wjb@rayssd.ray.com (Bill Brogan) (02/03/88)
My 1541 drive is in need of alignment. I have seen a couple of alignment
kits (how to manuals, and some sort of disk) in a couple of the Commodore
magazines. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any of these
and could recommend one.
Or, could I do it without buying something like that? That didn't seem
likely. Thanks for any help.
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(Bill Brogan--wjb@rayssd.RAY.COM){gatech,ihnp4,linus,mirror,uiucdcs}!rayssd!wjb
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"That's where you're wrong, wraith." - Captain AmericaGeoffrey_Welsh@watmath.waterloo.edu (02/03/88)
> My 1541 drive is in need of alignment. I have seen > a couple of alignment > kits (how to manuals, and some sort of disk) in a couple > of the Commodore > magazines. I was wondering if anyone had any experience > with any of these > and could recommend one. > > Or, could I do it without buying something like that? > That didn't seem > likely. Thanks for any help. I used a package called "DiskAligner". Basically it was a disk with a couple of utilities to tell the drive controller to do certain things (keep the drive spinning and constantly seek track 18, move 1 track, move 2 tracks) and a manual telling you how to use them to do alignments. First of all, I should point out that TRUE alignment disks are VERY expensive (in the three+ digits before the decimal point) and require equipment like scopes to use properly. The alignment packages are just approximations on a true aligment and are only as good as your eye and the accuracy of the disk you decide to use as an alignment model. About the best home alignment procedure is to have a utility on the computer telling the disk to read a sector on a certain track (preferrably near the centre of the disk, like 18) repeatedly. With this running on a disk that you know is reasonably well aligned (beware: not all commercial disks are well-aligned!), loosen the screws that prevent the stepper motor from rotating and find two consecutive rotational positions that cause the 1541 to error out. The assumption is that the centre of the track is exactly in between the two positions you've found (which should be dead centre between tracks). Again, this is only an approximation and you could be un-aligning the drive as much as aligning it. If you can afford it, pay for a factory alignment (Commodore Canada doesn't actually align the drives... they EXCHANGE the drive unit with manufacturer-checked drives; people don't know what they're getting for the price they're complaining about!) at least once in a while... Geoff --- ConfMail V3.31 * Origin: The Waterloo Window: WOC's out there? (1:221/171)
dwl10@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) (02/04/88)
In article <1802@rayssd.ray.com> wjb@rayssd.ray.com (Bill Brogan) writes: > > My 1541 drive is in need of alignment. I have seen a couple of alignment >kits (how to manuals, and some sort of disk) in a couple of the Commodore >magazines. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any of these >and could recommend one. > > Or, could I do it without buying something like that? That didn't seem >likely. Thanks for any help. > SAMS has a book on repairing the 1540/1541/1542 disk drives. In it they describe a procedure fo alligning the driving using a volt meter and a "video detector". The video detector is easily constructed from $8.00 worth of stuff from Radio Shack. I use their procedure, and it works great. They also have a procedure to use a O-Scope, if yor're lucky enough to have one. The book should be avaliable at most book stores. > >-- > ________________________------_________________________------_________________ >(Bill Brogan--wjb@rayssd.RAY.COM){gatech,ihnp4,linus,mirror,uiucdcs}!rayssd!wjb > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > "That's where you're wrong, wraith." - Captain America -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Familiarity breeds attempt" Dave Lowrey Amdahl Corp. Houston, Texas (713)-850-8828 ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs,oliveb}!amdahl!dwl10 [ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily those of his most eminent employer. ]