🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <0sBuRB1w164w@uuisis.isis.org> Douglas Murray,
ve2ura@uuisis.isis.org writes:
>I would like to know if anyone has had experience (good or bad) in using 
>some other make of 8mm instead of the Exabyte ones.  I am planning a
bulk 
>purchase of about 500 tapes and although I could by something like one
of 
>each, I would still be curious about anyones findings on this.

I used Sony consumer tapes for two years, and thought everything was
fine, then the unit slowly started accumulating errors. I sent it in for
service, and the heads were badly scummed. I have been using Exabyte
tapes since, and using an Exabyte head cleaning tape periodically. I'm
not sure that this will keep me from having the problem again in 2 years,
but since service is expensive and inconvenient, I'd recommend the
Exabyte.

Jeff E Mandel MD MS
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Tulane University School of Medicine
New Orleans, LA

mandel@vax.anes.tulane.edu

In article <0sBuRB1w164w@uuisis.isis.org>, ve2ura@uuisis.isis.org (Douglas Murray) writes:
> Hi,
> 
> I would like to know if anyone has had experience (good or bad) in using 
> some other make of 8mm instead of the Exabyte ones.  I am planning a bulk 
> purchase of about 500 tapes and although I could by something like one of 
> each, I would still be curious about anyones findings on this.

Hi,
	I use good quality 8mm video tapes without a problem.
I use the `Fugi Extraslim 8mm MEATAL MP' tapes.
I can find them for under $8.00 at most stores.

	This is the primary reason I love this tape drive.
2.5 GigaBytes of Archive for $8.00!

-- 
andre@stonemarche.org				Andre' Wood
andre@hern.stonemarche.org			POBox 305,
...!dartvax!hern!andre				Greenfield, NH, 03047
Per chevron sable and vert, a stag's attire Or and in chief a mullet argent.

In article <1992Sep30.225617.16238@cs.tulane.edu> Jeff E Mandel <mandel@tmc.tulane.edu> writes:

   I used Sony consumer tapes for two years, and thought everything was
   fine, then the unit slowly started accumulating errors. I sent it in for
   service, and the heads were badly scummed. I have been using Exabyte
   tapes since, and using an Exabyte head cleaning tape periodically. I'm
   not sure that this will keep me from having the problem again in 2 years,
   but since service is expensive and inconvenient, I'd recommend the
   Exabyte.

You do need to clean the head periodically (I think Exabyte recommends
once/month or 30 GB) regardless of what tape you use.
--
J Lee Jaap <J.L.Jaap@LaRC.NASA.Gov> +1 804/864-2148
    employed by, not speaking for, AS&M Inc, at
         NASA LaRC, Hampton VA 23681-0001

ve2ura@uuisis.isis.org (Douglas Murray) writes:
: Hi,
: 
: I would like to know if anyone has had experience (good or bad) in using 
: some other make of 8mm instead of the Exabyte ones.  I am planning a bulk 
: purchase of about 500 tapes and although I could by something like one of 
: each, I would still be curious about anyones findings on this.
: 
: Thank you,
: 
: Doug!

On the whole they seem to be ok, but we have recently dumped all the SONY's
as we had a few occurrences of tapes being bad on restores. We have had no
similar problems with the genuine articles.

Keith.
-- 
Keith Lovatt                 	|	Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
r-node.gts.org!klovatt@klnet	|	Phone: +1 416 293 0292
doe.utoronto.ca!klovatt@klnet	|    "You can never find a Lugroid
klovatt@terranet.cts.com	|	when you really need one"

I've been using non-Exabyte cartridges for a while now with no problems.  I
mainly use them once, though, to back files onto, and only rarely do a read
on them to retrieve files.  The tapes I'm using are Sony P6-120MP metal
partical tapes.

Larry Bleau
University of Maryland
bleau@umdsp.umd.edu
301-405-6223

In article <16105@umd5.umd.edu>, bleau@umdsp.umd.edu writes:
> I've been using non-Exabyte cartridges for a while now with no problems.  I
> mainly use them once, though, to back files onto, and only rarely do a read
> on them to retrieve files.  The tapes I'm using are Sony P6-120MP metal
> partical tapes.

When I first set up an automated backup procedure using an 8mm drive, I (and
many others) didn't completely trust the drive.  So I created a few megabytes
worth of test files, put them in a directory made for the purpose, and had the
backup procedure create a small saveset, with /VERIFY, containing just these
files at both the beginning AND end of the 8mm cart.

Also, in most backup procedures, some of the tapes (e.g. dailies, weeklies,
whatever) get re-used.  My procedure could tell (from the volume label) if
the tape it was about to write on was being reused.  If so it would start by
doing a BACKUP/COMPARE of these two test savesets against the files from which
they were written.

The result was that we had a daily confirmation that at least some of the data
we'd written to 8mm was indeed recoverable... and  not just from the beginning
of the tape, either.

imho, if you don't do SOMEthing to periodically test your restore procedures
(and the media),  you might as well not run backups at all.

	--- Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego CA
uucp 'g' protocol guru and release coordinator, VMSnet (DECUS uucp) W.G., and
Chair, VMS Programming and Internals Working Group, U.S. DECUS VAX Systems SIG
Internet:  jeh@cmkrnl.com, hanrahan@eisner.decus.org, or jeh@crash.cts.com
Uucp:  ...{crash,eisner,uunet}!cmkrnl!jeh