-
Data Tape on a DA 88?
Here’s an odd one:
I just received around forty 8MM tapes to try and restore. They were manufactured by 3M and are labeled “D8-112” and “DATA TAPE” by the manufacturer. There is no labeling on them other than, for instance, “Tower 1 Drive 1,” “Tower 1 Drive 2,” etc. I just tried restoring them with an Exabyte drive using Retrospect 5.0 on an old Mac running OS 9.2.2. They loaded, but then I got an error message from Retrospect of “Content unrecognized.” It was the same with a few other tapes I tried.
So my first question is, is it possible that these could actually be tapes recorded on a DA 88? In other words, could this type of tape be used on a DA 88? If I play this tape back on a DA 88 machine, and it turns out to actually be an Exabyte tape of some type, could this damage the data on the tape?
Finally, if it isn’t a DA 88 tape, does anybody have any ideas how to figure out what it was backed up with? As I mentioned, there are no clues on the boxes or on the tape as to the backup software used, the type of data on the tape, or anything else that might be useful. These were from a feature film released in 1995, so could have been made anytime around then or after then.
Thanks in advance,
Tom Carlson -
5 Replies
-
well in 1995 it could have been more than just a da 88
but I thought those were specific to DAT TAPES the mini size….not 8mm I could be wrong….3m 8mm tapes being archived might have been from a different system.
I know JAZ was around and IOMEGA was the rave for Americans…but a producer was trying to give me a BEURELLI or some ITALIAN type DEVICE he said was obsolete but it was a TAPE CARTRIDGE BACKUP system…..
I looked at it and I seem to recall it might have been 8mm tapes…..but I could be thinking about another device entirely….
I will look back in my files…..and links and reply……I think you should be able to ask the DAW on YAHOO about anything AUDIO based…..I never get a answer that isn’t resolved……I helped people get floppy drives copies for Emu lator updates….and Atari sequencers for OMS…..etc. all obsolete for most people…but someone is still using it someplace……
Singleton Makin
“observe the masses and do the opposite!” -
well in 1995 it could have been more than just a da 88
but I thought those were specific to DAT TAPES the mini size….not 8mm I could be wrong….3m 8mm tapes being archived might have been from a different system.
I know JAZ was around and IOMEGA was the rave for Americans…but a producer was trying to give me a BEURELLI or some ITALIAN type DEVICE he said was obsolete but it was a TAPE CARTRIDGE BACKUP system…..
I looked at it and I seem to recall it might have been 8mm tapes…..but I could be thinking about another device entirely….
I will look back in my files…..and links and reply……I think you should be able to ask the DAW on YAHOO about anything AUDIO based…..I never get a answer that isn’t resolved……I helped people get floppy drives copies for Emu lator updates….and Atari sequencers for OMS…..etc. all obsolete for most people…but someone is still using it someplace…..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data8
Singleton Makin
“observe the masses and do the opposite!” -
Thanks for the post, Makin.
It turns out they were data tapes. After much hacking of headers and lots of new software, I was able to determine they were backups from a Lightworks machine! 8K audio and low rez picture. I was able to restore all of the audio, but we determined that without a Lightworks from the period, there was no getting the picture back. It wasn’t mission critical, so we left it for another generation to restore, if they so desire.
Thanks for the suggestion for further research! I’ll save that for sure.
Tom
-
well in 1995 it could have been more than just a da 88
but I thought those were specific to DAT TAPES the mini size….not 8mm I could be wrong….3m 8mm tapes being archived might have been from a different system.
I know JAZ was around and IOMEGA was the rave for Americans…but a producer was trying to give me a BEURELLI or some ITALIAN type DEVICE he said was obsolete but it was a TAPE CARTRIDGE BACKUP system…..
I looked at it and I seem to recall it might have been 8mm tapes…..but I could be thinking about another device entirely….
I will look back in my files…..and links and reply……I think you should be able to ask the DAW on YAHOO about anything AUDIO based…..I never get a answer that isn’t resolved……I helped people get floppy drives copies for Emu lator updates….and Atari sequencers for OMS…..etc. all obsolete for most people…but someone is still using it someplace……
you might try to extract the data while you are on that mac 9.2.2 with an application that can open RAW, like PEAK by BIAS…..I remember you can open just about anything digitally once it is captured.
If you can get the data to capture via audio and video on a 8mm video deck or camera you could then a certain from that garbage or noise……opening in PEAK it would or should a certain if it is a SMTPE like TONE or just SCATTERED, but the PATTERN it provides, should then tell you if it is in fact a DATA TAPE, by looking at the SPECS of various legacy drives or devices…….and clues like frequency modulation ….nothing is static like video tape without timecode or control track…….but that is different SNOW than the SNOW you get from an ANALOG ANTENNA am I making sense?
IF you look at the file……..visually and in PEAK you might be able to run a filter on it……and actually find other clues about the DATA as in BIT RATE , and if you are really lucky……you can cut it up into a million pieces…….and release it as the next AUTECTURE or APHEX TWIN or FOUR TET ALBUm……they all sound like this digital truncated……WILLIAM BURROUGHS CUT=UP METHOD style…….anyway……..maybe you have Beethoven’s last symphony…..he was still composing in 1995,,,,,,ir was that CAMER VAN BEETOVEN….?
Singleton Makin
“observe the masses and do the opposite!” -
This is definitely a dat 88 tape. I had the same thing happen to me a while back. Good luck finding a dat 88 deck to play them back with.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up