dg49+@andrew.cmu.edu (David A. Gillespie) (01/19/90)
I am having a LOT of problems with external drives. After getting one around Christmas, I found out that it would give me read/write errors on brand new disks. So I took it back and got another one. I went to attach this one, and had the hardest time because when I would turn on the machine, the CAPS LOCK light would start flashing, and the keyboard would be dead. Finally, after getting it to work again, I soon discovered I had the same problem, with an additional twist: after reading the disk for awhile, it would suddenly come up with "YOU MUST replace volume ... in drive 1!!!!!!" or whatever that says. So I took that one back, too. Now I'm on my third drive and last night I had the same problem again, but this time I made sure I know how it happened. It seems that after formatting a disk on that drive (though I don't know if that's significant) and filling it with information, it's fine. The problem shows up when I delete a file and then try to put something else back on it. Then it gives me the "Read/write error on volume ...". Each time I brought back the drive, the dealer found the same problem on his machine. But before I took this third drive, he ran it all day on his system to make sure that there was nothing wrong, yet it has the same problem. At this point, he's blaming my machine. Could my Amiga 500 be causing this problem? If it is, how much is it going to cost me to have it fixed? Just as an aside, before I started using the external drive my printer worked fine, but now, the printhead is about shot. It's a thermal printer, and most of the pins aren't working. Could this be related? By the way (almost forgot), it's an "AIR drive", and the dealer says that they have only had four bad drives within the past sixth months, and I've had two of them. They also say that there was once a bunch of drives in a series that were all bad because they were missing a component, but that other people who have bought "AIR" drives have had no problems. Any help would be much appreciated, as I don't want to fix something that's not broken. Thanks in advance, Dave
phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti) (01/19/90)
In article <QZhaYpK00V41M6kUhD@andrew.cmu.edu> dg49+@andrew.cmu.edu (David A. Gillespie) writes: >Could my Amiga 500 be causing this problem? If it is, how much is it >going to cost me to have it fixed? It's not the A500. Read on. >By the way (almost forgot), it's an "AIR drive", and the dealer says ^^^ ^^^^^ (this is the problem) >that they have only had four bad drives within the past sixth months, >and I've had two of them. They also say that there was once a bunch of >drives in a series that were all bad because they were missing a >component, but that other people who have bought "AIR" drives have had >no problems. >Dave I also have the extreme misfortune of owning an Megatronics AIR drive; I posed about my many many problems with both the drives and the company on this system. To summarize: 1) AIR drives do NOT, repeat do NOT work reliably on A500 systems of any type. I telephoned them about this; the conversation went roughly along these lines; AIR> You have an A500, don't you? ME> Yes... AIR> Well, that's the problem. ME> You mean that the drive doesn't work right on the A500? AIR> Yeah, you shouldn't have bought the 500. ME> You are advertising this drive as being compatible with all Amiga systems. This is called fraud. About this time they agreed to let me send the drive in for evaluation (they said there was nothing wrong once it got there, but sent me a new one anyway. Twice. This would be good, except that it took mentioning the word "mail fraud" to get them moving...) In all fairness, I did eventually contact ONE person at AIR who could be civil on the telephone. Only one. I tried each of the three drives I got on multiple Amiga systems. NONE have worked right. The most recent will write correctly MOST of the time - the first two could not filecopy a the workbench disk without generating write errors. It also has the "disk popped out" delusions you describe. However, after fighting them for some many weeks, I decided that this was functional enough. 2) AIR/Megatronics knows about this problem and chooses to ignore it. I cannot more strongly urge against dealing with this company in any form shape or fashion. Their disregard for proper hardware - and in a couple of calls, stunningly insulting attitude - indicates an astounding degree of incompetence at their company. They blamed the problem on the A500 each time; either the CIA chip (checked out fine), the power supply (checked out fine; also am now using a Phoenix replacement unit, which did not fix the problem), and the motherboard (Why? I think it's called "grasping for straws") design. 3) Your Amiga is, in all probability, fine. I tried a different company's external drive when I was trying to get the AIR units working; it worked perfectly, passing all the tests I could throw at it. Power down, go back to the AIR drive, massive failures. 4) Get your money back if you can. Buy another company's external drive. I used a friend's California Access as a test unit; it seemed to work alright. My internal Commodore drive works great; maybe the Commodore external unit works as well - if it does, it'll be a nice, solid, unit. Anyway. Good luck - dealing with these guys, you'll need it. - R'ykandar. -- | R'ykandar Korra'ti, Editor, LOW ORBIT | phoenix@ms.uky.edu | CIS 72406,370 | | Elfinkind, Unite! | phoenix@ukma.bitnet | PLink: Skywise | QLink: Bearclaw |
marco@hprnd.HP.COM (Marco Gonzalez) (01/23/90)
You write:
>I am having a LOT of problems with external drives. After getting one
I have had a PHOENIX external drive for my Amiga500 for almost 2 years
with NO problems whatsoever. I have had to fix my INTERNAL drive twice
in this time!.
Regarding your problem, if your printer is not working anymore, it could be
an 8520 CIA chip, because some functions of the floppy (external) are handled
by one of the two 8520s and by a custom chip (Paula, I think).
Hope this helps.
Marco Gonzalez
Disclaimer: My opinions in no way reflect those of my employer.
I have nothing to do with PHOENIX manufacturer, I'm just a satisfied
customer!.