ST Fault suddenly developed

[Megalomaniac]

I bought a second hand ST recently, and it worked for a while, however after testing a couple of disks I now believe to have been faulty, it now isn't working. When operating purely within the TOS it seems okay, I've checked a couple of serious programs which have worked, but I can't get any games to load - generally they're either hanging during loading or resetting themselves. What could be causing this? My back-in-the-day ST seems to have a non-working disk drive but (as far as I know) otherwise works, can I get a working ST from them?

[TGB1718]

Probably the head in the floppy is now dirty, some disk don't age well and can get a thin coating

deposited on them, you need to clean the heads very carefully and try again

[Megalomaniac]

Would a disk cleaning kit work, or am I gonna have to open up the machine and drive?

[Zogging Hell]

46 minutes ago, Megalomaniac said:

Would a disk cleaning kit work, or am I gonna have to open up the machine and drive?

It can, though you might need to use it multiple times. I would try and format a blank double sided disk first and see if it is successful. It not try to format a single sided disk (known good disk). If not cleaning is required. Load up the cleaner disk with isopropyl and try and access it from the desktop multiple times. Then try formatting a disk again. The amount of progress you get through the format can give you a very rough idea how much more cleaning is required. This can be quite a lengthy process though so often it can be quicker to open the machine dismantle the floppy drive and clean the heads (checking the head can also move back and forth at the same time).

 

The disk drive issues can also be caused by faulty caps in the disk drive as well, as it seems to be the first thing affected. Have you recapped the PSU?

 

 

[Megalomaniac]

I've tried 2 disks which I believe to be working, and neither makes any progress when formatting - both give the "an error has occurred during format or copy. target disk may be unusable", whether I choose single-sided or double-sided. Is that bad?

[TGB1718]

Have you cleaned the heads yet ? , your not going to get any sense out of it if the heads are dirty, had the same

problem with my old floppy drives, they stopped working just because I hadn't used them for maybe 15 years,

I initially thought it was an electrical problem, but it turned out to be just dirty heads, a deposit had built up

on the heads and floppy disks over the years.

[Megalomaniac]

No, I've got a complex about opening up computers and dealing with what's inside them, as I've had bad experiences in the past (I have co-ordination issues) but I guess its something I need to get over. Or spend £15 on a drive cleaning kit, and wait for it to arrive, and which may do nothing. The only game I've got to load is Silkworm, so you could say my Goose isn't quite cooked.

Edited September 12, 2022 by Megalomaniac

[TGB1718]

50 minutes ago, Megalomaniac said:

Or spend £15 on a drive cleaning kit,

You may have to use it a few times to make sure, is it one with a solvent to put on the cleaning disk ?

Last time I looked for one they were quite expensive.

[Zogging Hell]

2 hours ago, Megalomaniac said:

I've tried 2 disks which I believe to be working, and neither makes any progress when formatting - both give the "an error has occurred during format or copy. target disk may be unusable", whether I choose single-sided or double-sided. Is that bad?

As TGB1718 said you probably just need to clean your drive heads, so the fact you can't format probably confirms this. When you get the cleaning disk I found soaking the whole surface of the material inside it (use the supplied liquid liberally and rotate the 'disk'/ material part) helped. When you do this you may need to leave the computer a few minutes for the cleaning solution to evaporate, as if you stick a disk straight in the solution may cause the disk not to be read. Do this several times and then try formatting again. Once you can complete the format you know you are good to go. BTW the good disk you use for the format needs to be sacrificial as may rub crud off the drive head onto the disk. You can actually clean the disk itself if you are careful, some people use tap water (depending on how much deposits you have in it) or distilled water might be a better option, you can then use a q-tip to very carefully clean the disk by pulling back the door mechanism and using the damp q-tip to clean the surface (rotating the disk to make sure it is all clean). Often if you look in the right light you can see the dirt on the surface, which may allow you to target the cleaning. Don't get the disk too wet as it will foul the cleaning cloth inside which will jam the disk.

 

If you have an aversion to opening the computer you may want to get someone to help with either recapping or replacing the power supply, as although the disk cleaning may help in the short term to get your computer working again those ancient capacitors are probably going to cause you trouble down the line, if they aren't already.