My poor ADAM disk drive won't read disks.

[nectarisneo]

Hello everyone,

 

My previously reliable ADAM floppy drive has just started to have a serious issue. Initially the drive seemed to need to "warm up" before functioning properly, but now for some reason it refuses to read any disk. The power led is lit but the disk access led is not. However I can hear the drive motor running. The floppy drive is a basic unmodified 5.25" 160k unit. Any suggestions on how I might repair the drive would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[NIAD]

I would take a guess that the controller board is the culprit and if this is the case, there is no easy fix seeing as no one is left that repairs them. I hope that I am wrong! I would send ADAMcon a PM or email thru his website ( http://ann.hollowdreams.com/ ) to see if he can help with repair ideas or a possible replacement.

 

Seeing as the Disk Access Light is not coming on, it wouldn't seem to be an alignment issue which most of the time is an easy fix by adjusting the Variable Capacitor on the controller board while trying to load E.O.S. Disk Manager.

[nectarisneo]

Thanks NIAD. I just sent ADAMcon an email via his website. If I get any information I'll share it here. Having a bad controller board would definitely be unfortunate. If all else fails I could always purchase the IDE card but would still like to have my drive working again.

[NIAD]

I hope all works out especially seeing as the IDE Card setup is not a be-all-end-all solution to replace a Disk Drive. It's a good start, but there are numerous programs like the Super Games that are not compatible as well as numerous titles developed that require a Memory Expander. Yet, the CF Card Package is an incredible product at an even mre incredible price point.

[nectarisneo]

Thanks again NIAD for the information. I'm still having the same issue with my drive, only now it seems to be intermittent. I disassembled the drive over the weekend and noticed that the chip next to the ribbon cable on the drive board seemed to be partially unseated. After seating the chip the drive worked again for a period of time. The problem may not have anything to do with the chip itself and more with something else that is loose or not making contact. The troubleshooting continues.

 

However, I did get permission from ADAMcon to share his suggestions on how to repair some of the issues that these drives can have. The following information is a compilation from several emails, so hopefully it will make sense.

 

I described the issue that I was having and he said:

 

 

I have a drive that needs to warm up and a drive that works only cold. It is due to a needed adjustment to a potentiometer on the controller board. I used to have the drives fixed and have not personally tried to adjust them. The guy who fixed them Is no longer on the scene.......figures. There are 3 pots on the controller board and the adjustment must be very small. I believe what it does when adjusting is to vary the voltage slightly; as all computer stuff is basically voltage off and voltage on in bursts. Now that I imparted my wisdom to you, good luck. I know of no one who fixes them; although for a real computer repair person, it should be doable.

All that said, it is also possible that the read/write head is slightly off kilter. You can disassembly the drive cover, use a hex wrench to loosen the drive read head and move ever so slightly while running the drive. I have done that with some limited success on a drive that wouldn’t read correctly.

 

I then asked him if the drive he has that needed to be "warmed up" had the access led light up. He replied:

Hmmm.....yes, the power red light is on AND the drive light is lit. It just won’t read the disk until it warms up about 3-5 minutes. You may have blown out the power for the drive mechanism itself. Take the cover off and you will find that the drive mech is simply a normal 4 prong plug just like any ibm compatable drive. If you have a bare ibm power supply, it will have the 4 prong plug to plug in and possibly power the mechanism. Better still is to buy a little p.s. off Ebay to power a drive mech. they cost about $5. Turning p.s. on along with the ADAM and the disk drive will result in a positive power to the drive mech. IF that works, you can simply use the little p.s. and forget about the power supplied to the drive from the controller board.

Check the Technical (SK 2) tab on my webpage to check the ADAM schematic and see if the disk drive specs are in there.

The last suggestion that he made was to check to make sure that my drive cable was plugged into the INPUT port. I double checked and it was. I really appreciate the time and effort that ADAMcon put into trying to help me out. What a great guy. Thanks again ADAMcon.

Actually, I just ordered on of the CF card/IDE hard drive cards from the Adam News Network and am looking forward to installing it. I haven't given up on my floppy drive but wanted a reliable storage solution that will meet most of my needs. I'm sure that I'll be posting a question or two about the card once I start using it.

[ValkerieSilk]

Oh man, bummer ... Joe at Atari2600.com has a tech that's pretty savy as well...

Hello everyone,

 

My previously reliable ADAM floppy drive has just started to have a serious issue. Initially the drive seemed to need to "warm up" before functioning properly, but now for some reason it refuses to read any disk. The power led is lit but the disk access led is not. However I can hear the drive motor running. The floppy drive is a basic unmodified 5.25" 160k unit. Any suggestions on how I might repair the drive would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!