Date: Fri, 20 May 2022 06:00:42 +0100 From: Steve O'Hara-Smith <steve@sohara.org> To: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Tape, was Single User Message-ID: <20220520060042.e36e4222a9fe433ad9819ed3@sohara.org> In-Reply-To: <20220520013011.1DD2A414ABF9@ary.qy> References: <20220519223448.e1db4297aef551734852e4fd@sohara.org> <20220520013011.1DD2A414ABF9@ary.qy>
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On 19 May 2022 21:30:10 -0400 "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> wrote: > It appears that Steve O'Hara-Smith <steve@sohara.org> said: > >On 19 May 2022 20:49:51 -0000 > >"John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> wrote: > > > >> The thing in the picture isn't paper tape, it's a 1/2" magnetic tape. > >> It looks relatively new, 1970s rather than 1950s so it is likely > >> recorded 9 bits across (8 plus parity) at a density of 1600 or 6250 > >> BPI. > > > > I didn't look at the picture. That could be a *lot* harder to > > read > >even if you have a drive. I've heard tell of tapes that could only be > >read once due to storage damage rendering them more than a little > >fragile. > > I would be surprised if it were readable at all. After fifty years the > oxide can come unglued from the backing, and there is a lot of > magnetic print-through between adjacent layers of tape. It was common > knowledge that if you cared about your tape files, you needed to > recopy and verify them every so many years. I'd contact the folks at bitsaavers if it were mine, they have experience of rescuing tapes that have been untouched for decades. -- Steve O'Hara-Smith <steve@sohara.org>
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