1040 STF issue

[Wally1]

I bought an Atari 1040 STF from ebay for a good price.

 

it boots up but cant see disks from the floppy

 

 

says things like typical error messages about please

insert floppy, etc.

 

also mentions hard disk sometimes.

 

dont know why

 

 

anbody know?

 

can i replace the internal floppy?

thanks

 

[AtariGeezer]

It might be the Floppy Disk Controller (WD1772?). Had one show bad from a used 520ST...

[Zogging Hell]

It's an early ST so Is it a single sided disk drive? If so try formatting a (blank) disk as single sided and see whether you can open that. If it is you will be better sourcing a new double sided drive as a lot of stuff comes on double sided disks. The other possibility if it is a single sided drive is that the belt that spins the disk has disintergrated, which happens a lot. When you insert a disk listen to the drive and see if you can here it spinning (there should be two noises, one is the drive head moving back and forth and the other the disk spinning). If the belt has snapped they can be had for fairly cheaply, although again you would be better off having a look around for a replacement double sided mech.

 

Not sure what the hard disk message is, it might be that some of your floppies were used with a machine that had a hard disk and he/she saved a desktop info on them with an icon for hard disk which they used to access the drive. Or there is something in the auto folder on one of the disks looking for the hard disk. This would imply the drive is working, however..

 

Might be worth having a bit more info, like what happens when you open the disks - windows open or error message? Or windows open with gobbledegook (which you will get with protected disk). It might be that the drive just needs a clean with a floppy disk head cleaner.

[galax]

What disks are you trying to look at? Commercial games usually give errors if you try to look at them from the desktop. Try formatting a blank disk (or one that you don't care about) and save the desktop layout to it, make sure the write protect tab is closed of course.

[Wally1]

what is the dos format command for single sided disks?

 

thanks

[galax]

what is the dos format command for single sided disks?

 

thanks

 

It's format a: /1 but you may also have to specify double density with /4 or /f:360 or /n:9. Why not format it on the ST?

 

[Wally1]

there must be something wrong with the drive

 

wont format a disk either

 

 

how difficult and where can i get a drive to replace it?

 

 

thanks

[galax]

there must be something wrong with the drive

 

wont format a disk either

 

 

how difficult and where can i get a drive to replace it?

 

 

thanks

 

Easy to replace if you can find one, someone will have one spare if you ask around and wait. You could try cleaning the heads first though. In the long run an HxC or Gotek flopy replacement might be cheaper and less hassle.

 

As someone said above it could be the floppy controller and not the drive though. You're not very specific about exactly what the errors are and when they occur, whether there is noise/movement/drive lights etc. There may be some way to rule out whether it is the drive or controller based on the errors.

 

It could also be the power supply, some STs need 12v for the disk drive, separate from the 5v that most of the rest of the machine uses, I would check that your PSU is OK before ordering a new disk drive.

[Wally1]

how does the Gotek connect to the ST?

 

thank you everybody!

[galax]

how does the Gotek connect to the ST?

 

thank you everybody!

 

It's a floppy drive replacement, unplug the floppy drive and plug in the Gotek: http://www.tehkella.net/retro/?p=439 - it can be bought pre-flashed to save you the hassle of flashing it with HxC firmware.

 

You could also connect it externally with the right cable: http://www.atari-wiki.com/index.php/Connecting_an_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_to_an_ST