Compact 3"5 floppy drives repair Update with video

[gypsie]

Hello everyone,

I've changed all capacitors from my X68000 compact modo and everything is good now

Now, i need to repair the floppy drives :

- Front light is ok, drive waiting for the floppy to be inserted
- Floppy is ejected 3 sec later ( tested with a working floppy)

I can see that the drive head don't move, but the disk is spinning well. I've checked caps, cleaned the head etc...)

Same isssue for the 2 drives.

I've tested the drives on another x68000 compact with the same result ( so the drives are really faulty).

Need some help please (some idea, another part to test ?)

Thanks guys

[eidis]

 Hi Gypsie !

Did you recap the floppy drives as well ? If not, then that is a must before further troubleshooting. BlueBMW has very awesome and in depth tutorial on how to to it.

X68000 Compact XVI + X68030 Compact Repair / Restoration
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=4877.0

I saw your post regarding the floppy drives in the other thread and posted some hints there:

Fixing RGB Output
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5666.msg39006#msg39006

Please forgive me for asking a stupid question. Do you have a confirmed working floppy disk with software which you tried to boot on the affected drives ? Also, a youtube video of the faulty drives in action could give some hints. Sometimes the failure can be detected by the sound which the drives make. Best of luck and keep us posted !

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[gypsie]

Yes the floppy disk (with game on it) is good because i can load the game with an another x68000 compact computer.

I ve changed only 1 capacitor, the one on the back of the drive ( most easy to do ^^)

The problem is the drive head who don't move when disk is inserted. Perhaps a dead motor ?

[eidis]

 Hi Gypsie !

Please make a video of the drive in action if you seriously want to fix it.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[gypsie]

Hi Gypsie !

Please make a video of the drive in action if you seriously want to fix it.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

Hi,

This is the video :

http://youtu.be/qnMf-HVVjZQ

We can see that floppy is ejected everytime. I've removed top cover to analyse drive head. Head doesn't move!

I say again that i ve tested with a working floppy ( moto game), caps changed, ribbon ok.

I don't know what to check now

[eidis]

 Hi Gypsie !

It looks like the floppy drive starts spinning the disk, tries to read something from it, does not move the heads and then spits it out. If you are absolutely sure that the ribbon cable is good, it can be either bad motor or misaligned upper head.

Please look at the following picture:

X68000 Compact floppy drive
http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac253/bmcdanold/x68k/68k_com_FDD_4.jpg

You can see a spiral (guide rail) coming out of the motor. Grab it with two fingers and try turning it gently so that the drive heads move out of track 0 position. Once this is done, try using the drive in your X68000 and see if the heads return to track 0 once the system is powered on.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[gypsie]

Yes the heads return to track 0 when computer is powered on!

[eidis]

 Hy Gypsie !

Yes the heads return to track 0 when computer is powered on!

Very good ! That means that the motor is working and most probably you are dealing with misaligned heads. First of all, before taking drastic measures, try getting hold of medical grade spiritus (isopropyl alcohol). I mean the really strong 98% stuff or something above 80%. Try cleaning heads with q-tips and try disconnecting and reconnecting ribbon cables which go from the drive heads to the floppy drive motherboard. If that does not help, write a copy of Motos, Scorpius and prepare for hard work.

X68000 Compact Floppy drive repair... (post by Caius)
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=4984.msg32676#msg32676

X68000 Compact Floppy drive repair... (post by Eidis)
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=4984.msg32677#msg32677

P.S. Do not mess with track 0 sensor.

P.P.S. Please attempt head calibration only if you are absolutely sure that the ribbon cables are good.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[gypsie]

Heads has been cleaned.

Do you think heads doesn't move because misalignement ?

[eidis]

 Hi Gypsie !

Do you think heads doesn't move because misalignement ?

I would say 50/50

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[emerald danjon]

Hi all.
How i hate the X68000 FDD,s  ,
all my X68000 have problems in that way,the CB600  Zero FDD dont work,Compact FDD one dont work,my beloved XVI FDD zero dont work now  ,
i hope some day the X68000 have a system like the Amiga 1200 CF flash...easy to buy and put on the computer.
the worst the worst the worst is when a bad FDD bite a Original Disk    ,tired of FDD,s.
Greetings.

[X-Col]

Hopefully the new revision of the FPGA HxC floppy emulator will be the answer to this.
Apparently it now fully supports the X68000 

[emerald danjon]

That about HxC floppy looks great,
i remember read long time ago about just emulate One FDD...,so i suppose is needed 2 of this HxC floppy...for emulate the two FDD?
for ppl like me how dont know how install SCSI HDD,s...the  HxC can be the solution...,
Greetings.

[caius]

That about HxC floppy looks great,
i remember read long time ago about just emulate One FDD...,so i suppose is needed 2 of this HxC floppy...for emulate the two FDD?
for ppl like me how dont know how install SCSI HDD,s...the  HxC can be the solution...,
Greetings.

No, HxC can emulate two FDDs at same time.Some time ago I successfully installed an HxC SD floppy emulator in my CompactXVI and it works great.But installation is not immediate like in other systems.First, you have to build a custom FDD cable since CompactXVI use FFC one (on my motherboard I replaced the FFC connector with two pin header rows and then assembled a cable following the pinout I figured out).
Then, most important thing, you have to handle some FDD X68000 proprietary signals otherwise you will not be able to load disk images.For this I used a small circuit (made by a japanese guy) which can emulate some of these signals.A little bit tricky but as I said it works well.If i found time I will post a video here.
Anyway, Jeff from HxC confirmed me that the next HxC hardware revision will have full X68000 support, release is scheduled for next March.
But installation troubles on Compact model will remain...

[BlueBMW]

They need to add a separate little circuit to the fpga setup with a little speaker that generates disk drive noises...  Id miss em if they were gone...

[emerald danjon]

That is a great News for me,
is more simply use Home with the XVI than with the Compact?,
if i take one i want use with the XVI...,
thanks in advance,
Greetings.
this model...not the XVI Compact...

[eidis]

 Hi Gypsie !

Is this project still alive ?

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[gypsie]

Hi Gypsie !

Is this project still alive ?

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

Hi Eidis,

Yes still alive, but actually after full recap on my X68000 compact motherboard, i m trying to find why the sounds effects have low volume. I will replace IC39 and IC7.

For the floppy drives, i ve only tested 1 drive without result . I think that one part on the circuit board must be dead...

I will test the others drives this week.

[eidis]

 Hi Gypsie !

For the floppy drives, i ve only tested 1 drive without result . I think that one part on the circuit board must be dead...

This gave me an idea. Would the faulty floppy drive start working if equipped with the controller of the good drive ?

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis