null@pawl.rpi.edu (Nathan L. Lim) (04/26/89)
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. Limgreyelf@WPI.WPI.EDU (Michael J Pender) (04/26/89)
> A few years back ('86?) I bought the Central Point 3.5 drive along with the >Disk Controller Card... >...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... > -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 I had the same problems on my Laser 128 (old version of rom required a UDC card). I too thought it was the drive, and had it replaced. Problems developed first with formatting/writing to disks, huh? At least mine did. The drive swap did me no good, so I sent the UDC card back. No problems since. My card was out of warranty, but I sent along a copy of the receipt for the new drive and they just sent me a new card for free, since it was clear I'd been having problems for some time. Try having the UDC replaced. -- Michael J Pender Jr Box 1942 c/o W.P.I. I wrote SHELL and Daemon, greyelf@wpi.bitnet 100 Institute Rd. send bug reports, suggestions, greyelf@wpi.wpi.edu Worcester, Ma 01609 checks to me.
thrash@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US (Richie Tozier) (04/27/89)
I had some problems with the 5 1/4' of theirs on my friends laser 128...
they problem with his was the handle drive door not pushing hard enough
on the diskette..as far as i can tell their drives are CHEAPLY made...
i suspect the problem is similar with the 800k drives..please explain
how it acts up...ie does some programs/disks work fine with it and others
dont? .. also i had a problem with a apple 800k drive back a while..the problemn
with it was that the little thing (arm?) that pushed the metal cover on the
disk over was messed up (bent upwards) and most of the time the disk cover
on the 3.5 disk wouldnt open...in other words the drive would be trying to read
through the metal cover...(ughh)../.
Please though tell what its doing and i might be able to help ya out...
Thrashing Rage / TVH | I'll tell you once, I don't mess around
| I'll do what I can to bring you down
UUCP: {killer!}jolnet!thrash | Your loud-mouth approach won't get you far
ARPA: bellcore@csustan | You're beyond reproach; you're among the godsprl3546@tahoma.UUCP (Philip R. Lindberg) (04/29/89)
From article <1686@rpi.edu>, by null@pawl.rpi.edu (Nathan L. Lim): > > 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. > -Can anyone out there share their experiences with Central Point 3.5 drives? > I have had my C.P. 3.5 drive/controller for about 2 years. I used it with my //e and then, since last year, with my //gs. I have had no problems with it. On my //e it was my primary data drive; on my //gs it is used for all sorts of things, (boot drive, data drive, sort drive, etc.) I have a 5.25 drive (micro-psi) as drive one and my C.P. 3.5 as drive two. Both drives are used with all versions of ProDOS (including GS/OS), DOS 3.3 and the 5.25 is used with CP/M and Pascal O/S's. (note: I also have an Apple 3.5) > -Has anyone else had the same problems? > No. > -Has anyone else *NOT* had the same problems? :) > Yes. > -Does anyone know how to fix the problem? > No. Since the drive swap didn't help, it could be a "heat problem" with the controller card?.... > Thanks for the help in advance - Nathan L. Lim +---------------------------------------------------------+ | The Apple //'s will live forever!! | | Phil Lindberg snail mail: 13845 S.E. 131 ST | | INET: prl3546@tahoma.UUCP Renton, WA 98056 | | UUCP: ..!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!shuksan!tahoma!prl3546 | | Disclaimer: I don't speak for my employer (and I not | | sure they even know I exist....) | +---------------------------------------------------------+
null@pawl.rpi.edu (Nathan L. Lim) (05/01/89)
In article <596@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US> thrash@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US (Richie Tozier) writes: >Please though tell what its doing and i might be able to help ya out... Well, I thought I had explained it well enough the first time, but since you request a better one... The drive, a 3.5 inch Central Point unit runs off of the UDC (Universal Disk Controller: also CPS made) in my Apple IIGS. Ever so often, rather sporatically, I will turn on the GS in an attempt to get something useful (or maybe non-useful as the case may be) done. When I turn the computer on, the 3.5 drive will make a noise which sounds like (and is) the head moving back and forth as the stepper motor seems to have a fit. This continues until I either turn the computer off or hit reset. When this *does* happen, I can not boot up with any disk. It happens when I turn on the computer whether or not a diskette is in the drive. (obviously not related to a specific diskette). The problem comes and goes of it's own accord. Sometimes the drive works and sometimes it doesn't. Once turned on and running correctly, it seems to be able to continue to work correctly. I do not think the problem is the UDC card because I plugged the drive into the back of my Apple 3.5 drive (daisy chained it) to see what would happen. This is not supposed to work normall, but I thought I might see what it would do. The moment power is supplied, the drive goes into a fit of stepper motor madness again. Any further questions? - Nathan L. Lim (NuLL)
Kreme@cup.portal.com (Lewis Kreme Butler) (05/03/89)
Re: Problem with 3.5" and UDC card in GS... Well, it sounds like a UDC problem to me. Especially considering you have had the same trouble with two drives. Try sending your UDC to Lazer (CPS has sold the Lazer and UCD rights to Lazer, a break-away company. CPS is just doin software now) in Illinois and see if they can fix the problem. -kreme@cup.portal.com
Dig@cup.portal.com (Doug I Granzow) (05/04/89)
Central Point Software is now owned by Video Technologies, Inc., which used to "co-sell" the Laser 128 computers (notice Laser is spelled with an s, not a z). Central Point Software is "A Video Technology Company" (quote from any recent CPS ad) and Laser Computer was created, also owned by Video Technologies. (Video Technologies also makes a number of child-oriented electronic products) I have never had a problem with my CPS 3.5" drive, except for a problem on one computer where it refused to boot on powerup (allowing it to warmup would fix the problem). It is slow and noisy, but it works. I did have a problem with the cable between the drive and card once, and I fried the UDC card on another occasion. Since you say you hooked it up directly to the computer without the UDC, that seems to narrow it down to 1) Your original bad drive that CPS couldn't find a problem with was replaced by another bad drive, or 2) the cable is bad. Of course, there are always possibilities that noone has thought of yet, and that even a mind as powerful as mine :) cannot come up with. And it is possibl that the problem was of a random enough nature that CPS couldn't find it, even though it did exist. (This has happened to me several times.) Good luck. Doug Granzow sun!portal!cup.portal.com!dig
greyelf@WPI.WPI.EDU (Michael J Pender) (05/04/89)
Actually its Laser Computer, and I had a similar problem with my UDC card. I thought it was the drive, but the problem stayed when I changed drives, but disappeared when I changed cards. Mike.