Pictures of some tapes

[zappenduster]

best option is propably to just start with one tape where u know that no more volumes exist and a drive plus software is avaiable (newest dated tapes propably)
and work from there

wouldnt be much fun starting with one of the multi volume tapes without knowing what methods where used

[retro]

Oh yeah, you'd be an idiot to start with a spanned archive. Of course, we don't know whether they're all incremental, differential, full backups, a more complex form of incremental or what, quite!

The problem with software is that there are several different backup packages available, each with their own format. On top of that, you have the possibility of them not containing a Windows archive - it could be MacOS, OS/2, UNIX, IRIX, Solaris..... Furthermore, some tapes can be compressed or uncompressed, depending on drive capability. And then there are some formats where a tape may appear to be one thing, but in fact it was written with a drive that uses that tape in its own proprietary manner.

That is why anything we say at this point is just speculation.

As for physical transport - indeed. As I've said to Kev, if money permitted I'd fly over and spend some time with the tapes, but that's not really an option for me right now, sadly.

[zappenduster]

Oh yeah, you'd be an idiot to start with a spanned archive. Of course, we don't know whether they're all incremental, differential, full backups, a more complex form of incremental or what, quite!

The problem with software is that there are several different backup packages available, each with their own format. On top of that, you have the possibility of them not containing a Windows archive - it could be MacOS, OS/2, UNIX, IRIX, Solaris..... Furthermore, some tapes can be compressed or uncompressed, depending on drive capability. And then there are some formats where a tape may appear to be one thing, but in fact it was written with a drive that uses that tape in its own proprietary manner.

That is why anything we say at this point is just speculation.

As for physical transport - indeed. As I've said to Kev, if money permitted I'd fly over and spend some time with the tapes, but that's not really an option for me right now, sadly.

where are the tapes now ? new york from what i remember years ago was where assembler was home?

currently iam on a world trip in san francisco 2 days more then moving to canada for a week flying down to vegas and then from there to new york and back home to germany
maybe thats a shorter trip for u from the uk then to the us? (if that was an option for assembler at all trust and all and me beeing away from the board for such a long time)

[myfishbone]

where are the tapes now ? new york from what i remember years ago was where assembler was home?

currently iam on a world trip in san francisco 2 days more then moving to canada for a week flying down to vegas and then from there to new york and back home to germany
maybe thats a shorter trip for u from the uk then to the us? (if that was an option for assembler at all trust and all and me beeing away from the board for such a long time)

:) your in Germany too!? cool...

[liquitt]

As for physical transport - indeed. As I've said to Kev, if money permitted I'd fly over and spend some time with the tapes, but that's not really an option for me right now, sadly.

if you ever decide to do that, tell me in advance and i'll join you!

[retro]

currently iam on a world trip in san francisco 2 days more then moving to canada for a week flying down to vegas and then from there to new york and back home to germany
maybe thats a shorter trip for u from the uk then to the us? (if that was an option for assembler at all trust and all and me beeing away from the board for such a long time)

The same problem presents itself with flying that does having them shipped. Bags are x-rayed and what have you, and you can't tell that they'll not be subjected to magnetic interference or anything similar that might erase them.

I guess my own first step towards traveling is renewing my passport!

[zappenduster]

The same problem presents itself with flying that does having them shipped. Bags are x-rayed and what have you, and you can't tell that they'll not be subjected to magnetic interference or anything similar that might erase them.

I guess my own first step towards traveling is renewing my passport!

uhm its magnetic tape and not photographic exposure film so its safe from the xray
and on the matter of magnetic problems ill think we arent the first to transport tapes on a plane as long as u stay away from the next teslacoil u will be safe

same problems would ocure with every laptop or external hdd and havent heard of anyone having a problem with that nor did i experience anything in the kind of those damages when i was traveling around by plane

but i can understand your concern from what i remember cheap flights to new york cost around 250 euros from europe including return flight (if booked long enough in advance) so maybe you can make a nice advanced weekend trip in the summer (gonna get fun to carry the tape drive trough customs :thumbsup: )

[retro]

It's more the thought of having them as carry-on and them passing through a metal detector, really! It is rare, but people have reported video tapes being messed up after going through an airport.

