QIC standards library¶
This page lists every QIC development standard in docs/qic-standards/,
with its revision, date and a one-line summary. The standards were published
by Quarter-Inch Cartridge Drive Standards, Inc. The first table holds the
ones Tapewyrm implements or cites; the rest are kept for reference.
Titles and dates are from each document's cover page. Where a cover is a scanned image, it was read from the image.
Standards Tapewyrm uses¶
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-40-MC | M | 02 Sep 92 | Floppy-controller-compatible recording format: 20 tracks, 10,000 bpi MFM, 40 MB on a DC2000. | qic40m.pdf |
| QIC-80-MC | N | 20 Mar 96 | Floppy-controller-compatible recording format: 28 or 36 tracks, 14,700 bpi MFM, segments, ECC, header and volume table. | qic80n.pdf |
| QIC-3010-MC | H | 27 Aug 97 | Floppy-tape recording format on 900 Oe tape: 40 or 50 tracks, 22,125 bpi MFM. | qic3010h.pdf |
| QIC-3020-MC | H | 20 Mar 96 | Floppy-tape recording format on 900 Oe tape: 40 or 50 tracks, 44,250 bpi MFM; format code 6. | qic3020h.pdf |
| QIC-117 | J | 28 Aug 96 | Command set interface for floppy-controller-based drives: pulse-count commands, reports, error codes, vendor makes. | qic117j.pdf |
| QIC-113 | G | 15 Jun 95 | Host interchange format: volume table extensions, Basic DOS and extended file sets, volume compression. | qic113g.pdf |
| QIC-122 | B | 06 Feb 91 | Data compression format (Stac LZS) with a 2,048-byte history. | qic122b.pdf |
| QIC-123 | D | 01 Sep 94 | Registry of data algorithm identifiers: the compression codes in a volume table entry. | qic123d.pdf |
| QIC-CRF3 | C | 21 Mar 96 | Common recording format for the floppy-controller formats (QIC-40, QIC-80, QIC-3010, QIC-3020). | crf3c.pdf |
| QIC-100-MC | F | 23 May 89 | GCR minicartridge format for floppy-interface drives: 24 tracks, 12,500 ftpi, 86 MB on a DC2080. Not QIC-80; only cinnabar's synthetic decoder uses it. | qic100mc.pdf |
Drive interfaces and command sets¶
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-107 | A | 05 Jun 86 | Basic drive interface for floppy-controller-compatible minicartridge drives. | qic107a.pdf |
| QIC-115 | A | 03 Feb 88 | Basic drive interface for PS/2 floppy-controller-compatible minicartridge drives. | qic115a.pdf |
| QIC-146 | A | 02 Dec 92 | Autoloader SCSI gateway protocol, serial bus implementation. | qic146a.pdf |
| QIC-157 | D | 13 Dec 95 | Common SCSI/ATAPI command set for streaming tape. | qic157d.pdf |
| QIC-172 | A | 30 Aug 95 | Command descriptor block (CDB) interface for floppy tape. | qic172a.pdf |
Logical formats, ECC and compression¶
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-110 | A | 19 Apr 88 | Logical information interchange on a 26-track, 20,000 ftpi data cartridge. | qic110a.pdf |
| QIC-112 | A | 27 Oct 87 | ECC format. | qic112a.pdf |
| QIC-130 | C | 03 Sep 92 | DCLZ data compression format. | qic130c.pdf |
| QIC-154 | A | 10 Mar 94 | Adaptive lossless data compression (ALDC). | qic154a.pdf |
