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1040 STE does not find my floppy drive


Dizzy

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Hello,

since this morning, my 1040 STE does not read any games anymore. I loaded International Karate using my Gotek, just before the game started some bombs were displayed and the STE crashed. Since then, when I start my STE, the STE tries to boot the floppy (Gotek) then display the desktop but with no floppy icons (the desktop is empty), just like if no floppy drive was connected. I tested the Gotek on a 520 ST and it is working fine. So the problem comes from somewhere on the STE motherboard. I think the problem may come from the C302434 (AJAX) which is the floppy controler, I tried to reseat it but no luck.
As the STE behave like if there was no floppy drive connected, do you think the issue may come from the C302434 ?
If yes, do you know where I can buy one ?

Thanks a lot !

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Possibly, but always check the simple things first. Assuming you have a meter, have you checked for proper voltage on the floppy power connector? Have you reseated both ends of the floppy data cable? Have you tried that cable anywhere else, assuming you have somewhere else to try it, to confirm that it is good?

 

As ParanoidLittleMan pointed out in a recent post, all of our 16-bit equipment is easily 30 years old, and some is pushing 35. It's inevitable that things are going to start failing. Still, always check the simple things first, just to rule them out, if nothing else. Sometimes you'll come up lucky.

 

If you do wind up needing an Ajax chip, a quick search came up with this seller on ebay in the U.S. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a seller closer to home.

 

https://www.ebay.com/p/27025453844

Edited by bfollowell
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Since you have working ST, it would be good to replace FDC chip in STE with one in ST. It will work well with DD format (720, 800K) .

Actually, why is Ajax in STE ? Is there HD floppy mod in it ?

And you can try with replacing DMA chip too. ST's one will be good for floppies in STE.

Third chip what is involved in floppy work is PSG (YM) chip, but that's probably not socketed.  Hmm... maybe other 2 is not too ?

Well, I guess no other way, after you done suggested simple error checks.

 

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1 hour ago, bfollowell said:

Possibly, but always check the simple things first. Assuming you have a meter, have you checked for proper voltage on the floppy power connector? Have you reseated both ends of the floppy data cable? Have you tried that cable anywhere else, assuming you have somewhere else to try it, to confirm that it is good?

 

As ParanoidLittleMan pointed out in a recent post, all of our 16-bit equipment is easily 30 years old, and some is pushing 35. It's inevitable that things are going to start failing. Still, always check the simple things first, just to rule them out, if nothing else. Sometimes you'll come up lucky.

 

If you do wind up needing an Ajax chip, a quick search came up with this seller on ebay in the U.S. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a seller closer to home.

 

https://www.ebay.com/p/27025453844

 

I could not see this item on ebay as I live in France, and when I ask to ebay to show me items worldwide, it only shows me the items which the sellers want to sell worldwide (local sells are not shown to me). Thanks for your link I will check if he agrees to sell worldwide.

I guess the power is good as my Gotek and original floppy drive do start (leds are lit).

For the floppy data cable, unless I am wrong, it is soldered on the motherboard of my 1040 STE. Isn't it ?

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1 hour ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

Since you have working ST, it would be good to replace FDC chip in STE with one in ST. It will work well with DD format (720, 800K) .

Actually, why is Ajax in STE ? Is there HD floppy mod in it ?

And you can try with replacing DMA chip too. ST's one will be good for floppies in STE.

Third chip what is involved in floppy work is PSG (YM) chip, but that's probably not socketed.  Hmm... maybe other 2 is not too ?

Well, I guess no other way, after you done suggested simple error checks.

 

I do not know if it was modded. Isn't the Ajax standard on a 1040 STE ?

I cannot swap the DMA with my STF : the DMA is soldered on the motherboard and isn't the same kind as the one in the STF.

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38 minutes ago, Dizzy said:

For the floppy data cable, unless I am wrong, it is soldered on the motherboard of my 1040 STE. Isn't it ?

 

No, you should have a floppy drive cable that connects on both ends.

 

You haven't maybe removed the cable from your Gotek recently and forgotten to invert the cable when you connect to the Gotek have you?

 

 

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41 minutes ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

Ajax was used in Mega STEs (but not in all - for instance my is earlier model, and was with DD, not HD floppy drive), not in STE, because of HD floppy support. STE has no it.  But it may be that Atari had nothing else at hand, and put Ajax in some STEs.

And ST DMA can work with floppies in STE. That's tested.

 

I'm sure you're right. I'm probably thinking of STEs I've seen where the old WD1772 floppy controller had been replaced with an Ajax.

 

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11 hours ago, bfollowell said:

 

No, you should have a floppy drive cable that connects on both ends.

