KyleP Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 My Duodisk drive on my Apple IIe has stopped working. I was checking blank disks to see if anything was on them and I was quickly turning the computer off, inserting new disk, then switching it on again to load the next disk. After doing this a few times the disk stopped reading. What happens is when the computer is turned on the motor clicks and the disk spins but the read/write head does not move and nothing loads. I have reseated the chips, tried using the mechanical part of another drive and the same thing happens. I believe my issue is with the analog board. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to what to try next? Change a specific chip? Im not very educated in electronics so Not sure how to test anything. Thanks for any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleP Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 Update- I tried swapping out multiple disk drives and a floppy emu. The first time the computer starts it loaded a disk from the different drives. It will not load another after that if I do a keyboard reset or when i turn the computer off and back on. The floppy emu will load another disk only with a keyboard reset. I have tried 2 different duodisk drives and 3 single drives, One of the single drives works fine but the others are not working. The all worked up until this point. I have no idea what is going on. Why would 4 different drives fail and one work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 This sounds like you have bad diskettes (or at least one bad diskette) that is fouling the read-write head. I would suggest that you use a cotton swab soaked in isopropyl alcohol or my favourite solution, "zippo" lighter fluid (aka Ronsonol). If there is any brown residue on the swab then your diskettes have mould on the surface of the media and are ruined. Inspect one of the disks that doesn't read. Does it have a faint concentric scratch at the outer circumference? If so, then that diskette is trashed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleP Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 Thats exactly what it was. Lost 3 good disks in this experience. I thought I had cleaned the heads but it was not good enough. I used some elbow grease and now the drive is reading again. Thanks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Be careful. Old diskettes, more often than not are mouldy. I keep a single disk drive on my bench with the cover off and that's the drive I use to read suspect disktettes. It gets cleaned after every read, and if there is any sign of residue that disk gets imaged immediately and discarded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 2 hours ago, Baldrick said: I keep a single disk drive on my bench with the cover off and that's the drive I use to read suspect disktettes. +1 2 hours ago, Baldrick said: It gets cleaned after every read, and if there is any sign of residue that disk gets imaged immediately and discarded. +1 Only way to deal with unknown disks. Disks are guilty until proven innocent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleP Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 Thats a good idea. I am going to do that from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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