DoN. Nichols wrote:
> According to Kurt Nowak <knowak@peach.alumni.calpoly.edu>:
>
> [ ... ]
>
>
> [ ... ]
>
>>> Please let us know how the rebuild works out.
>
> [ ... ]
>
>> I got the roller back today. He did a very nice job! My QIC-150 drive
>> works as good as new! I highly recommend paying the $40 for the peace of
>> mind that this drive will last for many more years and wont gobble up a
>> vintage SunOS tape.
>
> Great!
>
> BTW Do you know about the tprobe program? It is open source, and
> it will make an image of an entire Sun install tape, and then
> build new install tapes from that image. A good thing to make
> images of all the install tapes you have, and keep them plus
> the source and object code on a CD-ROM against future need.
>
> after all -- even if the pinch roller is good, that does not
> mean that the tape will remain readable. I've got quite a few
> old install tapes which I can't fully read.
>
> Good Luck,
> DoN.
Great point Don! Thanks for the info. I will make that a project this
weekend! I have some vintage Apollo tapes that I want to preserve as well.

DoN. Nichols wrote:
> According to Kurt Nowak <knowak@peach.alumni.calpoly.edu>:
>
> [ ... ]
>
>
> [ ... ]
>
>>> Please let us know how the rebuild works out.
>
> [ ... ]
>
>> I got the roller back today. He did a very nice job! My QIC-150 drive
>> works as good as new! I highly recommend paying the $40 for the peace of
>> mind that this drive will last for many more years and wont gobble up a
>> vintage SunOS tape.
>
> Great!
>
> BTW Do you know about the tprobe program? It is open source, and
> it will make an image of an entire Sun install tape, and then
> build new install tapes from that image. A good thing to make
> images of all the install tapes you have, and keep them plus
> the source and object code on a CD-ROM against future need.
>
> after all -- even if the pinch roller is good, that does not
> mean that the tape will remain readable. I've got quite a few
> old install tapes which I can't fully read.
>
> Good Luck,
> DoN.

Don,
I downloaded/compiled tprobe, but the man page doesnt say anything about
how to make an image of a tape. It only explains how to copy from tape
to tape. I would actually like to make images of my old install tapes.
Any hints?
Kurt

According to Kurt Nowak <knowak@peach.alumni.calpoly.edu>:
> DoN. Nichols wrote:

[ ... ]

> > BTW Do you know about the tprobe program? It is open source, and
> > it will make an image of an entire Sun install tape, and then
> > build new install tapes from that image. A good thing to make
> > images of all the install tapes you have, and keep them plus
> > the source and object code on a CD-ROM against future need.
> >
> > after all -- even if the pinch roller is good, that does not
> > mean that the tape will remain readable. I've got quite a few
> > old install tapes which I can't fully read.
> >
> > Good Luck,
> > DoN.
>
> Don,
> I downloaded/compiled tprobe, but the man page doesnt say anything about
> how to make an image of a tape. It only explains how to copy from tape
> to tape. I would actually like to make images of my old install tapes.
> Any hints?

Look at the synopsis in the manual (assuming that you have the
same version that I have):


================================================== ====================
SYNOPSIS
tprobe [-b n] /dev/NRTD

tprobe [-b n] -r /dev/NRTD0 | tprobe [-b n] -w /dev/NRTD1

[host] tprobe [-b n] -r /dev/NRTD0 |
[host] tprobe [-b n] -w /dev/NRTD1

o ``/dev/NRTDn'' is typically the "no-rewind-on-close"
tape device [See OPERATING NOTES]

o ``host'' is the system-dependent clause signifying
remote tape operation [See OPERATING NOTES]

================================================== ====================

Note that the second and third versions are piping the output
from one instance of tprobe to the input of another (one running with
the "-r" (read) option, and the other running with the "-w" (write)
option. Instead of using the pipeline, simply redirect the output of
the first (the one running with the "-r" option) into a file. Then, at
any time in the future, you can feed that file into the standard input
of a second instance of the same program running with the "-w" option
instead.

What I would do is to save the executable, the source (in case
you change hardware platforms), and the image files to a CD-ROM or if
necessary a DVD-ROM for future use for recovery.

To find the version, try "tprobe -v" (which turns out to be an
illegal option) and you will get something like this:

================================================== ====================
tprobe: illegal option -- v
usage: tprobe [-b N] [-r] tapedev [ | tprobe [-b N] -w tapedev ]
where: -b sets buffer size to N (overriding the default 65536)
-r specifies "this" process to be the tape reader
-w designates "this" process to be a tape writer
tprobe V1.0, 12-Feb-1992, Thad Floryan [ thad@btr.com ]
================================================== ====================

with the last line giving the version.

Enjoy,
DoN.
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