Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!batcomputer!rpi!pawl14.pawl.rpi.edu!null
From: null@pawl.rpi.edu (Nathan L. Lim)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Central Point 3.5 inch disk drives
Summary: Do they work?
Keywords: problems, problems & more problems
Message-ID: <1686@rpi.edu>
Date: 25 Apr 89 17:31:21 GMT
Sender: usenet@rpi.edu
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Lines: 30


    A few years back ('86?) I bought the Central Point 3.5 drive along with the
Disk Controller Card which was supposed to be able to handle the normal 5.25
drives as well as the 3.5's.  At that point in time, I used them with my Apple
II+.  The worked fine.  Later that year, I bought an Apple IIGS (using it now).
And I hooked the 3.5 drive up to the GS (using the controller card) and it
also worked for a while.  After approximately a year, the drive started acting
up.  When the computer was turned on, the drive head would move vigorously back
and forth as the stepper motor went beserk.  The vibrating could be both felt
and heard.  And (as you would expect) the drive wouldn't boot, read, or write.
This would occur sporatically now and then.  Sometimes it would work and 
sometimes it  wouldn't.  Finally I took   the thing apart to see if I could fix
it.  However, this worked to no avail.  In the summer of '87 I finally sent it
back to Central Point and they sent back a brand new one with a note saying
that they could find nothing wrong with the previous unit however, they
replaced it with a brand new (no charge!).  This one worked like the previous
one.  It operated perfectly for a while and a couple of weeks ago, it started
acting up again.  I'm about ready to pull my hair out.  Luckily I've got
an Apple 3.5 so I'm not stuck with a non operational computer, but it's still
quite bothersome.  

   -Can anyone out there share their experiences with Central Point 3.5 drives?

   -Has anyone else had the same problems?
   
   -Has anyone else *NOT* had the same problems? :)

   -Does anyone know how to fix the problem? 

          Thanks for the help in advance - Nathan L. Lim