u/PresentCode

Yes, it was free, but I don't remember the name. I just searched the app store for "spectrum analyser" and downloaded a free one.

Does it have a hard disk (C drive)? If so, not all of the old ones auto park the heads when the drive is powered down. Is there a park.com or park.exe on the drive? If you move the machine without parking the heads, you will damage the heads and the drive surface. (Parking the heads moves them off the platter surface so they can move without touching the surface).

I've seen people on YouTube use leather paint to repair this sort of thing. You may have to mix red and white together to get the right shade of pink though.

Nice! r/cassette would love a cross post of this.

Best post this to r/cassette making sure to say the make and model of the player.

About 90% of faults on cassette player is down to the belt. As the belt slowly decomposes over the decades the first thing it does it stretch. A loose belt can't turn the spools in the cassette at the right speed because it's slipping. The electronics sees the reduced speed as the cassette having reached the end of the tape, and reverses play direction.

Even if it's not the belt, you should always change the belt first because the belt is the cause of so many different faults that you will be chasing your tail trying to fix issues without changing the belt first. Buy a belt specifically for your player. Generic belt kits are a last resort option, since you don't know how much the current belt has loosened, so selecting the right belt is difficult. Best to buy a belt that was made specifically for your player.

The 1.0MB is the unformatted capacity, so these are 720kB disks not 1.44MB disks. I haven't formatted a floppy disk in a whilst, so I'm not sure if the 1.44MB mentioned in your screenshot is referring to the drive or the disk. If it's the disk, then that is most likely why it's failing.

This is 100% a bootleg. In some countries they were sold openly as there was very little if any attempt to enforce copyright laws.

The "infrared" option will be something called "IRDA". If you have an old laptop, (pre 2010 I would guess) it might have an IRDA port built in. I know Toshiba used to, other vendors too, but I remember using a Toshiba laptop for this purpose.

Obligatory Techmoan video about Elcaset (and DCC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkGMJBqZawA

Was going to say, there's got to be a Techmoan video about this!

You're welcome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhJmm2t5Hwg ?

Use a little screwdriver or small knife to lift the tab up. It's designed to snap off for this very reason. If you need to record over it in the future, put tape over the hole.

The belts have stretched and need replacing.

I've banned them and removed the post. That's not cool of them.

Come join us over on r/cassette! :)

Your belt has perished and needs replacing. The cassette adapter doesn't use the drive from the player since there's no tape to move so it is unaffected by the slipping belt.