On Feb 26, 13:41, Tom Leffingwell wrote:
>
> The first message I normally see is RT-11 loading...I never have to do
> anything, it just boots from DY0:. If I don't have a disk in, or its
> messed up for whatever reason, I get:
>
> 173326
> _at_
>
> I looked a little closer inside the unit, and it doesn't seem to have a
> belt. There's a worm actuator that shakes when on power up when it tries
> to move back to its starting place. It can be moved by hand easily, so
> it doesn't seem to be binding.
That's the head positioner leadscrew. On powerup or a Bus Init, it should
move back to track zero (maybe only if there's a disk in ithe drive,
depending on the controller). The drive belt is on the underside of the
drive. They often fall off.
A quick way to test if the drive is turning, is to take a floppy, trun the
disk in the jacket until the sector hole is visible in the round hoe in the
jacket, put it in the drive, close the door, open the door, take the disk
out, and see if the sector hole is still visible. Most 8" drives rotate
all the time, so closing the door (which clamps the disk to the spindle)
should turn it. The odds of the sector hole ending up in exactly the same
place after this are minimal. It doesn't tell you if the drive is running
at the correct speed, but it will tell you if it's not turning at all.
If not, the most common causes are that the drive belt has slipped off the
pulley, or that the plastic collet which clamps the disk has broken and
isn't clamping, or not well enough.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Wed Feb 27 2002 - 02:28:22 GMT