External floppy drive maintenance help.

[Sinphaltimus]

OK, after reading some old floppy disks, my external DF1: has not worked correctly. It gets a lot of block errors on known good disks and it can't format anything.

I already purchased and used a floppy cleaner disk with no improvement.

I have three questions:

1. Since I have the original internal floppy, can I just transplant that into the external case? It's currently unused due to GoTek acquisition.

2. What is the best method for cleaning the heads? I'm guessing no on cotton swaps so wondering what is used.

3. I recall having a disk drive alignment utility back in the day. What are your thoughts on those and are there instructions for making the mechanical adjustments or it is something the software alone can handle?

[Daedalus]

Cotton buds and 99% IPA are fine once you're gently and don't leave any fluff behind. But it's difficult to get at them properly without taking the cover off the drive.

As for transplanting the drive, that should work just fine. There's an extra small circuit in the casing, but the mechanism itself is essentially the same. You might have to change the drive ID jumper (DS0/DS1) to match - I can't remember if that was the case for mine (I used an external drive as an internal drive when I towered my A1200), but it seems familiar.

Aligning the heads is a mechanical thing, but you need software to tell you the current state of the heads. It's a fiddly and often frustrating job so most people just replace the drive, but you've nothing to lose by trying other than patience The specifics will vary depending on the software, but it typically involves having a known good disk in the drive, making a small adjustment and checking the readings in the software to see if they're better or worse. Drives will vary too, but it's usually a case of adjusting the track 0 stop first for one head, and then adjusting the other head relative to the first, all involving tiny little screws. Both adjustments may not be necessary depending on the state of the drive, so check out the instructions for the software to try and diagnose the problem first.

[prowler]

I was about to respond to the OP when I received a PM.

However, I am in full agreement with Daedalus' suggestions above, and have nothing to add, except that it's not certain whether the internal drive mechanism will fit in the external enclosure with the cover replaced, but I don't imagine you're expecting this to be a permanent solution.

[Sinphaltimus]

Thanks both of you - My end goal is to put this whole thing in a tower case as my A500 case is falling apart. I will take it apart and clean it the best I can and see how that goes. If it still fails, I'll most likely transplant the internal so that I have a known working good drive then i can get a disk alignment adf written to floppy for further analysis.

I appreciate both answers - you've given me something to go on. I'll report back once I get around to doing all this and let you know how it turned out. I may even take photos for the record and sharing.

[prowler]

Good luck with that!

I would suggest that you start a new thread for that project in either the Hardware mods or Hardware pics Sub-Forum, depending on whether you decide to include photos of your work.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by Sinphaltimus

3. I recall having a disk drive alignment utility back in the day. What are your thoughts on those and are there instructions for making the mechanical adjustments or it is something the software alone can handle?

To adjust head alignment, you need an original alignment reference disk. If you just write one yourself, then it is no better than the drive you're writing it from..

[ElectroBlaster]

I would like to add that the drive could possibly have a bad capacitor on it!

Another one could be a bad drive belt. I have a pair of slimline Roctec externals that required the belts changing (one very fiddly job).

It is amazing how one tiny electrolytic capacitor can cause so much trouble! but I acquired a bunch of dead drives with this problem and I got almost of all of them working again! I had the same issues, good disks not reading, showing errors, drive showing DF1:?? etc.

What model external drive do you have?

[Sinphaltimus]

@demolition - True.
@ ElectroBlaster - Sticker on it says Cumana Cax 354

[ElectroBlaster]

Originally Posted by Sinphaltimus

@ ElectroBlaster - Sticker on it says Cumana Cax 354

Does it have a metal or plastic outer case?

I have two variants here! The common one is plastic that kind of clips together, the other is metal, has screws on its base and has a drive with a deeper front panel that would look normal in an A1500/A2000.

[Sinphaltimus]

Originally Posted by ElectroBlaster

Does it have a metal or plastic outer case?

I have two variants here! The common one is plastic that kind of clips together, the other is metal, has screws on its base and has a drive with a deeper front panel that would look normal in an A1500/A2000.

Plastic.

[Daedalus]

Yep, good point - dead or dying capacitors can cause all sorts of problems due to the sensitive nature of the drive's electronics. Any noise at all can upset the signal. Drive belt should be easy to diagnose - you won't hear the floppy spinning, only a buzz or hum from the motor. But most slimline drives are direct drive design, with a flat motor built directly onto the spindle.

[Sinphaltimus]

I may open it up today. have to see how my day goes...

[idrougge]

Indeed I have rescued four TEAC drives from the dead by replacing one capacitor.

[Sinphaltimus]

Meh, I cleaned the drive and it still cannot format cylinder 0 on any floppy I use whether it be an original 880k or an HD with tape on it. Going to try the internal floppy transplant in to external case next.

[Amiga1992]

You sure your disks are A-OK? Usually when I get that error, it's a bit-rotten disk.

[Sinphaltimus]

I've tried with old and new disks (new HD with tape over hole) and get the same results.

If I do a quick format instead of regular format I get a seek failure.

Also, I cannot do the internal drive installed in external case because the ribbon cable connection and power connections are swapped . internal, power on right (looking from back) ribbon on left, external ribbon is on right and power is on left. looks like I no longer have a real floppy disk drive on my Amiga. It's GoTek all the way from now on.

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by Sinphaltimus

I've tried with old and new disks (new HD with tape over hole) and get the same results.

Yeah, but have you tried them on a known-working floppy drive? That is the only way to ascertain.
Whether they are old or new doesn't matter, at this age, floppies are prone to bit-rot even if never used before.

In any case, switching to a floppy emulator is always the best choice when dealing with floppy issues.

[Sinphaltimus]

Well, the drive worked flawlessly up until recently.

Interesting, The GoTek has the connections i the same locations as the External drive so I may just put my (Last known working) internal floppy drive back in to the system and move my GoTek to the external casing. With a jumper change of course.

I will have to do that to see if the internal drive still works fine - eventually it's all go0ing in to an ATX tower case. I originally didn't put the GoTek external because I wanted to do the LCD mod on it, but that may not matter now if I am going in a tower case. I'll still be able to do the LCD mod if I install the external DF1 inside of the tower case.

Only time will tell. so many projects right now. I have a bunch of floppy disks (if they are good) that I want to make ADFs for - I should probably just google them to see if the ADFs already exist.

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by Sinphaltimus

I have a bunch of floppy disks (if they are good) that I want to make ADFs for - I should probably just google them to see if the ADFs already exist.

If you have stuff that needs imaging, I can help you out, don't hesitate in dropping me a PM, I'll turn it to ADFs for you.

[Sinphaltimus]

Duly noted - thanks.