Floppy Disk Repair

[Suffolk]

Rookie question I'm sure...but is there a pro out there that knows how to repair 5.25" floppy disks? I have original Castle W, and Beyond Castle W floppies...neither work.

Thanks in advance.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Suffolk

[TGB1718]

 

Please provide a bit more detail, what happens during boot etc.

What 8 bit are you using ?

What drive are you using ?

Has it worked before, if so how long ago

 

Does the drive initialse when turned on, you should hear the head move.

With the drive turned on, does the drive light come on when you lock the floppy in (you should hear the disk spin for a few seconds) ?

When you turn the Atari on, does the drive light come on when the disk is accessed ?

 

Tons more stuff to check, but lets get the basics checked first

 

[xrbrevin]

try to read the disks with another drive if you can

the alternative is to record the games onto working blank disks, remove the actual disks from the sleeves by breaking the bond. swap them over then glue the flap back down

[Suffolk]

Thanks for the reply...I appreciate it, and should have given the info up front:

I'm running an Atari 800XL with 1050 drives. I have 2 drives that both work and i can load all of meh other floppies. So everything appears good on that front.

 

I've had them for a long time and they worked, but it has been so many years that I can't count since I last tried them.

 

Castle Wolfenstein starts to load correctly for about 5 seconds, then settles into the slow 'beep' and boot error. Beyond CW does a little better and sounds like a normal boot for about 10 seconds, then it get stuck. I hear the head moving and I'll hear it boot a little, then eventually just stops and the drive goes quiet...no constant boot error like CW. Tried both with and without DOS (option held) just to check.

 

If I open the disk directories in DOS, they both look normal.

 

Any thoughts? What else can I provide?

 

I don't even know if disk repair is possible, but I'd pay for the service if its out there.

Thanks

[ijor]

6 minutes ago, Suffolk said:

Castle Wolfenstein starts to load correctly for about 5 seconds, then settles into the slow 'beep' and boot error. Beyond CW does a little better and sounds like a normal boot for about 10 seconds, then it get stuck. I hear the head moving and I'll hear it boot a little, then eventually just stops and the drive goes quiet...no constant boot error like CW.

There is probably nothing you can do. Some disks can be cleaned, if that is the problem, but I suspect it's not the case here. This two titles are known to be among those that often the disk surface deteriorates. In such a case it is even better not to keep trying or you might completely destroy them.

 

It is possible that's not the case, and it's "just" magnetic corruption instead. If so it should be possible to rewrite the faulty sectors or tracks. But that might require some knowledge. And honestly, many of us dislike the idea of writing over original disks.

 

Any reason why you want to use these two copies? You can download images and write them to blank disks. Just leave the originals, even when not working, as collectibles.

 

[StickJock]

You might want to try cleaning your drives.  It probably won't help with this issue, but it couldn't hurt.  If your disks are disintegrating, the buildup on the heads & pad could end up damaging other disks.

I use a Qtip with denatured alcohol to clean my heads, rails & wear surfaces.  I then re-lube the rails & wear surfaces with another qtip dipped into silicone lube that I sprayed into the cap from the spray can.

 

[TGB1718]

1 hour ago, ijor said:

This two titles are known to be among those that often the disk surface deteriorates

This is true for a lot of diskettes, I found a lot of my owns disks had deteriorated so badly, the coating was taken off

completely by the heads and left scores in the disk material (prompting lots of head cleaning), most of this

happened on the "unlabeled" disks, those from known manufacturers seem to fair much better.

[Suffolk]

14 hours ago, ijor said:

There is probably nothing you can do. Some disks can be cleaned, if that is the problem, but I suspect it's not the case here. This two titles are known to be among those that often the disk surface deteriorates. In such a case it is even better not to keep trying or you might completely destroy them.

 

It is possible that's not the case, and it's "just" magnetic corruption instead. If so it should be possible to rewrite the faulty sectors or tracks. But that might require some knowledge. And honestly, many of us dislike the idea of writing over original disks.

 

Any reason why you want to use these two copies? You can download images and write them to blank disks. Just leave the originals, even when not working, as collectibles.

 

Makes sense, I appreciate the explanation. I don't know how to download or write to blank disks. I use the legacy system exactly as I did back in 1983...most of it still works great. So I'm missing out on that capability.

[_The Doctor__]

also did you try loading them while holding down the option key at power up, and also conversely no holding the option key at boot up?

[+bob1200xl]

Normally, you don't want to use a diskette that had to be 'recovered'. Once you get all the data off, retire the original.

 

But, that said, I can try to restore your originals, if you are still interested.

 

If you look at the disk surface, do you see radial marks?

 

Bob

 

[_The Doctor__]

once recovered you can place a new media disk inside the old square jacket once it's cleaned out.

Edited January 22, 2021 by _The Doctor__