Looking for a disk tester to see if my 30-year old floppies are crap now

[krashd]

Firstly, sorry if this is in the wrong section but I couldn't find an Amiga help section so I posted here.

I recently got one of Rob Smith's DrawBridge doohickeys so I can now read all of my old disks into WinUAE, but I've already noticed that some come out with errors (they've been in my Mum's loft for 30 years).

What I want is some sort of sector checker software for Amiga or PC that let's me see if a disk is damaged or not before I waste my time trying to play it.

Back in the day I used to love the various X-Copy programs for copying disks because they gave you a grid of all 80+ tracks and showed you which were bad or not. Is there something like that I can load up on my PC, or in WinUAE (or even on my Amiga) that just shows me the disk sectors without me having to copy the disk?

Like a health check utility for floppies?

I have about 500 disks so it'd be great if I had something that could tell me which of them are still in working condition and which ones might need some TLC so I could separate them into two piles and go from there.


Cheers in advance.

[jotd]

X-Copy has a "check" mode. However it's not going to tell you if a custom-format (MFM) disk is damaged.

What I did is to try to install the game using whdload. If it works, it means that the disk is useable. If the disk is MFM (copy protected sector format) and can be read by whdload RawDIC install, then it's ok.

You probably want to clean the disks with isopropyl first, as a mouldy disk can put crap on your floppy drive head, then you have to clean the floppy drive!

[tommywiz]

Thanks for this info. Im in a similar situation with hundreds of old floppys .

[Photon]

Idea: it would be neat with some high-precision 3D printed caddy, like for early CD drives. It wouldn't have to snap together, and it could stick out of the drive. But then if you didn't care about the disk plastic for the disks, you could take only the discs out and clean them, and a known clean sleeve (or whatever the small cloth pieces inside are called).

There are sometimes problems with modern-OS disk writers that are not related to whether the disc is readable or not. For reading they should always report errors accurately? (I'm thinking some 'event' having priority over the disk reading causes a delay causing a false read error.)

A benefit of using an Amiga program with a map of error tracks is that you don't have to sit and listen for steady ticking. With others you might only stop at the first offending track, or get a summary.

If a disk is an original, it has a printed label, and is likely copy-protected. This means you can't use a standard disk copying program to check it. A few or all tracks may be non DOS standard and give a false error. You can verify by booting the disk in an Amiga compatible with the platform the original was released for. If it does, you must then use a raw imaging program to read it.

I would first recommend to inspect the general appearance of the disk by holding the flap open and rotating it, blowing dust away gently, looking at both sides. If it looks OK, it probably is.

The drive should be clean. Like Jotd, dirt can transfer to drive heads, so this applies to a PC disk drive as well. The PC drive could be unserviceable, in which case you can use a cleaning disc.

Alcohol is abrasive. Use only a few drops, and don't use pure alcohol.

You can also toss a bunch of disks (taken out of their plastic, just the hub and the magnetic disc) in a sink with tepid water and soap solution, let it sit for an hour or two, then rub them carefully one by one in a bowl with a sponge, then rinse with tepid water and dry for a day or two.

[jotd]

I have a 3D-printed floppy cleaning thingy. Nice to hold the flap open.

You can also toss a bunch of disks (taken out of their plastic, just the hub and the magnetic disc) in a sink with tepid water and soap solution, let it sit for an hour or two, then rub them carefully one by one in a bowl with a sponge, then rinse with tepid water and dry for a day or two.

okay but how to remove the plastic of a disc and mostly how to assemble it back again? I currently think that it's impossible to get it back.

[Photon]

Re: caddy

Originally Posted by jotd

I have a 3D-printed floppy cleaning thingy. Nice to hold the flap open.

Yeah, could be useful

Re: washing disks like dishes

okay but how to remove the plastic of a disc and mostly how to assemble it back again? I currently think that it's impossible to get it back.

Others have done this (taken out the magnetic discs and cleaned them with soap solution). The disks are pressed together, with tiny snap tabs on the inside, so you go around it with a thin, dull edge and snap it open, akin to how you open a TV remote. (I think there are some thin metal things similar to credit card used by mobile/laptop repairmen to wedge in between the glued parts? Anyone know? I'd like to get those.) I guess you could cut it with a carpet knife, but it could be destructive (as for TV remotes).

But it was meant for some way to clean disks in bulk. Cleaning through the flap doesn't do much if there's mold on the piece of cloth inside. I don't actually know how they then used them again, presumably they dispensed with the metal dust flap and just taped the halves with a thin tape. That's sort of like a caddy, I guess. Just a bit annoying replacing the tape, and if it opens inside the drive it will take some time to get it out. But tape is cheap.

[Karlos]

I think there are some thin metal things similar to credit card used by mobile/laptop repairmen to wedge in between the glued parts

For whatever reason, they're called "spudgers". There are some cheap mobile repair kits onlline that contain these and several other tools for separating screens and things and I've found to be very useful for getting into all kinds of things.

[jotd]

as everyone is requesting it ...

3D model of floppy cleaning kit. Not easy to get hold of as it's been in and out the websites (people use to sell the printed versions, what a bunch of scammers)

FloppyCleaningKit.zip

[ptyerman]

Fixdisk does what you are asking, it also attempts to repair any bad sectors/tracks that are detected, You can find it on Aminet or most other Amiga sites. Be careful with the repair option though as you could knacker up the disk if it detects the sector/track wrong, it's always best to order a re-read to see if the output is the same.
I repaired many a disk back in the day with that bit of software.

[jotd]

not efficient on games with custom MFM formatted sectors.

[giantclam]

Originally Posted by Karlos

For whatever reason, they're called "spudgers".

It's an old term from radio days, when you needed a non-inductive material tool to turn tuning slugs, capacitors etc. The name has stuck into the modern age, due to the similarities (physical properties and visual) between those tuning tools, and the 'spudgers' used today for opening enclosures etc....which is a completely different purpose than the original (1920's onwards) spudgers..

[Photon]

Originally Posted by Karlos

For whatever reason, they're called "spudgers". There are some cheap mobile repair kits onlline that contain these and several other tools for separating screens and things and I've found to be very useful for getting into all kinds of things.

Of course! How could I not have known. I need to get me some spudgers, for spudging. With this I can spudge a lot of things! Cheers.

Originally Posted by jotd

as everyone is requesting it ...

3D model of floppy cleaning kit. Not easy to get hold of as it's been in and out the websites (people use to sell the printed versions, what a bunch of scammers)

Attachment 79172

(In the voice of Dale the chipmunk): Thank you!

[a_crow]

Originally Posted by krashd

Firstly, sorry if this is in the wrong section but I couldn't find an Amiga help section so I posted here.

I recently got one of Rob Smith's DrawBridge doohickeys so I can now read all of my old disks into WinUAE, but I've already noticed that some come out with errors (they've been in my Mum's loft for 30 years).

I don't know if this applies to Drawbridge, but I've recently bought a Greaseweazle v4 and I have found that it can have trouble with discs that work perfectly fine on an actual Amiga.


I've had games that fail to boot using Greaseweazle, but work flawlessly in an Amiga and I've also had disks that spit out constant write/verify errors in GreaseWeazle but format and write without issue on real hardware.


I've tried two different floppy drives, so I don't think it's a hardware issue.


I don't know enough about how Drawbridge/Greaseweazle work on a low level so I can't offer an explanation as to why it could be happening, but in my limited experience just because a disc seems to be faulty doesn't mean it actually is on real hardware.