Patent ID: 6425042
Filing Date: 2002-07-23
Classification: G06F,G11B

Abstract:
A tape drive apparatus comprising:tape driving means for recording or reproducing information on or from a magnetic tape when a tape cassette incorporating the magnetic tape is mounted into the tape drive apparatus; memory driving means for reading or writing management information from or to a memory included in the tape cassette for storing the management information to be used for managing recording and reproduction on the magnetic tape; and control means for judging, when the tape cassette is mounted, whether the tape cassette is of a first operational mode or a second operational mode based on at least one of first management information read out from the magnetic tape by the tape driving means and second management information that is read out from the memory by the memory driving means, and for performing an operational setting of the tape driving means in accordance with the first operational mode or the second operational mode thus judged, wherein when the management information is read out by the memory driving means when the tape cassette is mounted, the control means judges whether the tape cassette is of the first operational mode or the second operational mode based on one of the first and second management information read out by the memory driving means and performs an operational setting of the tape driving means in accordance with the mode thus judged; and when the second management information is not read out by the memory driving means, the control means causes the tape driving means to read out the first management information on the magnetic tape and, when the control means judges that the tape cassette is of the first mode based on the read-out management information, performs the operational setting of the tape driving means for the tape cassette in accordance with the first mode, and wherein in the case where the second management information is not read out by the memory driving means, and the first management information that is read out from the magnetic tape by the tape driving means indicates that the tape cassette is of the second mode, the control means performs a mode error operation.