There is a 4mm tape backup system in the dog house. I think it's a DDS2 drive originally used in a 486 system but later moved to an AMD K5.Wading through some piles of boxes in the garage I found several 4mm DAT tapes from the 1990s. A couple of the drives have useful stuff on them, and I'm hoping to be able to read them, if indeed they are still readable (haven't been carefully stored in tape-friendly conditions, etc).
I haven't done extensive research yet, but I have found some DEC TLZ07 4mm DAT drives for sale, as well as some other curiosities, such as SCSI-to-USB adapters. I have my doubts about SCSI-USB adapters, but you never know..
Does anyone have experience with getting a 4mm DAT working on a Pi, or failing that, on an x64 Linux system?
If I had to restore something--there is actually a box of 30 tapes in a steel box on the shelf--I'd practice writing new tapes first to make sure the drive doesn't jam. As already mentioned, it might be reasonable to inspect the rubber parts inside the drive to make sure they are not sticky.
It's an amusing idea to try it on a Pi.
Statistics: Posted by ejolson — Mon Apr 22, 2024 1:32 am