DC-600/300XL tape cart observation

[M H Stein]

---------------Original Messages:
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:45:08 -0700
From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
Subject: Re: DC-600/300XL tape cart observation

On 26 Apr 2007 at 12:16, M H Stein wrote:

>> Aside from the issue of archiving them, is it better to leave them 
> until needed, or should I run them through a retension occasionally 
> to prevent some of the problems mentioned recently? Any special
> conditions for storage?

>Well, obviously, a lot depends on the tape formulation itself.  The 
job immediately before this one was a DC-6250 written in 1992.  Went 
without a hitch.  The problem tapes are "Scotch" and were written in 
1986-87 and are nothing but problems.

>To me "archiving" is the key.  Copy the things off to another storage 
medium (say, CD-R) and regenerate copies every few years.  It's just 
plain foolish to leave things to the mercy of Father Time.

Cheers,
Chuck
---------------Reply:

I'm still curious; assuming any useful data has been archived 
and I just want to reuse the tapes some day, what would
maximize the chances of their still being useable? Is heating 
them a last-ditch recovery procedure or could it be considered 
preventive maintenance? I assume that the 2120s, Travans etc. 
are prone to some of the same problems?

Next question:

The DC600s & 615s are Cromemco Cromix+ and UNIX system 
and backup tapes; those I have hardware for and they're no great 
loss even if they have problems. However, the 300s are for an 
Arete/Arix system and I no longer have any hardware that could 
read them nor do I know of anyone with an Arix; also, there's the 
usual problem that they may have confidential client data on them 
along with the system files, so what do I do with them? 

I wouldn't mind reusing the tapes but hate to erase them. 

Format aside, can a drive meant for DC600s read the lower
coercivity DC300s?

mike