paul@ucsfccb..ucsf.edu (Paul Green) (01/13/90)
A collegue has an old Mac 512K (upgraded from a 128K) which has recently developed a problem in ejecting floppy disks. Both his internal and external floppy drives no longer eject disks, but he is still able to by sticking a paper clip in the manual ejct hole. He says that he hears a mechanical noise when the Mac is "trying" to eject the disks. Does anyone have an idea what has happened? Is it coincidental that both internal and external drives have malfunctioned at the same time? Any information will be gratefully received, Thanks!
puklich@plains.UUCP (Blayne Puklich) (01/13/90)
In article <2713@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> paul@ucsfccb.UUCP (Paul Green) writes: >A collegue has an old Mac 512K (upgraded from a 128K) >which has recently developed a problem in ejecting >floppy disks. Both his internal and external floppy >drives no longer eject disks, but he is still able to >by sticking a paper clip in the manual ejct hole. He >says that he hears a mechanical noise when the Mac is >"trying" to eject the disks. > >Does anyone have an idea what has happened? Is it coincidental >that both internal and external drives have malfunctioned at the >same time? This isn't really a concidence thing. What may be occurring is that the two drives may have disk carriages (for lack of a better term) that are getting on in years. This means is that after a while, the spring which brings the carriage back up to eject the disk is so weak that it can't do the job. So, you need to either replace the spring or stretch it a bit. At the place I work at we see this occasionally, and the "stretch the spring" trick has been applied in a few cases, and it seems to work. As far as a "home" remedy, I can't subscribe (ack) one. I myself haven't had one of those drives apart, so I don't know what to do. But, maybe this will give you a general idea as to what *may* be happening with the two drives. Hope this helps at least a little. ||+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|| || Blayne Puklich puklich@Plains.NoDak.EDU "I think I'm going || || NDSU ACM Vice-Chair nopuklic@Vaxosaur.NoDak.EDU bald..." || || NDSU, Fargo, ND This space intentionally left -- Rush, from Caress || || (701) 237-4408 blank. of Steel, 1975 || ||-------------------------------------------------------------------------||
wwtaroli@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Bill Taroli) (01/13/90)
It does seem odd that the drives would fail to eject at the same time, although you may want to look into something that I had a problem with when cleaning my SE out a while back. Since he is hearing a noise when he attempts to eject a disk, the eject motor is probably okay. The problem could be, however, that the post which extends from the motor to the carriage which shuttles the disk in and out of the drive may be out of alignment (or disengaged entirely). The only way to determine this is to take the metal shielding off the top of the drive and inspect the rear area of the drive around the eject motor (which is vertically mounted). Although I understand that there have been problems with the upper R/W head getting jammed when ejecting disks, the fact that he can use the manual eject lever suggests that this is not the problem... although I would recommend that, in the future, he use the manual eject sparingly as this can contribute to the problem that he is facing now (the jamming of the automatic eject mechanism). Bill Taroli WWTAROLI@RODAN.acs.syr.edu
trewitt@cascade.Stanford.EDU (Glenn Trewitt) (01/15/90)
In article <2713@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> paul@ucsfccb.UUCP (Paul Green) writes: >A collegue has an old Mac 512K (upgraded from a 128K) >which has recently developed a problem in ejecting >floppy disks. Both his internal and external floppy >drives no longer eject disks, but he is still able to >by sticking a paper clip in the manual ejct hole. He >says that he hears a mechanical noise when the Mac is >"trying" to eject the disks. > >Does anyone have an idea what has happened? Is it coincidental >that both internal and external drives have malfunctioned at the >same time? >Any information will be gratefully received, Thanks! It's coincidental, but not at all suprising. It's an age-related failure caused by the grease solidifying. Perhaps temperature-related, but that's unimportant. (I've fixed this problem in about a half-dozen 400K drives for friends using the method below. Other followups have said that the springs get weak or that the eject motor is disconnected. I've never seen either of those situations.) It is VERY common for old single-sided drives to not eject disks. The lubricant (grease) solidifies to the consistency of ear wax. What I've found to work is to take the disk drive out of the Mac (or external box -- they are identical) and clean it out using acetone. I've found that it's easiest to do by removing the sliding mechanical part of the disk-handling mechanism and immersing it in acetone: This mechanism is on the right-hand side of the drive (viewed from the front) and includes the bar that you push a paperclip against to manually eject a disk. 0) Play with the insert/eject mechanism to understand how things work. Especially, note the action of the little-bitty cam widget near the back of the mechanism. This is what's really sticky, and it's very hard to clean without removing the mechanism. .1) Observe the small nylon (white) cam that rides the top surface of the diskette case. It's purpose is to slow down the disk upon eject so that it doesn't fly across the room. Note its orientation -- it's easy to get it wrong when reassembling. 1) Remove the (large) C-clip holding the eject bar to the eject motor cam. 2) Remove the two screws on that side that hold the mechanicism to the main assembly. (it's beginning to get really loose now) 3) From the bar that extends across the width of the drive, remove the (small) C-clip on the right-hand side. 4) Slide the bar out 1/4 inch. The mechanism will now come loose. 5) (optional, but very helpful) Disconnect one end of each of the two springs. (One end is crimped closed; detach the other end.) Soak the mechanism in acetone in a ceramic or metal dish and manipulate the mechanism to work the grease loose. Change the acetone and repeat. Let the mechanism dry out completely (a hair dryer may help here). After it's dry, check for smooth operation; repeat cleaning if necessary. I've just used WD-40 to lubricate the thing, allowing the volatiles to evaporate completely before putting a disk in. Reassamble in the reverse order. - Glenn Trewitt -- Glenn Trewitt, Center for Integrated Systems, Stanford University {ucbvax,decvax}!decwrl!miasma.stanford.edu!trewitt USENet trewitt@miasma.stanford.edu Internet
florianb@tekred.CNA.TEK.COM (Florian Bell) (01/16/90)
Glenn Trewitt gives a long and excellent description of how to clean and lubricate a 512K Mac single sided disk drive. I have used a similar technique, but have cleaned the mechanical parts with white gas (used for camping stoves). I used 3-IN-ONE oil to lube the parts with a Q-tip dipped in the oil. Be sure to not let any oil drip on the plastic parts or hang around for dripping on the disk when it is later installed. Thanks, Glenn! Florian
jdhill@bbn.com (Jack D. Hill) (01/17/90)
I repaired a drive that had this problem by taking the drive out, cleanig all the moving mechanical parts and adding a tiny drop of lubrication. Also, there is a spring that might have streched. You can remove this and try compacting the spring to give it more tension before reinstalling it. Jack