tension doesnt mean anything in a TK/DLT tape.. that was only important on
QIC tapes and others like them with that silly friction on the tape 
method of moving the tape. TKs automaticall 'retension' if you will, 
every time the tape is loaded and wound onto the other spool..
As for yout problem of the drive not rewinding, you might want to try 
just shutting it off and bringing it on again. If the sensors are still 
operational that detect if the tape is present, and the load/unload 
button is 'out', in the unload position, then typically TKs i have seen will
rewind the tape when they first start running. yes, manually rewinding these
things is an awful experience!

good luck with it
isildur

On Sun, 19 May 2002 NA4G@aol.com wrote:

> I am having problems, now and then with old DEC
> cartridges, that have not been read in a while,
> sticking in the cartridge, and that causes the
> TK50 drive to slow down and hang.  At that point
> in time, it loses all track of where it is, and
> becomes bad karma.  Probably 10 percent of my
> tapes do this at one time or another.  Usually,
> the 4x press the red panic button works.  But,
> sometimes, it does not.  When it does not, I
> have been known to manually eject the cartridge,
> stick 3 probes into it to undo the release
> buttons in the cartridge (a 3 fisted affair),
> and then manually rewind the tape.  That is a
> royal pain in the whatskies.  Surely there is
> a better way to do that?
> 
> I attribute the problem to the lack of a good
> way to run a retension on DEC DLT cartridges.
> Is there some correct way to properly retension
> a cartridge, before use?  If so, I seem to have
> missed that tidbit.
> 
> Any insights are appreciated.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Bob
> 
>