 

You haven't maybe removed the cable from your Gotek recently and forgotten to invert the cable when you connect to the Gotek have you?

 

 

No I definitly confirm that the floppy data cable is soldered on the motherboard, which is normal (see this link https://www.ebay.com/itm/Retro-Atari-ST-Floppy-Power-Data-Cable-Extender-29cm-for-Gotek-Drive-Mounting-/123623525932 where it is confirmed that on Atari ST the floppy data cable is soldered, and I confirm that mine is soldered). No, I did not invert the cable on the Gotek. But thanks for your answers.

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11 hours ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

Ajax was used in Mega STEs (but not in all - for instance my is earlier model, and was with DD, not HD floppy drive), not in STE, because of HD floppy support. STE has no it.  But it may be that Atari had nothing else at hand, and put Ajax in some STEs.

And ST DMA can work with floppies in STE. That's tested.

No I cannot swap the STF DMA with my STE DMA : on my STE the DMA is a C398789-001 which is of a square shape and soldered on the motherboard (not socketed). On my STF the DMA does not have the same shape (rectangle).

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2 hours ago, Dizzy said:

No I definitly confirm that the floppy data cable is soldered on the motherboard, which is normal (see this link https://www.ebay.com/itm/Retro-Atari-ST-Floppy-Power-Data-Cable-Extender-29cm-for-Gotek-Drive-Mounting-/123623525932 where it is confirmed that on Atari ST the floppy data cable is soldered, and I confirm that mine is soldered). No, I did not invert the cable on the Gotek. But thanks for your answers.

It's been a while since I've had mine open. I guess I assumed that, since it looks like a standard floppy cable, that it had a standard connector on both ends. I didn't recall the motherboard end being soldered.

 

I do know that the cable doesn't connect to a Gotek the same way that it connects to a floppy drive. You either have to twist the cable around upside down, or mount the Gotek upside down. It won't work any other way. Since yours was previously working, I must assume that either your cable, or your Gotek is inverted.

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7 hours ago, Dizzy said:

No I cannot swap the STF DMA with my STE DMA : on my STE the DMA is a C398789-001 which is of a square shape and soldered on the motherboard (not socketed). On my STF the DMA does not have the same shape (rectangle).

Hmm, then it is some later revision for sure (1991-92) - because Ajax and square DMA were used in Mega STE .

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6 hours ago, bfollowell said:

It's been a while since I've had mine open. I guess I assumed that, since it looks like a standard floppy cable, that it had a standard connector on both ends. I didn't recall the motherboard end being soldered.

 

I do know that the cable doesn't connect to a Gotek the same way that it connects to a floppy drive. You either have to twist the cable around upside down, or mount the Gotek upside down. It won't work any other way. Since yours was previously working, I must assume that either your cable, or your Gotek is inverted.

Yes the ribbon has to be twisted for the Gotek to work. But my Gotek was working before failing, so I know there is no issue on this side.

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1 hour ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

Hmm, then it is some later revision for sure (1991-92) - because Ajax and square DMA were used in Mega STE .

OK. Thanks to all of you for your quick answers, I guess all I can do now is to try to replace AJAX ...

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4 hours ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

Hmm, then it is some later revision for sure (1991-92) - because Ajax and square DMA were used in Mega STE .

"Unfortunatly", now my Atari works fine again ... it is now working for more than one hour and still works fine ... I do not know why, maybe my Ajax reseat (and socket cleaning) solved the problem only later ? As I don't believe in miracles, I think it will come back to a bad situation soon, time will tell ...

Edited by Dizzy
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Now my 1040 STE is failing again finding the floppy drive ... What is strange is that the floppy led lits, like if the STE had found the floppy and was trying to access it. But the Gotek display does not show the number of the selected slot, I have dashes instead ... I tried multiple USB sticks, same issue. I am now having a doubt on the Gotek, as it was working on my STF but some games failing to load. When my STE was working again, the same games were working fine. I am lost now !

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Now my 1040 STE is failing again finding the floppy drive ... What is strange is that the floppy led lits, like if the STE had found the floppy and was trying to access it. But the Gotek display does not show the number of the selected slot, I have dashes instead ... I tried multiple USB sticks, same issue. I am now having a doubt on the Gotek, as it was working on my STF but some games failing to load. When my STE was working again, the same games were working fine. I am lost now !

 

EDIT : I finally could test another Gotek on my 1040STE, and I have the same issue. So the problem comes for sure from my Atari ... bad news ...

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After 24h of "burn test", my 1040STE is now working again. What I did for that is I removed all the DIMMs, cleaned them, cleaned their slots, plugged them back in. The STE is now working fine since yesterday night. But again, time will tell if the problem was really the RAM, I cross my fingers ...

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