CosmicVolt Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 Hi All, I've recently come into owning a 1050 and a dozen or so floppy disks with copies of software/games on them. After some cleaning, initial testing, etc. it appears that I can only get one game ("Galactic Chase") to successfully load onto my 800 (48K). However, this was only after cleaning the head of the 1050 a number of times, as well as cleaning the particular disk "Galactic Chase" is on. I'd also like to note that: "Jumpman" is on side 1 of this disk, and "Galactic Chase" is on side 2. The majority of the rest of these disks appear to be pretty dirty, and they don't sound too good in the disk drive when attempting to boot (they all appear to result in boot error), hence I've decided to focus on the disk containing "Galactic Chase" and "Jumpman" for testing purposes. Interestingly, no matter how many times I cross my fingers and try to bribe my 1050, it will not load "Jumpman". The same thing happens every time: it starts to boot, says "Please Wait...", but once it gets to the inner sectors of the disk, it gives me a boot error. HOWEVER, on one very lucky occasion it DID successfully boot "Jumpman", but my 1050 has refused to after this particular instance. "Galactic Chase" though? Boots without an issue pretty much every time. So I guess my question is, does the issue exist with my 1050 or with my floppy disk(s)? The drive head appears to successfully park itself at track 0 upon turning on the drive, and I've spent the last coupe of days adjusting the Track 00 sensor, cleaning the drive head, lubing the rails, checking the voltage, etc. No matter what I do, it ends with the same result. Sorry if this seems like an obvious answer, just trying to get input until I get some disks that I know are okay. What do you guys think? Thanks for reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 clean the disks very carefully, and since you said they are dirty, you will be cleaning your 1050 head alot... I wouldn't put anything dirty in my drive without making every attempt to clean it up both drive and disk before and after... you have to gently clean the rabbit hair drive head pressure pad also... and it must completely dry... if the disks look like there are valleys and grooves in them and are disintegrating, you should make copies to new disks or make .ATR's using APE or RespeQT etc... I'd blame the disks at first telling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicVolt Posted March 27, 2020 Author Share Posted March 27, 2020 6 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: clean the disks very carefully, and since you said they are dirty, you will be cleaning your 1050 head alot... I wouldn't put anything dirty in my drive without making every attempt to clean it up both drive and disk before and after... you have to gently clean the rabbit hair drive head pressure pad also... and it must completely dry... if the disks look like there are valleys and grooves in them and are disintegrating, you should make copies to new disks or make .ATR's using APE or RespeQT etc... I'd blame the disks at first telling Thanks for the advice! It does look like a number of the disks have varying degrees of grooves/valleys, so disintegration may indeed be the reality of the situation. Unfortunately don't have any blank discs, a copy of DOS, or any way to connect my 800 to APE or similar software at the moment. I'm still a bit of a newcomer when it comes to vintage floppy drives. I also plan on getting an SIO2PC at some point, so that should open some doors as well. Any idea on how to clean the pressure pad? Some Isopropyl perhaps? I've always understood that its wise to avoid touching it when cleaning the head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 (edited) it is but once you have medium embedded in it, it can create more grooves and valleys... a gentle wiggle with a textured,not rough, but lint free cloth in between the head and the pressure pad usually will be enough to get the fibers slightly un-matted I dampen another clean spot on the same cloth with microsol... then pick a dry spot and make sure to get any moisture and gunk with it, same deal cloth flat across the head in between the head and pad. only slight resistance should be apparent, if not then you have something too rough and it could pull the pad off... they glue back on though... this method has stopped grooves/valley and squealing from some drives that very noisy and showing uneven speed. After the cleaning and drying smooth and quiet... I still have cleaning disks and you can still buy microsol as well as 3.5 5.25 and 8 inch cleaning disks and refills for placing in the jacket. Brand new mil spec stuff. Don't get the cleaner on your disks by not letting it dry or spraying near them.... the stuff is formulated to dissolve the coating of the disk and the glop on your head is normally the shed coating built up on it. Automation Facilities Corperation, Microsol, MSL-200 Edited March 27, 2020 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cleaning-Kit-for-8-Floppy-Disk-Drives-NIB-NR/252089554399?hash=item3ab1b555df:g:aYkAAOxyQ45Q9uU5 they also had 5 1/4 inch last time... but I had to call so for 10 to 20 ish... you can get just about any size you want, either from them or just about any ebay seller... just be careful to read the ad and make sure it's new and the liquid is still there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicVolt Posted March 27, 2020 Author Share Posted March 27, 2020 50 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: it is but once you have medium embedded in it, it can create more grooves and valleys... a gentle wiggle with a textured,not rough, but lint free cloth in between the head and the pressure pad usually will be enough to get the fibers slightly un-matted I dampen another clean spot on the same cloth with microsol... then pick a dry spot and make sure to get any moisture and gunk with it, same deal cloth flat across the head in between the head and pad. only slight resistance should be apparent, if not then you have something too rough and it could pull the pad off... they glue back on though... this method has stopped grooves/valley and squealing from some drives that very noisy and showing uneven speed. After the cleaning and drying smooth and quiet... I still have cleaning disks and you can still buy microsol as well as 3.5 5.25 and 8 inch cleaning disks and refills for placing in the jacket. Brand new mil spec stuff. Don't get the cleaner on your disks by not letting it dry or spraying near them.... the stuff is formulated to dissolve the coating of the disk and the glop on your head is normally the shed coating built up on it. Automation Facilities Corperation, Microsol, MSL-200 43 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cleaning-Kit-for-8-Floppy-Disk-Drives-NIB-NR/252089554399?hash=item3ab1b555df:g:aYkAAOxyQ45Q9uU5 they also had 5 1/4 inch last time... but I had to call so for 10 to 20 ish... you can get just about any size you want, either from them or just about any ebay seller... just be careful to read the ad and make sure it's new and the liquid is still there! Ah I see, you make a very good point about the pad potentially causing more damage to the disk if it has gunk embedded in it! Good to see that new cleaning floppy drive cleaning kits are still available as well, I'll see about getting one, as well as a lint free rag of sorts that will fit the bill. I tried googling "Automation Facilities Corperation, Microsol, MSL-200" but I didn't really find anything that I think you were referencing too. Is this similar to the "microsol" you mentioned? I've never heard of it before. Thanks! https://www.amazon.com/Micro-Setting-Solution-Microscale-Industries/dp/B0006O9K5Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 see the provided ebay link? the solvent included with that kit is Microsol.. MSL-200 if you call or message the seller I bet he could sell you some Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicVolt Posted March 27, 2020 Author Share Posted March 27, 2020 15 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: see the provided ebay link? the solvent included with that kit is Microsol.. MSL-200 if you call or message the seller I bet he could sell you some I see it now, my mistake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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