mvancopp

If the speed does not work, there is one other thing I can think. Once, just once, (sorry couldn't resist the "Johnny Dangerously" quote) I ran into a Tandon drive that the alignment was so for off it went beyond the area the magnetic material on the inner tracks. This was on an Atari 810. The Tandon drives have what I consider a painful alignment mechanism. So, to prove if it an alignment is an issue. Format a disk in the HH drive you have and then try and read it with the Tandon. If it works, then it is not likely a far-off alignment. If it doesn't work, you can try and align the Tandon using the HH formatted disk. For the Tandon, the entire head mounting mechanics are moved during the alignment. You must loosen two screws underneath and one on top. You then use the screw to the left of the mechanism set screw (looking from the front). On the drive I mentioned above I had to remove the "alignment" screw, there wasn't enough adjusment range when it was in place. Once removed and with and lot of delicate manual movement of the head mechanics, the drive was able to read other drive formatted disks, was able to successfully format a disk, and it's formatted disk was successfully read by other drives. I do not know why the alignment was so far off. Nothing looked very worn. Just FYI in case the speed suggestion doesn't pan out.

The TI formats from the outside of the disk and marches inwards towards the middle for the higher track numbers. If the lower tracks (outer tracks) are working but the higher tracks (inner tracks) fail, then this is likely a speed issue. The outer tracks have more surface area to store the flux changes (your data and the overhead data). As the head moves inward that surface area decreases but you're trying to store the same amount of data. Some systems use a variable number of sectors per track to adjust for this. Commodore does that I believe. My suggestion is to adjust the speed of the drive rotation and see if you can make it work. A lot of drives have a sticker on the spindle to set the speed visually. The sticker usually has 50hz and 60hz lines, use the 60hz for the USA. On the back of the Tandon drives is a PC Board with and adjustable resistor, a potentiometer (a POT). Before changes its position, you should note its starting point. When the drive is spinning, like in formatting, watch the lines on the sticker and adjust the POT to change the speed. The goal is to make the lines look like they are standing still, not moving left or right. This is best done under an artificial light source; an incandescent bulb should do. No guarantee it's the issue but it should be fairly easy to test and adjust if needed. Fingers crossed and good luck!

I tweaked the lens size for this version 1.1. It now fits with minimal pressure but snug enough to stay in place. This should avoid the possibilitiy of damaging the faceplate's lens cavity. Please let me know of any issues or any other feedback. Enjoy. SeagateHalfHeightFrontPlate+LED-Lens1_1.zip

I recently had to do some work on my HFDC, in a Geneve setup, and wanted to finally put a finishing faceplate on my Seagate 251 and 225 drives. I could only find a single half height face plate. It was here on AtariAge from Shift838 but I could not find the STL files. So, I created my own starting from a full height faceplate on Printables (see the text file in the attached zip for the original base design). I also created a LED lens that will fit in the faceplate insert. The lens inserts from the front towards the back. To remove press out from the back towards the front. The lens is very tight, so I recommend partially inserting it and then using a flat table surface with the faceplate facing down while pressing the lens in. The files are attached below and here are some pictures. I used a translucent filament and the green LED mounted in the drive shows through very bright. Let me know if you have any suggestions and I hope others find this useful. Happy TIing everyone! Thanks! SeagateHalfHeightFrontPlate+LED-Lens.zip

Hi @RickyDean, Yes these are still working fine and I have used them in many things now. Be aware that the Ebay ones listed here have an input (unregulated side) limit of 17v. This works fine for the 5v in the PEB but not the 12v. That has an input voltage that is in the 24v range (this varies with load). For the 12v side a less expensive 7812 linear replacement I found is the VXO78012-1000 by CUI; available at Digikey at $2.95 each when less than 10 qty, https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/cui-inc/VXO78012-1000/7350298. These have an input limit of 36v like the 7812. There is also a 5v (VXO7805-1000 I think) version if you would rather use a name brand item with a 36v limit, more expensive but your peace of mind might be worth it or higher input limit might be worth it. FYI warning for anybody using the Ebay 5v ones above. They default to adjustable using the pot you see in the Ebay pics OR they can be fixed. You must adjust prior to using them so you don't do any damage (obviously). For the fixed outputs you must cut an the etch seen to the right of the ADJ pads in the Ebay pictures and then solder bridge the fixed voltage you want. Ohm these out to be sure the ADJ is cut and the bridge is good, otherwise you will get strange voltages.

Thanks @manterola and @CharlieChaplin I was using DOS XE in my initial post. I tried MyDos and the 360k format worked perfectly (following the steps above). Thank you! I will experiment with different features and try out a few of the DOS alternatives and ensure Hyper-XF is what I want. @manterola, I did try the Bob Woolley (5.25) code/OS but it did not switch densities when using DOS XE. Maybe it will work with another DOS. Now that I understand the HXF issue, I'll go back and retry things to eliminate any mistakes I may have made. Again, thank you both for your replies; great help!

