> > TK50 tapes?  Any insights appreciated.
> 
> I've bulkerased them and 'inited them under VMS with zero problems.
> If the drive then are formatted (inited) on is off however the portability
> of the tape may be poor.  They are serpintine or block mode and the basic
> init is the calibration tracks and marks.  There are issues with moveing
> between tk50 and tk70 where bulk erasing is required if you wish to write
> on the tape using TK50.  TK70 media however does not take as well for some
> reason to this..

So, it apparently does require a calibration or positioning track to
be written?  Oh, horror of horrors.  Explain, a little more.

Does NetBSD or Ultrix require this initing of the tapes before use?
If so, what specifically does that in either OS, or is it done from
prom?  I did not recall running across anything like that in my
Ultrix manuals, but maybe I need to recheck those.  Me and VMS don't
get along very well....(:+{{..

All my tapes are CompacTapeI things for TK50, so that should not be
a problem.  I only have one machine that might need to read on a TK70.

Thanks

Bob