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From: mwoodwar@eecs.wsu.edu (woodward matthew d    - CS350)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Re: Help!  My 1050 has stopped working...
Keywords: 1050 failure.
Message-ID: <1991Mar14.224508.18251@eecs.wsu.edu>
Date: 14 Mar 91 22:45:08 GMT
References: <824@antares.Concordia.CA>
Reply-To: mwoodwar@yoda.UUCP (woodward matthew d)
Organization: Washington State University, Pullman
Lines: 18

Annoying noise and refusal to boot sounds like a track zero sensor failure
to me.  I got a new sensor from one of the Atari parts havens (Don't remember
any names right now...)  It didn't cost more than $10 and was simple to put in.
The track zero sensor is located on top of the drive mechanism (if I remember
correctly) and is kind of C shaped.  When the head is moved all the way to
the outside of the disk, there is a tab which goes into the C shaped sensor.
This is a common failure of the 1050, and I hadn't even diagnosed my drive
for sure, but ordered one anyway, it works fine.  I think when I turned my
drive on, it would step forward about 1/8th of an inch.  If I
kept turning it off and on  until it reached the
end of it's travel (the center of the disk), then it would make a horrible
grinding noise and come back to the outiside of the disk. (I did this with 
the disk drive disconnected from the computer).  Usually when you turn the 
drive on, if it is at track zero, it steps out 1/4 inch or so, and returns to
the sensor.  If it is anywhere else on the disk, it just returns to track zero.

	Any questions, mail to mwoodwar@yoda.eecs.wsu.edu
	Matt Wodoward