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How to repari a floppy diskette drive ?
Hello everyone,
I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5 internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it seems to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct (the led is not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only floppy on my computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access the drive the led goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an empty drive, and I get the "drive not ready" message. The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't recognize it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A: and hit OK to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or chkdsk a: commands do not work either. I already tried the same diskette on another computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is correctly formatted and has no problem. Did anybody here have to deal with the same problem? What its origin could be ? Is there an easy way to repair my drive ? I know buying a new one costs around only 15€ but I'd like to try to repair first. Thanks in advance for any help. PS: My floppy doesn't have jumpers you can see on the image at http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/stor...64/Jumpers.htm (in the circle). The place is just empty. -- La liberté d'expression ne s'use que si l'on ne s'en sert pas : http://www.eff.org Pour que votre processeur ne tourne pas ŕ vide : http://boinc.berkeley.edu |
#2
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On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 01:47:33 +0100, Stegozor
wrote: Hello everyone, I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5 internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it seems to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct (the led is not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only floppy on my computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access the drive the led goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an empty drive, and I get the "drive not ready" message. The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't recognize it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A: and hit OK to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or chkdsk a: commands do not work either. I already tried the same diskette on another computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is correctly formatted and has no problem. Did anybody here have to deal with the same problem? What its origin could be ? Is there an easy way to repair my drive ? I know buying a new one costs around only 15€ but I'd like to try to repair first. Thanks in advance for any help. PS: My floppy doesn't have jumpers you can see on the image at http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/stor...64/Jumpers.htm (in the circle). The place is just empty. Most drives don't have jumpers these days. If the bottom is uncovered, circuit board exposed, examine it for any signs of problem. Pop the top cover off, but leave the rest of the drive intact, then connect to system power supply, insert floppy and see if the mechanics are moving freely. You might also take a cotton swab and pure alochol, cleaning the heads gently AFTER blowing any excess dust out. If the tension spring on the head arm seems to not be applying enough pressure, and if it's the stepped-notch design for the spring, adjust the spring to the next higher notch. That's about all, if it still doesn't work then replace it. It could be that the drive is just hopelessly out of alignment, try inserting a blank disc, formatting it in the drive, then writing to it, reading from it, etc... if the drive will read/write to a disc it formatted but not do so consistently with discs created in any other drive, best to just throw it away, there is no reliable way to realign today's floppy drives. |
#3
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"Stegozor" wrote in message ... Hello everyone, I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5 internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it seems to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct (the led is not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only floppy on my computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access the drive the led goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an empty drive, and I get the "drive not ready" message. The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't recognize it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A: and hit OK to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or chkdsk a: commands do not work either. I already tried the same diskette on another computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is correctly formatted and has no problem. I had a floppy drive do this once, I even bought a new drive and it was the same, it turned out to be a faulty cable, if you have a spare cable try it first. -- Apollo |
#4
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If you suspect that the drive is out of alignment you should completely erase the floppy before formatting it using a bulk tape eraser. That will force it to do a low level format. kony wrote: On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 01:47:33 +0100, Stegozor wrote: It could be that the drive is just hopelessly out of alignment, try inserting a blank disc, formatting it in the drive, then writing to it, reading from it, etc... if the drive will read/write to a disc it formatted but not do so consistently with discs created in any other drive, best to just throw it away, there is no reliable way to realign today's floppy drives. -- When replying by Email include NewSGrouP (case sensitive) in Subject Mike Walsh West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A. |
#5
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#6
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You cannot repair a floppy drive. Buy a new one.
-- DaveW "Stegozor" wrote in message ... Hello everyone, I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5 internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it seems to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct (the led is not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only floppy on my computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access the drive the led goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an empty drive, and I get the "drive not ready" message. The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't recognize it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A: and hit OK to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or chkdsk a: commands do not work either. I already tried the same diskette on another computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is correctly formatted and has no problem. Did anybody here have to deal with the same problem? What its origin could be ? Is there an easy way to repair my drive ? I know buying a new one costs around only 15€ but I'd like to try to repair first. Thanks in advance for any help. PS: My floppy doesn't have jumpers you can see on the image at http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/stor...64/Jumpers.htm (in the circle). The place is just empty. -- La liberté d'expression ne s'use que si l'on ne s'en sert pas : http://www.eff.org Pour que votre processeur ne tourne pas ŕ vide : http://boinc.berkeley.edu |
#7
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If I remember correctly, there's an LED that shines through the window of the floppy disk to a receiver, be it a 5 1/4 or 3
1/2 size. If the LED is not on or if the receiver is shot, the a replacement of either or both is in order. I make the assumption that the drive motor is working and that the heads are in moving and good shape. You might also want to get a floppy disk cleaning set to clean the heads. R. Wink On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 01:47:33 +0100, Stegozor wrote: Hello everyone, I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5 internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it seems to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct (the led is not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only floppy on my computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access the drive the led goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an empty drive, and I get the "drive not ready" message. The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't recognize it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A: and hit OK to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or chkdsk a: commands do not work either. I already tried the same diskette on another computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is correctly formatted and has no problem. Did anybody here have to deal with the same problem? What its origin could be ? Is there an easy way to repair my drive ? I know buying a new one costs around only 15€ but I'd like to try to repair first. Thanks in advance for any help. PS: My floppy doesn't have jumpers you can see on the image at http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/stor...64/Jumpers.htm (in the circle). The place is just empty. |
#8
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"R. Wink" wrote in message
... If I remember correctly, there's an LED that shines through the window of the floppy disk to a receiver, be it a 5 1/4 or 3 1/2 size. If the LED is not on or if the receiver is shot, the a replacement of either or both is in order. I make the assumption that the drive motor is working and that the heads are in moving and good shape. You might also want to get a floppy disk cleaning set to clean the heads. Which would probably cost a few pounds. A new drive would cost between 5 and 10 pounds! |
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