Post #1649509

@bitsavers @davebarnes @jguillaumes @cstross Lovely :) Funny thing is, I was almost tempted to go the path of exploring the idea of reading the digital information off it with an offset head - But I think at that point I'd (sensibly) convinced myself that it was really just an unreadable 9-track because it was pretty crispy at that point. Also, the chances of the compiler actually being on the tape were very low anyway. User backups are unlikely to have system partitions on them, so it really was a Hail Mary move. I found a photo of the setup I was mostly using, a Microvax something-or-other on top of a DEC TSZ07 (my favourite DEC tape drive, and so the one I kept using, to the detriment of my poor back!). The photo info says this was 16 Nov 2003, so I have a date for that part of the project now, too.