SGI: Hardware

So the Tape drive has failed in the Indigo.
I put a cleaning tape in, it chewed it up.
I put another cleaning tape, it chewed that up also..
Then since I was on a mission to destroy my complete stock, I put a normal tape in.. then it wouldn't eject and on boot up the device fails, and will not eject.

Hey Ho..

I have a replacement tape drive (albeit cream coloured).

Now the original Tape part number 25607 or LAA09485 or 4320NT has row of micro switches, 2 of which are ON, numbers 4 & 5.
I'm replacing with a Compaq SDT-7000.

Does anyone know if these are DC Disable, SCSI Parity Enabled, Term Power On or Terminator Enable?

I don't know the condition of the replacement Tape Drive, but fingers crossed it's OK

It fits, the ID plug fits it's just these jumpers I'd like to be confident about.

Thanks

We are not off to a good start between us with these two machines are we!

You can sometimes extract tapes manually from DAT drives, although it is a real pain. there are instructions on the net on how to do it, but they all come from the early '90s so can be hard to find now.
If a drive eats tapes my suspicion is that it is full of dust or dried grease. Cleaning them isn't that easy, although I have taken apart the Connor DDS2 types without that much drama.

uunix wrote: So the Tape drive has failed in the Indigo.

Mine experience with DATs hasn't been so wonderful either .. but they can still be fun.

I'm replacing with a Compaq SDT-7000.

No you're not, nanner nanner nanner Betcha fifty cents (izzat three shillings ?) that it's made by someone else, probably Sony (from the SDT prefix). There should be a label on the drive itself, maybe ? The Conner (later bought by Seagate) drives were CDT-xxxx, the Sony ones SDT-xxxx which is why I'm guessing Sony. Should be easier to find the jumper settings using the mfg name ?

btw, you might be lucky. The Sony SDT-9000 ? did audio DAT, the 10000 did not ? Mine is just on the wrong side of the division You can often write the SGI firmware to the generic drives, if it's the same model. Check into it, doing audio on your DAT drive is fun.

Something from experience makes me think that if you crack open the drive you might find that the capacitors are those now famous 90's era surface mounts.

OK, well, bit strange now, as I suspect the issue may be with the drive caddy itself.

I'm not fussing over it at this time, I'll revisit at a later date when I pick up a new caddy.