TK50 Image Archive
The TK50 specification lists a design lifetime of 30 years for TK50 tapes. Some of the older tapes in my collection are starting to approach this age, so I think it's important to create a digital archive of these tapes before they become unreadable.
After some searching, I found some code to create tape images compatible with the SIMH emulator. This code successfully compiles on a CentOS 5.4 system, and works with an external SCSI TK50 drive, using the /dev/nst0 device. Using this code, I made the following images of my TK50 tape library. Several of these images have been tested with SIMH.
After the destruction of a tape, the TK50 became unreliable. Some searching turned up a TZ875-TA 5-slot tape changer, which is able to read TK50 tapes. This drive has proved much more reliable in making tape images.
DEC Tapes
| Part Number | Tape Label | File |
|---|---|---|
| AQ-A9690-JS | Interleaf TPS 4 Slim TPS for DECstations |
AQ-A9690-JS.tap.zip (13 Mb) |
| AQ-FP58C-BN | VMS LIC KEY BIN TK50 | AQ-FP58C-BN.tap.zip (1 Mb) |
| AQ-FP86M-BN | VAX FORTRAN V5.5 BIN TK50 | AQ-FP86M-BN.tap.zip (1 Mb) |
| AQ-FP86N-BN | VAX FORTRAN V5.6 BIN TK50 | AQ-FP86N-BN.tap.zip (1 Mb) |
| AQ-FT37L-BE | VMS/WS/SW V4.4 BIN TK50 | AQ-FT37L-BE.tap.zip (3 Mb) |
| AQ-FT73J-BN | WPS-PLUS/VMS V4.1 BIN TK50 | AQ-FT73J-BN.tap.zip (1 Mb) |
| AQ-HQ070-01.J01 | PRNTSVR SUP VMS V4.1 TK50 1/1 | AQ-HQ070-01.J01.tap.zip (2 Mb) |
| AQ-HY27F-BE | DEC GKS RTO V4.2 BIN TK50 | AQ-HY27F-BE.tap.zip (1 Mb) |
| AQ-JP22E-BE | VMS V5.3 BIN TK50 1/2 VMS BINARY |
AQ-JP22E-BE.tap.zip (17 Mb) |
| AQ-KX71A-BN | MICROVMS V4.7 BIN TK50 | Aq-kx71a-bn_microvms_v4.7_bin_tk50.tap.gz |
| AQ-LU340-01.F01 | DEC TCP/IP SER VMS V2 TK5 1/1 | AQ-LU340-01.F01.tap.zip (1 Mb) |
| AQ-MM11C-BE | ULTRIX/UWS V4.0 (RISC) SUPPORTED SUBSETS VOLUME 1 |
AQ-MM11C-BE.tap.zip (46 Mb) |
| AQ-MM12B-BE | ULTRIX/UWS V4.0 (RISC) UNSUPPORTED SUBSETS |
AQ-MM12B-BE.tap.zip (26 Mb) |
| AQ-NF65A-BE | DEC PHIGS FOR RISC V2.1 tK50 | AQ-NF65A-BE.tap.zip (10 Mb) |
| AQ-NH24B-BE | VMS V5.3 BIN TK50 2/2 DECWINDOWS & S/A BKUP |
AQ-NH24B-BE.tap.zip (9 Mb) |
| AQ-NJ58A-BE | VMS V5.2 BIN TK50 WARRANTY MANDATORY UPDATE |
Aq-nj58a-be_vms_v5.2_bin_tk50_warranty_mandatory_update.tap.gz |
| AQ-NZ22D-XH | PWRKS V4.1 DOS FOR VMS TK50 | AQ-NZ22D-XH.tap.zip (7 Mb) |
| AQ-PBJRB-BE | ULTRIX/UWS V4.0 (RISC) SUPPORTED SUBSETS VOLUME 2 |
AQ-PBJRB-BE.tap.zip (31 Mb) |
| AQ-PG7SA-BE | VMS V5.4-2 BIN TK50 1/1 | AQ-PG7SA-BE.tap.zip (5 Mb) |
| AQ-PH9CA-BE | VMS DECwindow MOTIF V1.0 TK50 | AQ-PH9CA-BE.tap.zip (17 Mb) |
| AQ-PU1B0-R1.B01 | CSCPAT_1049 TPU V3.1/MOTIF INT/EVE TK 1/1 |
AQ-PU1B0-R1.B01.tap.zip (1 Mb) |
| AQ-PXKZ0-R1.A01 | VMS V5.52H4 RMST TK50 1/2 | AQ-PXKZO-R1.A01.tap.zip (25 Mb) |
| AQ-PXL00-R1.A01 | VMS 5.52H4 RMST TK50 2/2 | AQ-PXL00-R1.A01.tap.zip (13 Mb) |
| AQ-PXL20-R1.A01 | VMS V5.52H4 UPD TK50 1/1 | AQ-PXL20-R1.A01.tap.zip (4 Mb) |
| AQ-PXNQ0-01.A01 | VMS V6.0 BIN TK50 2/2 | AQ-PXNQ0-01.A01.tap.zip (7 Mb) |
| AQ-PXNQ0-01.C01 | VMS V6.2 BIN TK50 2/2 | AQ-PXNQ0-01.C01.tap.zip (9 Mb) |
Other Tapes
| Part Number | Tape Label | File |
|---|---|---|
| 014350 | COGNOS PowerHouse PART NO. 014350 VERSION: 710E1 -- VAX -- SERIAL NO. 162304 CREATED: 1994/DEC/19 Product of CANADA |
014350_cognos_powerhouse_version_710e1_vax_serial_162304.tap.gz |