> I don't know how to get around the retension, but you could probably use
> the following to erase the tape.
> 
>   dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rmt0 bs=64k
> 
> I don't know if 64k is the optimal block size or not, but I read a message
> a few days ago on the list suggesting 64k as a good read size for the
> TK50.

I will make a note of that.  I ate another TK50 cartridge, again,
last night, because it stuck.  That retensioning is getting to be
important.  The tape unrolled itself all over the inside of the
BA123 case.  I was fishing tape out of places that I did not even
know existed.....(:+\\...  All but about the last 5 feet or so
came off the reel into the case.  But, I did get a look at the
end of tape hole on it, it is a 1/8 inch hole in the middle of
the tape.  That means there is a non-software-driven end of tape
stop in the mechanism, if we can find out how to trigger the
actual commands to do a retension.  OK, who has a TK50 manual
handy, or a TKQ50 manual handy to let us know what commands
forward the tape to its end, without reading.  Time to peruse
the mt code, I guess....

Thanks

Bob