I want to thank you all for this IBM 360 conversation. It makes me feel
young🙂. My first computer was a PDP-8/L with 4K of core memory and a
Teletype ASR-33. That was 1972 (I was 12).
On 4/10/2024 4:23 PM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
On Apr 10, 2024, at 5:01 PM, Van Snyder via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
wrote:
...
I think the 360/67 replaced "Halt and Catch Fire" with "Rewind and
Break Tape."
I always wondered if that wasn't a standard property of IBM tape drives of that
era. The ones I remember from our 360/44 had capstans that turned
continuously, one to each side of the head. The tape was shoved against the
capstan to start tape motion, and against a rubber brake block to stop it.
That was wild enough, but the other crazy aspect is that the vacuum columns
were arranged so the oxide was facing outward, i.e., rubbing against the side
walls of the vacuum column.
I never did wear out a tape, but then again, I never used a tape more than a
half dozen times on that system.
paul
