kuento@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (01/17/91)
HELLLLP! here's the situation: I bought a used 1040ST, and when it
arrived, it was soon on the fritz. It looked like head alignment
problems (thanx to those netters who helped then) - I brought it to
a local repair shop, but later found out the guy had never worked on
an Atari. It took him 2 MONTHS to finally say to me "It's a bad floppy
drive. You need a new one." He's asking 90 bucks for a new floppy
drive, says it'll be 80 dollars in labor to install it AND I DON'T
WANT TO GIVE THIS GUY A *DIME* IF I DON'T *HAVE* TO! Basically, I feel
that (a) he could be wrong (b) he could be lying (c) he could be
covering up some damage that *he* inflicted trying to figure things
out (d) he's been jerking my chain for two months, and wasn't honest
about knowing how to fix an Atari when I brought it to him (e) He also
says he'll have to "carve" the casing around the drive port so he can
fit the new drive in, and I don't much like the sound of that.
Incidentally, the drive he wants to sell me is a Chinon F354...is this
worth 170 bucks to have him put this in? I *seriously* wonder...
So, (A) IF I BUY AN EXTERNAL DRIVE, CAN THE MACHINE BE RESET SO IT
BOOTS OFF THE B DRIVE?? This would be a good quick fix, until I can
find someone else to install a new internal drive, or install one
myself. If this IS possible, where can I get a good external drive? I
have no access to mail-order stuff: I am a "new" Atari owner, and not
at all familiar with hardware support and distributors, or prices, or
such. That's why I'm turning to the Net for help!
(B) HOW EASY IS IT FOR ME TO BUY MY OWN INTERNAL DRIVE AND INSTALL
IT MYSELF? At least one person suggested, way back when, that I might
just want to buy a drive and install it myself - how easy is this to
do? Does it require special tools, etc? How do I obtain such a drive?
What kind of prices/models should I shoot for? Oh, yes - and HOW does
one go about fitting a new drive into the Atari's casing if it isn't
the exact same dimensions? ARE there drives that just pop in like they
were made for the ST? Again, HELP!
I need to know what my options are, asap, so I can go in there,
tell the guy to just *give me my computer back!*, and be doing the
right thing. I want to join the Atari family, at long last, but I want
to do it on MY terms! PLEASE e-mail advice/suggestions/mail-order
info, or anything that can rescue my computer from this guy's
clutches! Thanks a million to you all!
-------(please include "DY" in subj header of mail to this user)--------
Doug "Speaker-To-Insects" Yanega "UT!" Bitnet: KUENTO@UKANVAX
My card: 0 The Fool (Snow Museum, Univ. of KS, Lawrence, KS 66045)
"You can keep my things, they've come to take me home" - Peter Gabriel