Wanted: Coleco Adam Disk Drive

[Tempest]

I'm in need a working Coleco Adam disk drive. My current one is rather flaky and only works some of the time (it has a replacement drive which isn't original which is probably causing the problem). The cosmetic condition isn't important as along as the drive works as I just need the innards. Shoot me a PM if you have one and we can work something out.

[NIAD]

Well...

 

I do have an extra Disk Drive, BUT, and there had to be one of those, it will not format a disk! I have tried everything within my abilities (replaced Firmware chip on controller board, checked all wiring, tried different power supplies, cleaned, etc.) and have had no luck remedying this issue. All other Read and Write functions work flawlessly as I have tested the drive extensively and I was pretty surprised by this seeing as it's serial # is 000398. The remedy or work-around to the formatting issue is to format disks on a PC with the MS-DOS conversion program "The ADAM Connection"... which I recommend doing even if your ADAM Disk Drive(s) are 100% functional just to save wear and tear on them.

 

Maybe check with ADAMcon (Bob S.) first as I think he has a supply of disk drives available again and if all else fails, send me a PM.

[Tempest]

I think I'm set now. Thanks everyone.

[jblenkle]

Considering everything else works with the drive are you sure the formatting problem isn't actually the disks themselves? I've got 100s of disks here I bought on eBay over the years and maybe 1-in-10 will format on the ADAM (if I'm lucky). Oddly enough, the same disks will usually format on my Atari 1050 8-bit drives, although I have never really tested them to see if they actually work with no errors on them. The same disks also report errors while formatting on my older PC.

 

Well...

 

I do have an extra Disk Drive, BUT, and there had to be one of those, it will not format a disk! I have tried everything within my abilities (replaced Firmware chip on controller board, checked all wiring, tried different power supplies, cleaned, etc.) and have had no luck remedying this issue. All other Read and Write functions work flawlessly as I have tested the drive extensively and I was pretty surprised by this seeing as it's serial # is 000398. The remedy or work-around to the formatting issue is to format disks on a PC with the MS-DOS conversion program "The ADAM Connection"... which I recommend doing even if your ADAM Disk Drive(s) are 100% functional just to save wear and tear on them.

 

Maybe check with ADAMcon (Bob S.) first as I think he has a supply of disk drives available again and if all else fails, send me a PM.

[NIAD]

It is the drive and the issue was common BITD. The only fix to the issue was to convert the drive to 5 1/4" 320K or 3 1/2" 720K back then and unfortuately the drive upgrade kits are no longer available.

 

I have a large number of name brand disks, especially Nashua disks which are my favorite to use on the ADAM since the ADAM Disk Drive was supplied with one of these disks for free, and I tried them all out on this particular drive with no luck. All these disks did indeed format on another ADAM Disk Drive. Really the tell tale that it's the drive and not the disks is that I tested a bunch of disks that were already formatted for use with the ADAM and this drive would not format them.

 

BTW, high failure rate with the generic disks, so stay away from them if at all possible. Years ago, generic disks were a lot more reliable in my experiences.

[jblenkle]

The really weird thing about my disks is the ones with the harder shells are usually all good...the ones with the really flimsy shells are usually always bad.

 

It is the drive and the issue was common BITD. The only fix to the issue was to convert the drive to 5 1/4" 320K or 3 1/2" 720K back then and unfortuately the drive upgrade kits are no longer available.

 

I have a large number of name brand disks, especially Nashua disks which are my favorite to use on the ADAM since the ADAM Disk Drive was supplied with one of these disks for free, and I tried them all out on this particular drive with no luck. All these disks did indeed format on another ADAM Disk Drive. Really the tell tale that it's the drive and not the disks is that I tested a bunch of disks that were already formatted for use with the ADAM and this drive would not format them.

 

BTW, high failure rate with the generic disks, so stay away from them if at all possible. Years ago, generic disks were a lot more reliable in my experiences.

[Tempest]

The really weird thing about my disks is the ones with the harder shells are usually all good...the ones with the really flimsy shells are usually always bad.

I've had just the opposite experience. All the disks I had with those nice hard shells have cracked and shattered, but the flimsy ones are still around.

[+Gemintronic]

I think floppy disks have age issues. Specifically, newer disks are made MUCH more poorly than older ones.

[Tempest]

The best disks I found (and most of my games are on) are from Wang (remember Wang computers?). My dad's office used them back in the 80's so that's what he'd bring home for me to use (five finger manager discount I guess). Many of my other disks have crapped out over the years, but those Wang disks are still going.