I could stick the drives in a smallish PC and put that in my wheeled carry-on bag! ;)

[myfishbone]

It's more the thought of having them as carry-on and them passing through a metal detector, really! It is rare, but people have reported video tapes being messed up after going through an airport.

I could stick the drives in a smallish PC and put that in my wheeled carry-on bag! ;)

I can confirm that, lost some 5 inch dos disks i was once transporting! (the large bendable black ones)

[retro]

5.25 inch ;)

The 8 inch floppies were the ones that were truly floppy!

[zappenduster]

I can confirm that, lost some 5 inch dos disks i was once transporting! (the large bendable black ones)

u sure they where ok before? anyways like i said flight can be pretty cheap if u book early enough so retro get on a plane in summer and have a nice weekend loading data from tapes :)

[renone]

I am relatively new, I have a few posts ATM, but if I am not wrong, my grandfather used to work with tapes to backing up all his work. I will ask him right now if he still has the tape readers...in the case, I will give them to Assembler :)

I really want to help!

[myfishbone]

u sure they where ok before? anyways like i said flight can be pretty cheap if u book early enough so retro get on a plane in summer and have a nice weekend loading data from tapes :)

actually i had not tested them for awhile so it is possible they were already dead, although i had encased them in air tight containers :( , it was an old space quest game for the pc...

[retro]

...so retro get on a plane in summer and have a nice weekend loading data from tapes :)

A weekend?!

Original DDS drives had a speed of about 0.18mb/s. At that speed, one 2Gb tape would take over 3 hours to read! That's 8 tapes a day, if you don't sleep.. and there's around 200 of the damn things!! Admittedly, it may be possible to speed the process up, but I wouldn't want to risk it... at least, not at first.

On top of that, you have to determine how they were written and how you're going to read them in the first place.

[LeGIt]

2 month trip then retro? :P

[Cyantist]

Assembler fundraiser for retro a visit to the states :D

[Digital Conservationist]

Do raw dumps and worry about format later!

Making linear, 1:1 backups of these tapes to modern day system is an absolute necessity for several reasons.
1.) Posterity -- Data integrity is a strict requirement for saying "Look what I dun." both from the originator's stand point and archivist's.
2.) Accessibility -- If dumped properly, these tapes can be mounted through an emulator and messed around with a million times by many interested/allowed parties who are trying to decrypt and extract data.
3.) Longevity -- The less you screw with the physical tapes, the longer they'll last. Doing a raw dump is a one shot thing and it makes the data available, presumably forever on an alternate medium, if maintained properly.

[retro]

It goes without saying that you want to make a raw image, but it isn't as easy a process with tape as it is with a hard drive or floppies. You do still need to worry about format, as some drives use identical tapes, but write them differently. You wouldn't try and copy a PAL VHS tape in an NTSC-only machine, would you?

Naturally, the tapes have a finite lifetime - you have to hope that they've been stored correctly and haven't been passed through a machine too many times to maximize their longevity.

[renone]

My grandpa told me that maybe, in a garage, there are the old computers with the tape recorders/readers. I will update you asap.

[zappenduster]

A weekend?!

Original DDS drives had a speed of about 0.18mb/s. At that speed, one 2Gb tape would take over 3 hours to read! That's 8 tapes a day, if you don't sleep.. and there's around 200 of the damn things!! Admittedly, it may be possible to speed the process up, but I wouldn't want to risk it... at least, not at first.

On top of that, you have to determine how they were written and how you're going to read them in the first place.

i didnt mean reading all tapes just starting the whole process so assembler can get a hang of it and work on the other ones himself

and even figuring out one or two of the tapes would already be a great achievement (achievement earned "ONE ANCIENT TAPE SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION" )

:clap: