[SunRescue] Playing with my tape drive, got some questions... (also, anyone n eed TR-4 tapes?)

[Cyrus M. Reed]

I think if you use the Exabyte brand tapes with an Exabyte drive, there is
a guarantee where they will recover the data from a tape should something
go wrong or reimburse you up to some amount, IIRC.  I think it says in the
manuals online, or somewhere on their website.  If that's the case, those
might be the best tapes to use.  I don't think they are any more expensive
than other tapes either, or not more than a couple bucks anyway.

-Cyrus

On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, James Lockwood wrote:

> On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, Ken Hansen wrote:
> 
> > I finally pulled down my 8mm Sun/Exabyte (Exabyte 8200 in Sun lunch-box
> > case) drive
> > and am starting to play with it, and I have a few questions:
> > 
> > 	- Tape cleaners - how often, suggested method - cleaning tape?
> 
> Check exabyte.com for most info like this:
> 
> http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/techsupp/8mm/fullhigh/in0061.html
> 
> They recommend cleaning every month or 30 tape motion hours (more
> frequently in dusty/dirty conditions).
> 
> > 	- Media - this is an EX-8200 drive, so anything longer than 112
> > meters
> > 	  is pointless? My understanding is that this drive is good for 2
> > Gig
> > 	  (no compression available).
> 
> 2.3GB.  112m is the longest it can use.
> 
> > 
> > 	- Where to get media - what brands are considered "good"? Cost
> > appears
> > 	  to hover around $4.25 - $5.00/112m DAT tape, is that about right?
> 
> 8mm is helical scan, but not DAT.  4mm DDS tapes are also technically not
> DAT but people sometimes confuse the terms.  $4-5/tape is fairly good, if
> you want a lower cost per GB then getting an 8505 drive is a good
> investment (5GB & up to 10GB with compression on the same tapes)
> 
> > 	- How to reset an Exabyte drive? I have three drives, the one
> > mentioned
> > 	  above appears fine, then I have a coupe more "bare" Exabytes that
> > I
> > 	  think need to be reset (one just spits the tape out as soon as I
> > put it in)
> > 	  or at least cleaned severly. (I haven't powered up the third one)
> > Any
> > 	  pointers to FAQ or other info-bases on these older 8mm drives?
> 
> http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/techsupp/8mm/fullhigh/
> http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/faqs/8mm/
> 
> Exabyte developed the 8mm data tape standard and actually has quite a bit
> of useful information on their website.
> 
> -James
> 
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