The HD doesn't always load on my STacy

[Zap!]

Long story short, I haven't turned on my STacy 2 in about 4 years. Last time I remember that I tried and tried and couldn't get the HD to show up, as it only showed Disk A and B (see pic). Last night, I finally took it out again. First try it took a minute or so to load and just like before, it only showed the floppy drive. Tried resetting and same thing. I reset it one more time, and was careless and the screen slammed shut (good thing my fingers weren't in there lol!). Guess what? It booted to the HD! I was on it for well over an hour with zero problems. I don't know if the "slam" had anything to do with it or not, or if it was just luck.

 

So, what is the problem with booting inconsistencies? Why does it only work sometimes? Any solutions to fix this? I don't think my HD is failing, because once it's running I have never had any problems. The problem is only at startup. Just in case though, what's a good "check HD" utility for TOS?

 

Also, since it's been a while, will my PC be able to read the HD if I pull it? I'd like to eventually transfer everything over.

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Zap!

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Typical problem with old electronic not turned on over years are weakened  electrolyte capacitors. They go little better after some work, but will be never really good, so - replacement strongly advised.

Stacy - so SCSI drive. You can attach it on PCI SCSI card - if have such beauty ?

Actually, there are some PC motherboards with SCSI controller, that would be very rare beauty ?

Otherwise, hmm ... 

And of course will need SW what can deal with TOS type partitioned disk (I guess it is such) - like mine Drive Image.

[Zap!]

Thanks for the info, good to know. Is there any diagram out there of what capacitors to re-cap? The screen also looks dimmer than ever.

 

I have multiple older PC's (Windows 98, XP, etc.) that have SD card readers in them. I'm sure at least one has a SCSI drive, and then I can transfer the files to SD.

 

Yeah, it's partitioned. Here's a 5 year old pic I had of the desktop. So Drive Image is the name of the program?

 

 

[+DarkLord]

Not likely but it could be something as simple as a wiring harness loosened up.

 

Of course, you would have to take it apart and like Peter, with the age of this

thing, I'd highly recommend replacement.

 

An internal Ultrasatan would work great here.

 

[MasterMotorola]

Zap!, I'm betting your intermittent HD is caused by a loose connection or a wire that needs some extra solder.  I have found that unplugging connectors one at a time and firmly putting them back in place does wonders.  As for your dim screen, take a look at this... http://www.falconproductions.us/blog/new-stacy-display.html

[mdivancic]

Please under stand if it’s an original HD it will die and spew good all over the place. Something you will have to clean up. My motherboard was a mess.  Here’s a good thread on STacy repair: Repairing a STacy

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Yeah, recommended to take out HD and save what is on it, ASAP .

[Zap!]

21 hours ago, MasterMotorola said:

Zap!, I'm betting your intermittent HD is caused by a loose connection or a wire that needs some extra solder.  I have found that unplugging connectors one at a time and firmly putting them back in place does wonders.  As for your dim screen, take a look at this... http://www.falconproductions.us/blog/new-stacy-display.html

That screen is a lot more expensive than I thought, and seems like a bit of a project, but I may attempt it because the results looks amazing.

 

Anyway guys, I turned on the STacy last night again, and it booted right up. I have yet to open it up, but I'll get there soon. Here are a few pics. Hard to tell, but does the screen look diminished? Or did the screen always look like this?