Help Needed: Kaypro 10 HDD Problems

From: Grant Zozman <gzozman_at_escape.ca>
Date: Mon May 11 20:24:38 1998

I recently added a Kaypro 10 to my collection, but it seems to have met with some rough handling
in shipping. If anyone can shed some light on the problem described below, I would REALLY
appreciate it (any Kaypro experts out there?)

When I first fired it up, it booted from the hard drive right away. However, as soon as I tried
to access the HD further, all I got were "Bad Sector" errors. Since then, the computer will no
longer boot from the HD, and I can't access any information on it ( not a good sign :-( ).

Using CP/M, I have tried to re-format the drive with no luck; all I get are "Verify Errors" as it
tries to format. So much for the theory that the heads may have gotten knocked slightly out of
alignment!

Re-seating all connectors on the drive and controller didn't help either.

I have pulled the drive from the computer and hooked it up outside the case. It does spin up to
normal operating speed, and I can see the head stepper motor responding in a normal fashion when I
attempt to access the drive (formatting, parking the heads, pulling a directory, etc.). None of
the linkage to the heads seems damaged or broken; in fact the entire computer is in excellent
shape and has not been abused. The hard drive activity light (which is controlled from the drive
itself) also seems to respond normally.

No untoward noises seem to come from the unit when it is operating, although I do hear some
metallic "singing" during the last second or so just prior to the drive coming to a complete stop
on power down. I'm not sure if this is just the brake mechanism, or if it is the heads against
the platters (I do park the drive prior to powering off, though).

Based on the above, I am assuming (wrongly so?) that the controller is probably working OK. It is
a Western Digital WD1002-HDO. My hunch is that either the drive electronics or the drive itself
have failed.

Are there any other tests I should by trying? Am I correct to assume that it is the drive which
has failed?

The drive is a Tandon TM502 (10MB, MFM, 5 1/4" platters). If the drive cannot be salvaged, I
would appreciate hearing from anyone who has a replacement drive, or knows of a source for same.
I would like to keep the same make and model drive if possible, but an equivalent model would be
fine too (as I'm sure Non Linear Systems used more than one make of drive in the Kaypro's).

Any help is much appreciated!

Grant Zozman
gzozman_at_escape.ca
Received on Mon May 11 1998 - 20:24:38 BST