| QIC-174 | A | 21 Mar 96 | CD-ROM compatible tape format for an installable file system. | qic174a.pdf |
| QIC-CRF1 | J | 15 Jun 95 | Common recording format with multichannel capability for RLL 1,7 formats (QIC-3230, QIC-5010, QIC-5210). | crf1j.pdf |
Minicartridge recording formats¶
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-3040-MC | E | 20 Jun 96 | Read-while-write minicartridge format: 42 or 52 tracks, 50,800 ftpi. | qic3040e.pdf |
| QIC-3080-MC | C | 15 Dec 94 | Minicartridge format on preformatted 900 Oe tape: RLL 1,7, 60,000 bpi. | qic3080c.pdf |
| QIC-3210-MC | B | 20 Jun 96 | Read-while-write minicartridge format: 56 or 72 tracks, 76,200 ftpi. | qic3210b.pdf |
| QIC-3220-MC | A | 27 Aug 97 | Minicartridge format on 0.315 in preformatted 1,650 Oe tape: 108 tracks, RLL 1,7. | qic3220a.pdf |
Data cartridge recording formats¶
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-120-DC | F | 20 Jun 91 | 15 tracks, 10,000 bpi GCR, 125 MB. | qic120dc.pdf |
| QIC-525-DC | H | 10 Mar 94 | 26 tracks, 20,000 ftpi GCR, 525 MB on a DC6525. | qic525h.pdf |
| QIC-1000-DC | E | 10 Mar 94 | 30 tracks, 45,000 ftpi GCR, 1.01 GB on a DC9100. | qic1000e.pdf |
| QIC-2GB-DC | B | 10 Mar 94 | 42 tracks, 50,800 ftpi GCR. | qic2gbb.pdf |
| QIC-4GB-DC | A | 24 Apr 97 | 46 tracks, 62,000 ftpi GCR. | qic4gba.pdf |
| QIC-5010-DC | E | 15 Dec 94 | 144 data tracks, 50,800 ftpi RLL 1,7. | qic5010e.pdf |
| QIC-5210-DC | A | 31 Aug 95 | 144 data tracks, 76,200 ftpi RLL 1,7. | qic5210a.pdf |
Recording heads¶
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-101 | B | 10 Dec 85 | Head for QIC-150-DC (superseded by QIC-105). | qic101b.pdf |
| QIC-102 | A | 10 Dec 85 | Head for QIC-100-MC. | qic102a.pdf |
| QIC-105 | A | 08 Apr 86 | Head for QIC-120-DC. | qic105a.pdf |
| QIC-106 | C | 11 Feb 87 | Head for the QIC-40 format (the cover says "QIC-40-MB"). | qic106c.pdf |
| QIC-114 | B | 18 Jan 89 | Head for QIC-525-DC. | qic114b.pdf |
| QIC-118 | B | 14 Jun 95 | Head for QIC-80-MC. | qic118b.pdf |
| QIC-119 | E | 13 Jun 90 | Head for QIC-1350-DC. | qic119e.pdf |
| QIC-126 | D | 15 Jun 94 | Head for QIC-1000-DC, 2 GB data cartridge and QIC-3040-MC drives. | qic126d.pdf |
| QIC-131 | B | 02 Dec 92 | Head for QIC-3030-MC. | qic131b.pdf |
| QIC-133 | G | 27 Aug 97 | Head for QIC-3010-MC and QIC-3020-MC. | qic133g.pdf |
| QIC-134 | F | 27 Aug 97 | Head for QIC-5010-DC. | qic134f.pdf |
| QIC-151 | B | 15 Jun 94 | Head for QIC-3050-MC. | qic151b.pdf |
| QIC-158 | B | 20 Jun 96 | Head for QIC-3080-MC. | qic158b.pdf |
| QIC-171 | C | 11 Dec 96 | Head for QIC-3095-MC. | qic171c.pdf |
| QIC-177 | A | 27 Aug 97 | Head for QIC-3220-MC. | qic177a.pdf |
| QIC-178 | A | 27 Aug 97 | Head for QIC-3210-MC. | qic178a.pdf |
| QIC-179 | A | 27 Aug 97 | Head for QIC-4GB-DC. | qic179a.pdf |
| QIC-181 | A | 27 Aug 97 | Head for QIC-5210-DC. | qic181a.pdf |
Cartridges and media¶
These define the physical cartridges. The ones for QIC-80 and QIC-3010/3020 tapes are marked in bold.
