Join the Tinkerer as he works out why this Akai DX57 rewinds and forwards, but will not play.
The usual problem with ageing tape desks is rubber band drive belts which go saggy or decompose.
Using the official Akai maintenance manual I'll strip down this tape deck and get it playing again.
UPDATE: Thanks to @Gianluca4752 for this improvement on removing the wires:
" to remove the four flat cables connecting the front panel to the motherboard is not necessary to remove the white upper part of each connector, just push it downward (to open the contact springs) and gently pull the flat cable! You have, instead, to remove the upper part when later you will reinsert the four flat cables in order to lock the small contact springs of each connector."
