Newsdee Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 (edited) I have a couple if DiskII drives that fail to read any disks. They will power on and spin, but nothing happens and I can't hear the distinctive scratchy sound of a floppy being read. Can anybody recommend any diagnostics I could make? I've cleaned their drive heads with a bit of alcohol but they still won't work. I have a CFFA 3000 so I can transfer any utilities to the computer; only caveat is that e.g. Locksmith doesn't seem to allow me to switch slots to test drives (CFFA=Slot 7, floppy controller=Slot 6) Edited May 21, 2016 by Newsdee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 (edited) Tried CATALOG and INIT but both give an I/O Error. Also tried placing the drive on Disk 2 (in case there's a problem with the board) but problem is same. Edited May 21, 2016 by Newsdee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteplanet Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Time for some maintenance. Read and follow this. http://www.appleii-box.de/H084_3_AppleIIDiskService3.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted May 26, 2016 Author Share Posted May 26, 2016 Thanks, that's quite an impressive bunch of information for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 If you have the Original Disk ][s, with the 20 pin Ribbon Cable, and your sure the Heads are Clean, I would put money on blown logic chip, like this 74125 that came in a drive I bought.. That happens when reconnecting the Disk ][ to the Controller Card, and Missing the Pins.. That happen to me Once, in about 1986, and now I always Remove the Disk ][ controller and Turn it upside down to make sure the Pins align up.. MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 I've got a new drive... and replaced all the chips in the Controller Card with another one (I/O card), and still no luck. Could it be something on the motherboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david__schmidt Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Sounds like it might be the head, head/pressure pad interaction, or stepper mechanism, or... something else mechanical. Keep swapping... it's definitely not the Apple II mobo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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