>> About the HP tapes. Does anyone know what the story is?? Are the mechanisms
>> the same as standard QIC02 1/4" drives (ie are they only formated 
>> diferently) or are ther actual hardware differences?
> 
> Hardware differences.  For those interested (and the archives ;-) an
> explanation is below of the differences between the HP drives and QIC.

Actually, the tape cartridges are mechanically identical... it's the drives
that differ.  I'm not sure which question was really being asked.

It's quite possible (I do it all the time) to take scrap HP tapes and use 
them in a QIC-150 drive.  However, you can't go the other way at all since 
the HP tapes must for all practical purposes be factory-formatted to work 
in HP drives.

Niland's notes are from the perspective of, and targetted towards, an audience
of folks with HP drives who need/needed to know to avoid QIC tapes like the
plague.  Watching a 9144 grapple with a non-HP tape is not a pretty sight.

Be careful of tapes scrapped by HP in surplus outlets if you're trying to get
tapes for an HP drive.  If they played by the rules, the tapes may well have
been bulk-erased to wipe any confidential info, resulting in tapes that are
fine for a QIC drive, but not for an HP drive...

Bdale