[rescue] Sun 3's Tape Drives and Mac Mini's

[Walter Belgers]

Earl Baugh wrote:
> First,  I'm going to be attempting to make some bootable tapes for my Sun 3
> and Sun 2 upcoming (I've got
> some time since I'm still working on cleaning up the boxes and getting a few
> more boards), and figured
> before I did, I wanted to ask about checking my tape drive for the "sticky"
> wheels.    Does anyone have

Put in an old tape and do a mt retension. If it works, your drive is
okay :) If not, it has broken the tape and the drive will need a new
wheel. I once did this by taking one out of another drive that actually
did fit. This is not particularly an easy thing to do. I have not been
able to find good replacement parts.

Another thing to watch out for is tapes that won't turn properly. In a
QIC tape, there some kind of belt that is wound through a few 'thingys'
(sorry, not a native English speaker :) that will lead the tape itself.
If it is broken of defect in any other way, take the belt out of a scrap
tape and replace it.

Cheers,
Walter.
-- 
Walter Belgers -=- Netherlands -=- walter at belgers.com -=- http://gigawa.lt/