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From: bryce@hoser.berkeley.edu (Bryce Nesbitt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: noKLICKstart
Message-ID: <3617@zen.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sun, 6-Sep-87 08:46:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: zen.3617
Posted: Sun Sep  6 08:46:24 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Sep-87 21:08:09 EDT
References: <3897@well.UUCP> <3905@well.UUCP>
Sender: news@zen.berkeley.edu
Organization: Center-Tapped Solids, Inc.
Lines: 55
Keywords: El Cheapo Drives

In article <3905@well.UUCP> ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) writes:
>In article <3897@well.UUCP> sjm@well.UUCP (Stephen Moehle) writes:
>>
>> [noKLICKstart won't stop the clicking on my Matsushita drives]
>
>	Ten bucks says your drive doesn't observe track 0 detect.

Ten bucks?  I'll give you the address to send it.  Read on...


>	Apple pulled this stunt years ago.  "Lets save a few cents on the
>drive," they said.  "Let's leave out the track 0 detect switch," they said.
>"We'll just ram the head against the physical stop 39 times," they said.
>"It can't possibly do any harm; just give the user indigestion."

I believe it was 45 times.  You had to step 45 times to be *sure* that
you hit the stop to calibrated back to zero.  (1541's number,
don't know about Apple)

Stepen Moehle's drive *has* the track 0 detect switch.   It just does not
listen to it internally.  See the "Re: noKLICKstart" posting for the
details of what's wrong.  Basically the drive depends on the host to look
at /TRK0 instead of also disabling an outward /STEP at that time.  Darn
non-standard garbage.  :-(  (I consider Sony the standard for lack of an
ISO or ANSI spec)  

The old, old (Woz era) Apple drives used a plastic disk that held up well
to having no zero detect switch.  The //c and the DuoDisk use a more
"modern" disk mechanism -> designed to need a track zero detect; but
there is none.  I seriously wonder how many heart attacks that has
caused.  It is a very, very, loud, obnoxious sound.

The Commodore 1540 and 1541 suffered from the same difficulties, but not so
loud (The //c's case is specifically designed to amplify the noise :-).
Worse yet lots of protection schemes would bang the head.  (They have a
track zero sensor now, sort of)

Now most amazing of all was the maker of 1541 clones, The Comtel Group.
They purchased drives with track zero detect.  Now, get this -> They
*removed* them from each drive.  Arghhh!!


>	Sigh.

Sigh, sigh, SIGH, and double sigh.


>"Work FOR?  I don't work FOR anybody!  I'm just having fun."  -- The Doctor

Tell that to your employer. :-)

|\ /|  . Ack! (NAK, EOT, SOH)
{o O} . 
( " )	bryce@hoser.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!hoser!bryce
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