Amiga floppy drives

11 March 2011, 20:46

Hi any help would be appreciated just got my Amigas down from the loft and they now do not seem to boot anything?
One is a 500 the other is a 1200 have even tried two external drives and neither of them seem to boot either.
Took the cover of one of them and the plate thing attached to the screw thing does not seem to come forward.
Neither have been on since the 90s though!!!
Sorry for the vague description and if I have posted in the wrong place maybe time to look for a replacement?

DDNI · 11 March 2011, 20:59

hi welcome. As a starter for 10 check the disk sensor near the fromt of the floppy drive opening is moving freely. Also you should get yourself a floppy disk drive cleaner from Maplin.
Where were your floppies stored? They are more likely to be bad than the drive.

11 March 2011, 21:07

Hi thanks for the quick reply I actually had 3 amigas in total that would not boot but one of the 500s works now however i took the cover off the drive before it would work.
The software seems fine I have checked 15 ish games and none of them boot on the other 2 machines not even workbench but they work on the other one.
Is the disk sensor the two little pins near the write protect?

DDNI · 11 March 2011, 22:45

yes

LuMan · 14 March 2011, 14:05

Do the faulty miggys show the boot/insert disk screen? If they do, listen for the drive-click noise - I'm sure you know what to listen for

. If there's no drive click then it's likely the drive itself could be faulty.

If you don't even get the boot pic it could be something more sinister. If you've not already had the tops off it may be worth opening the computers up and checking for anything obvious on the mobo, such as moisture damage, bits of metal or dust shorting tracks, loose FDD ribbon or power header connection.

If it's been a good decade or so since they've been used it's worth giving them a bit of a clean up and service.

Hope this helps.

Hewitson · 17 March 2011, 15:40

Checking the cable should be the first step. I recently moved house and, believe it or not, the floppy cables on both my PC and my A2000 had come loose. What a coincedence!

11 March 2011, 20:46	#1
cinemawareman Posts: n/a	Amiga floppy drives Hi any help would be appreciated just got my Amigas down from the loft and they now do not seem to boot anything? One is a 500 the other is a 1200 have even tried two external drives and neither of them seem to boot either. Took the cover of one of them and the plate thing attached to the screw thing does not seem to come forward. Neither have been on since the 90s though!!! Sorry for the vague description and if I have posted in the wrong place maybe time to look for a replacement?

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11 March 2011, 20:59	#2
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,432	hi welcome. As a starter for 10 check the disk sensor near the fromt of the floppy drive opening is moving freely. Also you should get yourself a floppy disk drive cleaner from Maplin. Where were your floppies stored? They are more likely to be bad than the drive.

11 March 2011, 21:07	#3
cinemawareman Posts: n/a	Hi thanks for the quick reply I actually had 3 amigas in total that would not boot but one of the 500s works now however i took the cover off the drive before it would work. The software seems fine I have checked 15 ish games and none of them boot on the other 2 machines not even workbench but they work on the other one. Is the disk sensor the two little pins near the write protect?

11 March 2011, 22:45	#4
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,432	yes

14 March 2011, 14:05	#5
LuMan Amigan - an' lovin' it!! Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Nottingham, UK Age: 55 Posts: 557	Do the faulty miggys show the boot/insert disk screen? If they do, listen for the drive-click noise - I'm sure you know what to listen for . If there's no drive click then it's likely the drive itself could be faulty. If you don't even get the boot pic it could be something more sinister. If you've not already had the tops off it may be worth opening the computers up and checking for anything obvious on the mobo, such as moisture damage, bits of metal or dust shorting tracks, loose FDD ribbon or power header connection. If it's been a good decade or so since they've been used it's worth giving them a bit of a clean up and service. Hope this helps.

17 March 2011, 15:40	#6
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,773	Checking the cable should be the first step. I recently moved house and, believe it or not, the floppy cables on both my PC and my A2000 had come loose. What a coincedence!

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