[TMWNN]

>(I managed to synchronize the tape drive properly only once and played "Winter Games")

Odd; the Commodore Datasette is about as reliable as a microcomputer tape storage system can be, far more so than the tin cans-on-a-string designs of Sinclair and TRS-80. Did you attempt to use a regular cassette recorder with a third-party adapter?

[syntex]

I think there were alignment programs for the Datasette. It played a constant tone or signal that would show whether the head was properly aligned. I think it was on on cartridge that I didn't have. And actually as a young kid I didn't know about this alignment thing. Learned years later after switching to Amiga 500.

[kybernetyk]

Hmm, same here. I had a Datassette 1530 C2N but never managed to load anything really. I think once or twice it worked.

My parents even sent it in for repair but it came back as "it's not broken".