At 22:07 11/17/98 -0500, you wrote:
>< Well, the negative things folks have said about RD53's are definitely tr
>< It would not spinup properly. Seemed to have a speed control problem as
>
>Classic RD53 spin down disease. the problem is the head positioner is
>stuck (literally!) to a rubber bumper.
Yep, Allison, seems it's got "The Disease"!
>
>The fix, open the HDA, put power to it and when the platters spin up
>and the head lock unlocks give the head a push to the outer edge of the
>platter. If it makes noises and does a seek th the outer track your up
>and you can put the cover back on. The problem will occur avain when
>powered down. Seems there is a rubber bumper in the voice coil positioner
>that gets gooey and the head sticks. I have two I've had to remove that
>bumper from (not for the timid).
I performed the simple procedure you wrote above. In my case, it seems a
bit different. After spinup and the head lock unlocked I pushed the head to
the outer edge after which the drive did a few seek strokes and plopped
back to its park position.
Fine. But when the machine comes to the point of software load it still did
not work. After another Restart and at the point of doing the software
diags (at step "2..") I gave the head positioner a good shove and the drive
seeked a bunch, the machine quickly finished the software diags (steps
1..0..) and then proceeded to load MicroVMS V4.7 and came to the time/date
entry prompt. Cool!
However, apparenly the startup script or whatever expected to load a tape
after the time/date was entered. I had not yet cleaned the dust out of the
TK50 so there was a failure at that step as there was no tape inserted. The
machine kept retrying and I could not bail out of that step. We'll see what
happens when I try it with a tape cart inserted later today or tomorrow
after a good cleaning (next project today or tomorrow.)
Exactly how does MicroVMS v4.7 compare to VMS v5.4 of which I have most
manuals for?
Allison, could you give me some hints at how to remove that rubber bumper
especially the tricky steps? I'm not really that timid since my work was
with precision electro-mechanical measuring equipment and working to 0.1
micron tolerances. Probably should send it by private email unless it is
felt to benefit others watching this thread.
>
>< 2.. <more than a minute wait here>
>< ?54 RETRY
>
>Of course the boot device is not up so the boot fails.
>
>< The inside of the TK50 is rather dusty and dirty. I plan to take it out
>< get as much dust and junk out of it as possible before I put in a tape (
>< got the DEC MVII Diagnostic tape, MicroVMS 4.5 and a DECUS tape with a
>< bunch of utilities :) ). How critical is it to have a very clean drive?
>< Seems the opening on the front of the drive with no tape inserted allow
>< too much junk to wander into it.
>
>vacuum it out! FYI: check the fans, that box should have all of them
>going(ba23 two on the side, ba123 three on the bottom.).
The box is a BA23 (this is a tower case) and both fans are fine. It's just
that the front of the TK50 is always open when no tape is inserted as you
TK50 owners already know. This machine was stored for some time like this
and dust got into the works. Bruce Lane gave some instructions on cleaning
the head. I'll use a small brush like an old toothbrush and small paint
brushes to sweep out the dust and junk during vacuuming. I found several
sizeable dust bunnies around the head area too.
>< Anybody have an RD54 or equivalent they're willing to sell me?
>
>RD54 is a MAXTOR 2190 series that should help as they were used in other
>stuff.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for one of those models.
>Allison
>
Thanks for the help so far folks,
Regards, Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt_at_netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL:
http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/
Received on Wed Nov 18 1998 - 11:28:25 GMT