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#Floptical Problems

8 messages in this thread

#120559From: Eddie StaskyNov 2, 1993 11:07 PM

John… If you want to try something send me your address e-mail and I'll lend you a pre formated disk or two and see what happens. Due to my busted drive I'm not using them at the moment… Eddie.Ski

#120610From: Paul WrightNov 3, 1993 4:55 PM

I appreciate the offer. I'll be glad to cover the postage. Paul Wright 4302 Rolling Stone Way Alexandria, VA 22306 I'm going to be exploring the termination question as soon as I get some time (a busy life) but your disk would remove some of the variables. Is it the drive or the Amiga that's busted? —–Paul—–

#120640From: Eddie StaskyNov 3, 1993 9:35 PM

It's the INSITE drive, one afternoon it screeched for a moment and then the moments became minutes. You could hear it all over the apt, I shut the drive off, wait a bit, turn it back on and it would be ok for a day or so. But then the day came when the drive ceased to opt at all. The DMI manual says to do a low level format, but I have heard its not needed. Never tried it without the low level.. As to the termination, that can be a lot of ????? Eddie.Ski

#120689From: BILL LEACHNov 4, 1993 7:33 AM

Eddie; I am jumping into the middle of this but your description of the noise from your drive sounds like "spindle binding" rather than a head crash. Noisy head are usually a "one time" event and the drive does not quite down when restarted. OTOH, the spindle bearings will often do what you described. -bill

#120745From: Eddie StaskyNov 4, 1993 9:32 PM

Bill… Thanks for that info on the spindles bearings.. Eddie.Ski

#120721From: Alexander G. M. SmithNov 4, 1993 6:31 PM

Interesting, must be a systematic failure. I've got a DMI external floptical drive and it can screech REALLY noisily. From what I can tell, it's the fan in the power supply. Guess it's bearings are too loose. Fortunately, it only goes into screech mode if the box is bumped, so I don't bump into it :-). – Alex

#120733From: Paul WrightNov 4, 1993 8:42 PM

When I had my first IBM XT it had a SEAGATE 225 20MB drive (more space than I could posssibly ever need). In its second year it developed an intermittent horrific grind, the kind of noise you would expect if you held a Dremel Moto-Tool against the disk surface. First time I leaped for the big red switch and was sure it would never run again. The drive never lost a byte. After a while I learned to let it run and just grind my teeth. Years later I read that the 225 had a spring ground strap against the spindle that would sometimes vibrate and scare the owner to death. —–Paul—–

#121127From: Ron LegroNov 8, 1993 2:27 PM

Eddie: My DMI/Insite drive started getting flakey and I had it repaired under warranty at Insite. They told me a non-warranty repair was on the order of $160 minimum, so I was a happy camper. The next time it goes, though… — Ron Legro from Milwaukee via AUTOPILOT (The only way to fly)