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From: sfr@praxis.co.uk (Stephen Rickaby)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp,comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Pre-formatted tapes for HP drives
Summary: Don't use non-formatted tapes ...
Message-ID: <3453@newton.praxis.co.uk>
Date: 6 Dec 88 13:42:13 GMT
References: <274@istsists.ca> <26007@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Sender: news@praxis.co.uk
Reply-To: sfr@praxis.co.uk (Stephen Rickaby)
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Organization: Praxis Systems plc, Bath, UK
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In article <26007@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA> mkhaw@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Mike Khaw) writes:
><274@istsists.ca>, by mathieu@ists.yorku.ca (Pierre Mathieu):
>> Question 1) Is it possible to load tapes into this drive that
>> 	    are not pre-formatted and format them from HP-UX?
>
>Not that I know of; in fact, if you write onto a pre-formatted tape
>from a non-HP drive (e.g., a Sun) you destroy the formatted track(s?)
>and can no longer use the tape in the HP drive.

Can't remember which HP drives you are talking about, but I once loaded a
DC600 which had been bulk erased into a 7914 on an A900.  It was
spectacular.  The tape whizzed about a bit while to controller looked at
it, then there was a long pause for thought, then the drive hung, hanging
the disc (shared HPIB controller) *and* the CPU.  (Users of A-eries
machines will know that system crashes are *rare*, as opposed to some
operating system :-) ...)

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Steve Rickaby                                     |    ,,,
Praxis Systems plc                                |  < O_O > 
20 Manvers Street, Bath, BA1 1PX, UK              | ==( . )==
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