Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
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From: dhinds@elaine18.Stanford.EDU (David Hinds)
Subject: A question about cleaning an 8mm tape drive
Message-ID: <1991Apr29.060340.562@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Sender: news@leland.Stanford.EDU (Mr News)
Organization: Stanford University - AIR
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 91 06:03:40 GMT
Lines: 15

Following the advice I saw on the net, I got a dry cleaning tape for
our 8mm drive, but now I'm not sure how to actually use it.  The tape
says that it should be played for 15 seconds but not rewound between
uses.  But, it doesn't seem possible to eject an unrewound tape from
the 8mm drive.  Does this mean I have to waste 99% of my cleaning tape?
Also, what 'mt' command do I need to use to get the drive to just
play the tape with the head engaged, but to not try to read any data?
Should I do something like start an 'feom', then kill it after 15
seconds, or does that scan the tape more quickly than a normal read?
I thought of doing an 'erase', but I don't know if that engages the
normal read/write head(s).  What brands of cleaning tapes do other
people use?  The one I found is made by Sony.

 -David Hinds
  dhinds@cb-iris.stanford.edu