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-136 | H | 23 Apr 97 | Unrecorded 5.25 in data cartridge, 0.25 in, 900 Oe (QIC-1000-DC, QIC-2GB-DC). | qic136h.pdf |
| QIC-137 | H | 20 Mar 96 | Unrecorded 5.25 in data cartridge, 0.25 in, 900 Oe (QIC-1350-DC, QIC-2100-DC). | qic137h.pdf |
| QIC-138 | D | 20 Mar 96 | Unformatted servo-written 3.5 in minicartridge, 0.25 in, 50,800 ftpi, 900 Oe (DC 3GB). | qic138d.pdf |
| QIC-139 | L | 23 Apr 97 | Unformatted servo-written 5.25 in cartridge, 0.25 in, 900 Oe (QIC-5010-DC). | qic139l.pdf |
| QIC-140 | A | 26 Feb 92 | Read-only unrecorded 3.5 in minicartridge, 0.25 in, 550 Oe. | qic140a.pdf |
| QIC-141 | A | 26 Feb 92 | Read-only unrecorded 5.25 in cartridge, 0.25 in, 550 Oe. | qic141a.pdf |
| QIC-143 | G | 20 Mar 96 | Unrecorded 3.5 in minicartridge, 0.25 in, 900 Oe, 300 and 400 ft (QIC-3010 to QIC-3050). | qic143g.pdf |
| QIC-148 | D | 20 Jun 96 | Unrecorded 3.5 in minicartridge, 0.315 in, 900 Oe (QIC-3010, 3020, 3040, 3080, 3095 wide). | qic148d.pdf |
| QIC-153 | D | 20 Mar 96 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.25 in, 1,400 Oe barium ferrite. | qic153d.pdf |
| QIC-156 | D | 20 Mar 96 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.25 in, 900 Oe, 400 ft (QIC-3080). | qic156d.pdf |
| QIC-159 | C | 20 Jun 96 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.315 in, 550 Oe, 400 ft (QIC-80 wide, 208 MB). | qic159c.pdf |
| QIC-160 | A | 14 Dec 94 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.25 in, 550 Oe, 425 ft (QIC-80, 170 MB). | qic160a.pdf |
| QIC-161 | D | 13 Dec 95 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.315 in, 550 Oe, 750 ft (QIC-80 wide, 400 MB). | qic161d.pdf |
| QIC-162 | E | 20 Mar 96 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.315 in, 900 Oe, 750 ft (QIC-3010 and QIC-3020 wide). | qic162e.pdf |
| QIC-163 | C | 20 Jun 96 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.315 in, 1,800 Oe, 400 ft (QIC-3210). | qic163c.pdf |
| QIC-164 | D | 20 Mar 96 | Servo-burst, track-ID minicartridge, 0.315 in, 900 Oe, 740 ft (QIC-3095). | qic164d.pdf |
| QIC-165 | C | 28 Aug 96 | Unrecorded cartridge, 0.25 in, 900 Oe, 1,000 ft (QIC-3010 to QIC-3050). Scanned cover. | qic165c.pdf |
| QIC-166 | C | 28 Aug 96 | Unrecorded cartridge, 0.315 in, 900 Oe, 1,000 ft (QIC-3010 to QIC-3050). Scanned cover. | qic166c.pdf |
| QIC-167 | B | 28 Aug 96 | Unrecorded cartridge, 0.25 in, 550 Oe, 1,000 ft (QIC-80). Scanned cover. | qic167b.pdf |
| QIC-168 | B | 28 Aug 96 | Unrecorded minicartridge, 0.315 in, 550 Oe, 1,000 ft (QIC-80 wide, 500 MB). | qic168b.pdf |
| QIC-169 | D | 23 Apr 97 | Unformatted servo-written cartridge, 0.25 in, 1,650 Oe, 1,500 ft. | qic169d.pdf |
| QIC-170 | D | 13 May 96 | Preformatted minicartridge, 0.315 in, 900 Oe: the preformatting used by QIC-164 and QIC-173. | qic170d.pdf |
| QIC-173 | C | 28 Aug 96 | Servo-burst, track-ID cartridge, 0.315 in, 900 Oe, 990 ft (QIC-3095). | qic173c.pdf |
| QIC-175 | B | 28 Aug 96 | Unrecorded cartridge, 0.315 in, 1,850 Oe, 1,000 ft (QIC-3210). | qic175b.pdf |
| QIC-180 | A | 27 Aug 97 | Servo-burst, track-ID minicartridge, 0.315 in, 1,650 Oe, 740 ft (QIC-3220). | qic180a.pdf |
Cleaning and identification¶
| Standard | Revision | Date | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIC-147 | C | 13 Dec 95 | Cleaning cartridge recognition. Scanned; no text layer. | qic147c.pdf |
| QIC-176 | A | 28 Aug 96 | Cleaning cartridge recognition with a light prism. | qic176a.pdf |
| QIC 90-14 | S | 24 Apr 97 | 5.25 in data cartridge identification table (QIC-121 table 9-20A). | qic90-14s.pdf |
| QIC 91-16 | S | 24 Apr 97 | 3.5 in minicartridge identification table (QIC-121 table 9-20A). | qic91-16s.pdf |
| QIC 95-101 | E | 25 Sep 97 | Medium type and density codes (a Hewlett-Packard proposal). | qic95-101e.pdf |