Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!mejac!gryphon!pnet02!bilbo From: bilbo@pnet02.cts.com (Bill Daggett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: A1000 Disk Drive Trouble Message-ID: <4425@gryphon.CTS.COM> Date: 11 Jun 88 18:00:17 GMT Sender: root@gryphon.CTS.COM Organization: People-Net [pnet02], Redondo Beach, CA. Lines: 91 sterling@cbmvax.UUCP (Rick Sterling QA) writes: >In article <4388@gryphon.CTS.COM> bilbo@pnet02.cts.com (Bill Daggett) writes: >> Over the last 1.5 years I have had a rare internal drive problem. >> All of a sudden a disk that has worked FINE when put into the internal drive >> (df0:) will make a "tick-like" sound at the rate of the disk speed (which I >> think is 300 rpm or so) and fail to WORK at all. Info gives "Unreadable disk" >> and trying Dir gives the requester "Not a DOS disk" or some such. >> >> When this disk is used in the external drive (df1:) it spins up nice and quiet >> and works fine. Further more, another disk placed in the internal drive works >> fine too. So, I suspect some dimensional change has occurred on the affected >> disk and that I have a dimensional difference somewhere in my floppy drives >> that amounts to this problem. The "ticking-like" sound probably slows the >> disk speed or causes it to be erratic enough that nothing gets read. I have >> been unable to determine EXACTLY what is rubing. Since the affected disks >> work fine in my other drive and other disks work fine in the internal drive I >> put the internal drive at fault somehow. >> >> The solution in the past (there have been about 3 previous disks that have >> acted up this same way in the last 1.5 years) has been to copy the data from >> the affected disk in the external drive to a good disk that works O.K. in the >> internal drive and throw the affected disk away. HOWEVER, this last time it >> occurred on my Marble Madness disk which is copy protected and things aren't >> so simple. >> >> Does anyone identify with this problem?? BTW, the drives are identical >> Matsushita JU-363-03 drives. Is there something I can "tweek" in the affected >> drive to make it more forgiving?? >> >> Once the "tick-like" sound develops it does not mysteriously disappear. >> Clearly something changed in the disk and something is more untolerant in the >> internal drive. >> >> Thanks in advance for any knowledge you can throw to me about this. >> >> Bill >> > > The 'ticking' sound is most probably caused by the disk drive spindle pin > failing to catch properly on the diskette's drive hub slot. Check for > foreign material in or on the diskette's metal hub and make sure the > diskette media turns freely. I've also seen an occasional diskette where the > drive slot on the hub is not to spec and will cause the intermitant problems. > >============================================================================= > Rick Sterling COMMODORE AMIGA TEST ENGINEERING > // /_ |\/||/_ /_ UUCP ...{allegra,ihnp4,rutgers}!cbmvax!sterling >\X/ / \| ||\// \ PHONE 215-431-9275 >============================================================================= > Everybody likes hard work ... especially when THEY'RE paying for it. >============================================================================= > > > This isn't intermittant. The disk has worked fine for several months, then all of a sudden starts making this short rubbing sound at about the rate of the disk speed. And in each of the 3 cases I have experienced NONE have ever started working right again. The spindle is clean. The disk turns very free and is comparable to other disks that work fine. The rubbing sound I think is enough to drive the disk speed down and that is why it fails to read properly. Since this is continuous NOTHING gets read properly and all the computer knows is that there is a disk there. I played a game of Marble Madness, stuck the disk in my shirt pocket and went off to a User Meeting (WAUG), didn't bump into anything, came home and attempted to boot it up for a nightcap game - nothing. I recognized the sound immediately from the 2 previous times. Is it possible that my body heat warped the media slightly? Outrageous thought isn't it? Now if a fox held the disk that might melt it! Hmmm... BTW, I tossed the disk a number of times against the wall, floor, ceiling, etc. all to no avail. The shutter came off and I tried booting without it but there was no change so the shutter nor the shutter spring gets no blame. AND, I can QuickNibble (God bless there being ways to defeat copy protection for personal archive) would make a nice copy from df1: to a blank disk in df0:... so there are two differences here. Something changed physically on the disk and there is some physical difference between my two drives. I appreciate the effort you are taking to try and resolve this. In the end I will of course send the disk back to Electronic Arts, pay whatever the outrageous going fee is, and be done with it - unless something simple is discovered here. Bill UUCP: {ihnp4!scgvaxd!cadovax rutgers!marque}!gryphon!pnet02!bilbo INET: bilbo@pnet02.cts.com * Sometimes The Dragon Wins! * Still looking for the best Amiga BBS software to resurrect Bilbo's Hideaway on - but not holding breath!