kjg@psuecla.BITNET (10/20/86)
I have a C128 and a 1571 and I was trying to use a program called
turboformat off of the "Compute's Gazette" monthly disk. The program
worked fine with the C64 and 1541 but when I ran it on the 1571 it locked
up my disk-drive. To exit the program you are supposed to press the F1
key instead of hitting reset. If you don't press F1 the head is left at track
35 or something. The article only said that if you didn't press F1 you might
have some problems.
So like a fool I ran the program and then hit reset instead of F1. Now
my 1571 won't do anything. When I tried resetting and then reading a directory
I get a read error. I tried to initialize, reset, unpluged all the cables and
replugged them, I tried the next day and the next day. So at this point my
1571 seems to be broke. My question is: did the software cause my 1571 to go
into some mode I can't get out of, or did it just happen to break while the
software was running.
If anyone knows how to recover from this problem, I would be extremely
gratefull. I don't know if I should send it out to get fixed or what!
Thanks in advance.
Ken Goodnowfred@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (Fred Bowen) (10/21/86)
> > I have a C128 and a 1571 and I was trying to use a program called > turboformat off of the "Compute's Gazette" monthly disk. The program > worked fine with the C64 and 1541 but when I ran it on the 1571 it locked > up my disk-drive. > > Ken Goodnow I haven't heard of this problem with 1571's, but I suppose it's the same problem as often occurs with most Commodore drives (IEEE or serial bus) whose heads have been pushed beyond normal limits- they get stuck. Although you said you initialized the drive (OPEN 15,8,15,"I"), that usually 'unsticks' the head by forcing the DOS to move the head to track 18 (often accompanied by the most horrible grinding sound...). If all else fails, you could open up the drive and, with your finger, gently push the head mechanism back from the 'hub' (that's where track 35 and beyond live). Don't do this with a disk installed, power on, or a valid warranty :-) You will find most 'turbo-hacker-back-um-uppers' that performed miracles for the sluggish 1541 will run afoul when used with a 1571. :-( -- Fred Bowen uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!fred arpa: cbmvax!fred@seismo.CSS.GOV tele: 215 431-9100 Commodore Electronics, Ltd., 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA, 19380
dwl10@amdahl.UUCP (Dave Lowrey) (10/21/86)
In article <402@PSUECLA> kjg@psuecla.BITNET writes: > > I have a C128 and a 1571 and I was trying to use a program called > turboformat off of the "Compute's Gazette" monthly disk. The program > worked fine with the C64 and 1541 but when I ran it on the 1571 it locked > up my disk-drive. To exit the program you are supposed to press the F1 > key instead of hitting reset. If you don't press F1 the head is left at track > 35 or something. The article only said that if you didn't press F1 you might > have some problems. > So like a fool I ran the program and then hit reset instead of F1. Now > my 1571 won't do anything. When I tried resetting and then reading a directory > I get a read error. I tried to initialize, reset, unpluged all the cables and > replugged them, I tried the next day and the next day. So at this point my > 1571 seems to be broke. My question is: did the software cause my 1571 to go > into some mode I can't get out of, or did it just happen to break while the > software was running. > If anyone knows how to recover from this problem, I would be extremely > gratefull. I don't know if I should send it out to get fixed or what! > > > Thanks in advance. > > Ken Goodnow I don't know about the 1571, but the 1541 can get it's head "stuck" beyond track 35. Many software copy protect schemes put data beyond track 35, and the drive's head will sometimes never return from there!!! The fix....open your drive up, and move the head back towards track one one (the outside edge of the disk). -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Lowrey "So it goes, so it goes, so it goes, so it goes. But where it's going, nobody knows" [Nick Lowe] ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs}!amdahl!dwl10 [ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily those of his most eminent employer. ]
kenneth@ukecc.UUCP (Kenneth Herron) (10/22/86)
>my 1571 won't do anything. When I tried resetting and then reading a directory >I get a read error. I tried to initialize, reset, unpluged all the cables and >replugged them, I tried the next day and the next day. So at this point my Try sending your drive a format command - the mandatory 45 outward head movements should *always* knock the head free, or you could just open up the drive and pull the head back a bit... My drive head occasionally gets stuck after running one of those 40-track copy programs...the format command has always gotten it loose and I've yet to open my drive (or experience misalagnment problems)... Ken the H