes.

Possibly.  Generally speaking, with tape drives and tapes, later tapes
tend to be only read-compatible in earlier drives.

Another possibility is that the tapes need initialising (I hesitate to
use the word "formatting") in some way, especially as IIRC the MDFS
treats them as a sort of slow random-access media.  Perhaps there's a
tape formatter in the MDFS utilities somewhere?