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Two dead 1050s?


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Hi folks! Hope you're all doing well. I was wondering if I could have some suggestions with what appear to be two poorly 1050s.

 

The first 1050 is the one I had BITD; I believe it's US Doubler-equipped. About a year or so back started completely refusing to boot: the Atari simply comes up with the farty, rapid, repeated BOOT ERROR message over and over again without even attempting to read the disk. The actual motor of the drive is working, as it spins up when you turn the drive on and when you close the "door", but it just doesn't boot. I've tried several SIO cables, so it's not an issue there. My wife (she's handier than me) took the drive apart and there didn't appear to be anything wrong with the belt, but it's possible there's something we didn't know to look for. Any suggestions?

 

The second 1050 I grabbed from eBay (I believe it's a stock model) and this worked for a little while, but just recently it's started just spinning up on boot and not actually reading anything. You get maybe one or two IO "bloops" at long intervals, then a BOOT ERROR accompanied by an IO bloop. The drive spins, but there's no seeking "snark" noises. All "whirrrr" and no "chook".

 

Any suggestions on how to fix these poorly drives up to make them a bit more reliable and/or last for a few more years? I have an AtariMAX flash cart so I can still load stuff onto that to use the trusty 400, 800XL and 130XE, but I also have a lot of original (well, pirated -- you know how it was back then) media that I'd like to keep access to.

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

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1050s rarelly die, they are usually just dormant. ?

the most common issue is dirty media fouling up your head so i would clean both with alcohol and a cotton bud. it is made of ceramic so you can be quite vigorous without causing any damage. sometimes you can even see the debris with the naked eye.

if you can load an ATR file use the 1050 diagnostic software to set the RPM and calibrate the zero sensor.

let us know how you get on.

 

 

1050 Disk Diagnostics.atr 1050FSM-Rebuilt - AKH.pdf Atari_1050_Disk_Drive_Sams_Computerfacts_Technical_Service.pdf

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2 hours ago, pjedavison said:

 

The second 1050 I grabbed from eBay (I believe it's a stock model) and this worked for a little while, but just recently it's started just spinning up on boot and not actually reading anything. You get maybe one or two IO "bloops" at long intervals, then a BOOT ERROR accompanied by an IO bloop. The drive spins, but there's no seeking "snark" noises. All "whirrrr" and no "chook".

 

 

Does this whirrrr happen only once and forever?

 

As for the first drive, clean the head, check rpm and check spindle clamp rotating easily.

Edited by archeocomp
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CA3086 chips (a transistor array) that drive the SIO sometimes will have one (or more) transistors fail inside.  It can cause different behaviors depending on which transistor dies.

If they are socketed in both of your drives, try swapping them between drives and re-test the drives.  Maybe that could bring one of them back.

 

Also, as previously mentioned.... clean the drive heads.... you can put a disk in where the binding agent has degraded and the oxides of the disk will shed and collect on the drive head making disks unreadable (and scratching subsequent disks you try to use in the drive).

 

A Q-tip with alcohol will clean the head.  Be gentle, and remove any deposits until the head is clean.  Allow it to fully dry before re-testing.

 

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I went through swapping motherboards and mechs for my four drives in total frustration recently until i found that I had a defunct power supply.

Just enough power to get the power up and head seek and park at start up but boot error after that.

A new power supply and I am back up to two stock and one happy drive. the other was used for parts on my 1088xld..

 

9 VAC is what you should read on the supply.. mine was putting out 15 vac so it went in the trash.

 

Douglas

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I just fixed a 1050 with a bad floppy drive controller chip. Symptoms were cyclic starting and stopping drives motor. Cycle time approx 10s. Stepper did not move at all. I did some basic troubleshooting and found out that logic part probably works. I found replacement FDC chip on eBay from Poland. The drive badly needed cleaning and lubricating. Rotation speed was also off. Works like a charm now.

Edited by archeocomp
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23 minutes ago, archeocomp said:

I just fixed a 1050 with a bad floppy drive controller chip. Symptoms were cyclic starting and stopping drives motor. Cycle time approx 10s. Stepper did not move at all. I did some basic troubleshooting and found out that logic part probably works. I found replacement FDC chip on eBay from Poland. The drive badly needed cleaning and lubricating. Rotation speed was also off. Works like a charm now.

Just be aware that calibration may be required when replacing the FDC.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Hello folks! Just an update on this: we finally got around to taking apart one of the 1050s and cleaning the head. This was the one that wasn't even spinning up and was just farting out BOOT ERROR messages upon switching the 8-bit on. (It's taken us a while to get to it because the house has been chaos thanks to my wife's DIY projects for a while -- they're finally done though!)

 

It worked perfectly! My original 1050 is now seemingly good as new. Haven't taken the replacement one I got apart as yet, but that can be kept as a spare for now, at least.

 

Thanks for all the tips and advice!

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1 hour ago, pjedavison said:

thanks to my wife's DIY projects for a while -- they're finally done though!)

 

 

That's what she wants you to think ?

 

Glad you got it working though ?

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