A while back my external CD player to tape adapter went on the fritz because the tape deck would keep thinking the end of the tape had been reached and would make a little click over sound to ...

Over the years, manufacturers developed a variety of “auto-reverse” systems that allowed a cassette deck to play a full tape without user intervention.

Interesting Engineering and Watson both note that most tape decks incorporate an auto-reverse feature designed to be triggered when the supply of tape inside the cassette finishes.

It’s just an auto-reversing cassette deck movement stripped bare of all useful appurtenances, like a way to fast forward or rewind.

If you had the latter option, you didn't want thieves smashing your window and liberating that auto-reverse tape deck!