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Hi,
I'm trying to load some cassette software to my dragon 32 but half way though loading (with any tape I try) I get an IO ERROR. I think this may be a problem with my cassette player (a cheap £10 thing I got from aldi) although up until about a minute in the tapes load file (with games like frogger even presenting loading screens). Software from the archive played via my PC's soundcard seems to work fine. Any ideas?

Hi,
I just think of cleaning the tape player headers and testing with different volume levels.
good luck!
regards
pere

Ps If you had an old HIFI chain with a tape player, you could record it on the PC
using the program "Audacity" where you could edit/clean parts (if needed)
Or record on the PC right from you old tape ...

You could try fast-forwarding and rewinding a tape a few times to see if that helps with the aligning of the tape with the tape head and guides. Otherwise it may well be a case of adjusting volume, tone, and other sound settings to find something that works.

Hi,
I agree with the above solutions, especially Alastair's re-aligning of the tape.
Have the tapes been stored flat or upright? I ask because I have had a few tapes from other people that have been stored flat and the tape has drooped on the spools (pesky time and gravity) and doesn't align with the heads properly, if this is the cause of your I/O errors then I find fully fast forwarding and reversing the tape several times usually does the trick.

Try typing the AUDIO ON command before loading. If you can hear the pitch of the tape lowering as it goes on, then maybe the tape is slowing down the further you get into it.

One possible reason for that is that the tape is a bit stiff. Some people try rewinding and fast forwarding a few times and it gets a little better, but this doesn't always work (it rarely works for me). Some go further and open the cassette, take out the reels and put it into a new cassette casing. I've heard people claim that this works, but I've been too scared to try it myself.

Another possible reason is that the belt on the cassette player is a bit loose and is slipping a little. However, you say you have a new cassette player, so that is less likely.

I wonder if you have kept your tapes rewound? I have bought a number of cassette collections where there is a bit of dropout, just at the point where the tape had been left. The ones that had been rewound were fine. Again, using AUDIO ON should help you hear if there is a bit of dropout.

I have about 250 odd original tapes (including duplicates), and my fail rate is under 4%. It is often the tape player- I have found that switching to a modern upright tape player sometimes does the trick where the traditional type fails. Lots of Dragon games came with 2 or more copies on, so be certain to try them all. I have re-recorded a couple of my tapes, blanking the whole tape and re-recording in a slightly different place. I have always suspected that Microdeal used better quality tapes than most. As said above AUDIOON is your friend!