I have been considering using a Vaxstation, at least to see if it interfaces natively. my goal is to get the data and save to sonething I can open in simH or if IBM as an AWS file b
On Tue, Jun 23, 2026 at 8:37 PM Glen Slick via cctalk <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, Jun 23, 2026 at 4:25 PM Bill Degnan via cctalk > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I have found that a modernish Dell PC (win 7 era) when attached to a m4 > > 9914 tape drive has issues when attempting to read 800dpi 9track tapes. > > I/O errors that seem to be centered around variable block size microcode > of > > the modern scsi controller (?) > > > > I've spent a number of hours on it and I could not even pull raw data off > > an 800dpi tape. 1600 no problem. works fine. > > > > is there a tweener box or scsi controller that will work in this > situation? > > what do other people do? > > > > Bill > > If it was me and I suspected SCSI issues, I might try removing the > SCSI interface in the M4 9914 and controlling it through the Pertec > interface. If I remember correctly from when I owned an M4 9914 years > ago, the SCSI interface connects to the standard Pertec interface of > the M4 9914 and the SCSI interface could be removed. Of course that > wouldn't help if you don't already have a Pertec interface host > controller. I happen to have some Computer Logics PCTD-16 ISA bus > Pertec interfaces which I use to control Fujistu M2444AC tape drives. > Too bad those drives don't do 800BPI. > > Also too bad I didn't keep the M4 9914. I gave it away after the tach > roller quit working correctly. Probably could have fixed that by > replacing the disintegrated rubber on the tach roller. >
