unreadable HP cartridges

[Fred Cisin]

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005, Tony Duell wrote:
> > Ok, use a magnetic fingerprinting powder on it ;) Actually, I've heard (and
> > seen) there IS a liquid solution that will let you visibly see the dots on
> > mag tape.
>
> There is. It generally goes under the name of 'Magnasee' and is a
> colloidal suspension of iron oxide in some suitable volatile liquid. I
> have no idea where you get it nowadays, though.

It USETA be readily available from professional video places for lining up
reel to reel tape and splicing it without losing synch.

A friend made some out of rust.
We used it to show students the tracks on some floppies.


On Wed, 22 Jun 2005, Joe R. wrote:
>    I still have a bottle of it but what good would it do to know the
binary
> pattern? You couldn't program a new tape with it.

... but with sufficient time and effort, you could MANUALLY
read the tape :-)
How long would an entire tape take?


--
Grumpy Ol' Fred     		cisin at xenosoft.com