richv@hpindda.HP.COM (Rich Van Gaasbeck) (11/11/87)
Although my Apple ][+ has been very reliable during the last six
years (sticky space bar fixed under warranty, failed power supply
replaced for $50), it is now having disk problems. It seems that my
floppy drive is no longer capable of writing. For instance when I
try to save a file the disk spins, I hear the head moving but when I
do a catalog the file is not there. I tried initing the disk but
immdiately get a disk error. The drive seems to boot and read just
fine, it just won't write. Does anyone have any ideas?
So far I have tried reseating all connectors and the controller
board, cleaning the head, trying different mother board slots,
different floppies and poking around with my logic probe and multimeter.
I'm not sure what I should do next. Some of my ideas are:
1) Take it to an Apple dealer and have it fixed. This looks
to be a rather expensive option as I am sure labor rates are
around $50 per hour and I think the current favorite
microcomputer repair technique is to replace the entire
controller board or disk drive.
2) If I knew which part was bad (controller or disk drive)
I could just replace it with an immitation (e.g. JDR or some such).
3) Find the book I saw in a bookstore a few years ago that
explained how to fix your Apple yourself. (Anybody know the
name of this book and where I can get it)?
4) Hope for a response from the net from someone with the
same problem. (e.g. "Oh, you've got the ol' lose wunder
widget problem.")
5) Find a dealer/user group/friend in the bay area that will
let me borrow a controller card and disk drive. This will
allow me to at least figure out if the problem is my disk
drive or controller. Anyone have a favorite dealer or user
group between Palo Alto and San Jose?
6) Replace every socketed chip on the controller and analog
board. It cann't cost too much, but if the problem is a
transistor, cap, resistor or the disk head I have just wasted
some time and money.
7) Narrow the problem to a particular discrete component and
replace it. Analog electronics is not my strongest suit, all
I have to work with is a multimeter and a logic probe and
since I don't have a working drive to compare to or service manuals,
I doubt I'll be successfull.
8) Filling it with potting soil and putting it on the back
porch. :-(
Any advise is welcome.
BTW, my exact hardware is 1981 Apple ][+, genuine apple disk ][ and
controller.
***********************************************************************
* Rich Van Gaasbeck |{ucbvax, hplabs}!hpda!hpinddu!richv [UUCP] *
* |richv@hpinddu [SMTP] *
* Disclaimer: I am not an official representative of my employer, *
* I don't even wear a tie. ;-) *
***********************************************************************kamath@reed.UUCP (Sean Kamath) (11/17/87)
In article <6230001@hpindda.HP.COM> richv@hpindda.HP.COM (Rich Van Gaasbeck) writes: > It seems that my >floppy drive is no longer capable of writing. For instance when I >try to save a file the disk spins, I hear the head moving but when I >do a catalog the file is not there. I tried initing the disk but >immdiately get a disk error. The drive seems to boot and read just >fine, it just won't write. Does anyone have any ideas? I've had this problem before. . . >So far I have tried reseating all connectors and the controller >board, cleaning the head, trying different mother board slots, >different floppies and poking around with my logic probe and multimeter. but you didn't mention the important thing. . . >I'm not sure what I should do next. Some of my ideas are: > > 1) Take it to an Apple dealer and have it fixed. This looks > to be a rather expensive option as I am sure labor rates are > around $50 per hour and I think the current favorite > microcomputer repair technique is to replace the entire > controller board or disk drive. last resort! > 2) If I knew which part was bad (controller or disk drive) > I could just replace it with an immitation (e.g. JDR or some such). Depending on what it it, good idea! > 3) Find the book I saw in a bookstore a few years ago that > explained how to fix your Apple yourself. (Anybody know the > name of this book and where I can get it)? Not that great a book. Ok for "use pencil eraser to clean card edges" type stuff, but most of them are lacking in useful information. more later. > 4) Hope for a response from the net from someone with the > same problem. (e.g. "Oh, you've got the ol' lose wunder > widget problem.") Oh, you've got a loose wundar widget problem. > 5) Find a dealer/user group/friend in the bay area that will > let me borrow a controller card and disk drive. This will > allow me to at least figure out if the problem is my disk > drive or controller. Anyone have a favorite dealer or user > group between Palo Alto and San Jose? Good idea, as you need two drives. Really! > 6) Replace every socketed chip on the controller and analog > board. It cann't cost too much, but if the problem is a > transistor, cap, resistor or the disk head I have just wasted > some time and money. There are thrre chips that blow, and then you replace the logic board in the drive. While I can supply you with the chips (the numbersm I mean) this I think shall not fix the problem. > 7) Narrow the problem to a particular discrete component and > replace it. Analog electronics is not my strongest suit, all > I have to work with is a multimeter and a logic probe and > since I don't have a working drive to compare to or service manuals, > I doubt I'll be successfull. But you overlook the obvious. > 8) Filling it with potting soil and putting it on the back > porch. :-( Last resort. See 1). >Any advise is welcome. > >BTW, my exact hardware is 1981 Apple ][+, genuine apple disk ][ and >controller. > >*********************************************************************** >* Rich Van Gaasbeck |{ucbvax, hplabs}!hpda!hpinddu!richv [UUCP] * >* |richv@hpinddu [SMTP] * >*********************************************************************** OK, folks. One more time, I will give me little speil. I worked in an Apple repair shop, I've read the manuals, and I have come to the conclusion that working on computers is like working on cars. Untill you've heard that particular little rattle before, you have no idea what's causing it. In this case, I suspect the ribbon cable. Really. This is a classic problem. However, if you take the drive to a dealer, he probably won't be able to figure it out, and by accident slip on a new cable and pronounce it fixed and charge you $75. It's not really there fault, as last I saw Apple had made no mention of the ribbon cable being a problem in the tech troubleshooting section. I don't know why. Just get a new one from JDR or someone. It's a straight through 20 pin standard plug dealie. The procedure to find out what's wrong is basically this. Get a known working drive *and* controller card if possible. See if it works in your machine. This may be replacing drive 1 with drive 2, as I do. If the second one works, then it is either the cable, the analog card, the power card, the drive heads, or an alignment/speed problem. You can check the speed with copy ][+ or somesuch. So, start off with the easy part. Swap cables. No one *ever* does this. I think it's the easiest thing to do. You don't have to unscrew the analog card, or anything like that. Just open up both drives and switch the cables. Nothing could be easier. Just keep swapping parts (*one at a time*!) until the first drive works. I like to put the suspected bad part in the known working drive just to make sure. If you end up switching all the easily swapped pieces (this does not include chips, as if you swap the analog card, you are in essense swapping all the chips at once) then you have got a problem. It may be a "trivial" as an alignment problem, but that is not easy to fix without the right tools. Most notably a scope. I applaud your attempt to fix it yourself, and hope this helps. But remember people, swap *everything* you can. Good luck! Sean Kamath -- UUCP: {decvax allegra ucbcad ucbvax hplabs ihnp4}!tektronix!reed!kamath CSNET: reed!kamath@Tektronix.CSNET || BITNET: reed!kamath@Berkeley.BITNET ARPA: tektronix!reed!kamath@Berkeley <or> reed!kamath@hplabs US Snail: 3934 SE Boise, Portland, OR 97202 (I hate 4 line .sigs!)