
U s i n g F l o p p y D i s k , C D - R O M & T a p e D r i v e s
Using a SCSI DDS-2 tape drive
The computer may be configured with a SCSI DDS-2 (Digital Data Storage v2.0) tape drive. The software needed to control the drive depends on your operating environment; ask your supplier for details.
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1cassette insertion slot
2cassette-in-place indicator (green)
3drive busy indicator (amber)
4EJECT button.
The DDS-2 drive has a built-in compression algorithm which can typically double, and in some cases quadruple, tape capacity. Data compression and decompression is transparent to the host software.
The DDS-2 drive uses 120-metre cassettes. The drive automatically detects whether cassettes are DDS-2 format, or the older DDS format. It can read and write both DDS uncompressed and DDS-DC compressed data.
The drive writes compressed data by default, unless it finds uncompressed data already on the cassette. The drive can also write uncompressed data under software control. When reading a cassette, the DDS-2 drive automatically distinguishes compressed and uncompressed data and either decompresses it or passes it through unaltered as appropriate.
APRICOT 340 OWNER’S HANDBOOK 4/9