[rescue] Sun 3 Workstation

[Jonathan Chapman]

> Considering their age, it's likely those tapes are in bad shape. A lot of times the magnetic surface on the first block will stick to the band. Or the drive band will snap or be unable to hold proper tension and the whole thing will end up a tangled mess.

Yeah, you're not going to be running those tapes without at least a new band. Unless of course you mean 1/2" open reel.

I started doing Plastibands for new QIC tape bands once the "boil NOS later generation 3M bands" stopped producing good results. It works pretty OK, though I've found the clear plastiband-alikes lift oxide off the tape if you let them sit (the green actual Plastibands don't seem to). The drives also all need service at this point, at least cleaning and lubrication. It's fairly common, especially on older QIC drives, for the capstan roller to turn to goop. Sometimes it even looks and feels OK until you start running the drive...I had a ftape QIC for an AT&T 3B1 UNIX PC do that to me a few months ago. Often hoses the tape.

Thanks,
Jonathan
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