I have two xf551s and I have tried Hyper-XF-A (5.25" version) and cannot successfully format a DSDD disk. SSSD, SSED both format successfully. The DSDD gets to the end of the format/verify (done in a single pass) and fails with error 173, apparently as soon as it moves to the last track. I have tried two different xf551 using multiple drive mechanisms (Mitsumi [original], chinon [original], tandon, fuji, teac, alps, panasonic). I have tried many different floppy disks, new and used. I have downloaded and burned the Hyper-XF-A from multiple sites. I have used multiple computers. Lastly, all of the aforementioned items work perfectly with the original, or a burned copy,of the Atari PROM version 7, which formats DSDD in multiple passes (not the single pass of Hyper-XF). So is there something I am missing? I like the features of the Hyper-XF especially the promise of auto-density selection working (I find the v7 density "stubbornness" intolerable). Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Mark

Hi @OLD CS1, If that is the Mitsumi space bar from the Amiga I would be interested in picking that up. I have a C128 that the space bar was damaged on (broke it into two pieces 😞 ) and would love to get my 128 useable again. Please let me know if we can come to an arrangement. Thanks! Mark

Second that interest in the MBX system.

Hi All, I had some time so I took a look at this. First using a two-channel scope I looked at the RAM. When the RAM is selected, read or writes, the data lines were always driven and changing levels. So likely not a RAM problem. Next was the ROMs and the Character ROM was already confirmed by the output of the messages, so I tried the BASIC rom. I desoldered it, installed a round-hole socket. I then read the ROM and the checksum did not match the downloaded binary. I built a 2364-to-2764 adapter, programmed a 2764 from the downloaded binaries and viola up she came! 🙂 I also found a heat sink was missing from the 7805 by the joystick ports. This manifested itself after warm-up as strange lockups, video issues, and general instability. Installed a nice heatsink I had from another project long ago and all those issues stopped. Thank you @hofster, @carlsson, and @OLD CS1 for your input and advice. It made the troubleshooting much easier and faster.

Sorry @OLD CS1, I missed answering your RAM size question. No I couldn't read the free RAM in the flashing of the first two lines. It was too fast to focus on before it disappeared.

Thanks @carlsson, @hofster, and @OLD CS1 for the suggestions. The symptom changed over the period of a few hours. The "READY" display began to become intermittant. It flipped between the too fast to read lines and the READY and a the screen just being the blue on light blue screen with no characters. A few times it displayed some jumbled texted instead of the READY word. Now it is always te blue-on-light blue empty screen. Sometimes things just go down hill... 😏 I swapped out the Character ROM since it is in socket and I have, and can burn, 2532 eproms. There was no change in the behavoir. @hofster, chips in socket: 6510, VICII, PLA, CHAR ROM, and SID (SID is not installed for any of these tests). The DRAM chips are the gold colored top chips but I need to desolder them to test. On the list to do. The memory mux chips of not MOS chips, I read those are prone to failure. I do not have an alternate PLA, VICII, or 6510, but I do have a PLA replacement (the two 20v8 version) and a dead test/diag cart on order. I cannot presently make 2564s, nor do I have an adapter but I can make one for testing the BASIC and Kernal ROMS (would need to desolder and socket these). Just need to find the time, hopefully this coming week. It soundslike RAM is #1 suspect and then BASIC ROM, followed by PLA? Does that sound like a reasonable plan? Thanks for all the suggestions. This troubleshooting will at least make me familiar with the C64 hardware. 🙂

Hi Everyone, I am new to the C64 community and have a C64 I recently came into my possession that prints "READY" at power-up but does not print the first line, "COMMODORE BASIC V2", or the second line stating the memory. Once READY is displayed I can type, such as "10 PRINT T" and press enter the screen clears and never returns. This C64 is a very early model with the 5 pin DIN video connector (a 326298 REV A motherboard). Does anyone have some pointers on where to start troubleshooting? Any suggestions are appreciated. EDIT: The first two lines are printed but disappear to quickly to completely read. I see some of the text flash quickly, like COMMODORE or BASIC, but are replaced by the READY and the rest of the screen appear as spaces. Thank you, Mark

I thought I'd report an update. I picked up a QI machine and finally had time to repair it (a bad OS ROM, MSByte). This machine does not have the 2.2 version, just the standard version in the black and silver (b/s) consoles. The 1.Q update is working well. I tested about 15 cartridges and all worked perfectly, and all operations have been stable. The intermittent issue that the SD card in not selected at power-up is the same as I experience on the b/s consoles; on certain SD cards/finalgrom combinations you must press the FinalGrom reset to get the menu to show up after the power is turned on. Thanks @JJB for the effort to produce 1.Q. It is much appreciated. Thanks, Mark

In the last week I received copy of Hell's Halls. I waited for the cassette to arrive and use it to load up the game for the very first time. I ordered the Heel Red cassette to add to the atmosphere 🙂 It loaded on the very first try! Not bad for a 40 year computer and TI cassette player 🙂 I was killed about 15 minutes into my first game and was smiling the whole time. Thanks @pixelpedant for a good, fun, and entertaining game! I encourage everyone to give the game a try and if possible support the effort in some way. It's nice to see people's effort and dedication come to flurition and be rewarded. It's halloween so it's the perfect day for a game. Good luck to all you willing to try to escape HELL'S HALLS! Mark