Cards and drives

[petteri]

I was looking for a network card for my IIcx and as usually, I ended up buying bit more than just a single card... I came home with:

- 3Com EtherLink/NB with thin coax and AUI.

- Asante MCNB REV A with RJ-45 and AUI.

- RasterOps Color Board 364 (NTSC model?) with bunch of installation disks.

- Apple Macintosh Display Card 630-0400 4•8 but without sockets for extra memory. 

- External 800kb with broken drive (I was told so)

- External M0130 drive. I think this might be 400kb model? At least the mechanism is full height. I wonder how to verify it's operation, I have no 400kb disks anywhere. I guess I just have to plug it in and try to format a blank floppy with it.

The 364 video card seems to have S-video and Composite video inputs - I guess it is some kind of video capture card. Not very common I think.

 

[Unknown_K]

I was looking for a network card for my IIcx and as usually, I ended up buying bit more than just a single card... I came home with:

- 3Com EtherLink/NB with thin coax and AUI.

- Asante MCNB REV A with RJ-45 and AUI.

- RasterOps Color Board 364 (NTSC model?) with bunch of installation disks.

- Apple Macintosh Display Card 630-0400 4•8 but without sockets for extra memory. 

- External 800kb with broken drive (I was told so)

- External M0130 drive. I think this might be 400kb model? At least the mechanism is full height. I wonder how to verify it's operation, I have no 400kb disks anywhere. I guess I just have to plug it in and try to format a blank floppy with it.

The 364 video card seems to have S-video and Composite video inputs - I guess it is some kind of video capture card. Not very common I think.

The RasterOps ColorBoard 364 is unaccelerated and supports a resolution of 640 x 480 in up to 24-bit color.

Were the disks originals and if so what version?

 

[petteri]

The original labels are dated 1990-1991, I'll make a disk images out of them at some point.

Accelerator Software PN 7200-3644 and 7200-3656

Utility Disk Mac v2.7.1 PN 7200-3672

Graphics System Software PN 7200-3641

Macintosh System Software PN 7200-3577

 

[petteri]

The external 800kb that was labeled broken is working now. The old grease was pretty dried up and the eject mechanism was stuck in a wrong position. It just required a good cleanup and new grease.

I think the external 400kb is not totally ok as I'm not able to insert disk there as the slot is not really aligned. I have to read more about this particular model and take it apart.

 

[petteri]

Just made images of the RasterOps disks. The Accelerator Software was version 2.8.8 and the other disk was 2.9

I took the external 400k drive out from the enclosure. The disk loading mechanism is totally stuck. I don't see any physical damage so I'll try to clean it up first before taking it more apart.

 

[blusnowkitty]

I took the external 400k drive out from the enclosure. The disk loading mechanism is totally stuck. I don't see any physical damage so I'll try to clean it up first before taking it more apart.

The 400k drives have a really bad problem with the original lubricant hardening and causing the mechanism to freeze up. You have to disassemble the whole loading mechanism, degrease, and relubricate.

 

[dzog]

The 400k drives have a really bad problem with the original lubricant hardening and causing the mechanism to freeze up. You have to disassemble the whole loading mechanism, degrease, and relubricate.

I bought an as-is 800K in an external recently which was fully seized up as well. Ended up needing a heat gun to get it to budge; soaking in isopropyl didn't cut it. 

 

[petteri]

Yep, I tried IPA already. I am trying to figure out the best way to take it apart now...

 

[blusnowkitty]

Yep, I tried IPA already. I am trying to figure out the best way to take it apart now...

All of these C clamps need to come off. There are four screws on the underside of the drive that need to be removed, then the loading mechanism will pop right out. I'd also suggest removing the eject motor and giving that a good cleaning and lube too; that's just held in with screws. Be careful not to lose any of the clamps and washers; they're under spring tension and can (and will!) go flying if you're not careful.

 

[petteri]

I really don't like C-clamps, so I removed the eject and insert mechanism together. With some WD-40 and finger burning heat I managed to get parts moving again. I cleaned up worm gear and the head as well.

Formatting doesn't work. Sometimes it is able to reach verifying part but then it fails right away. 

https://twitter.com/pethie/status/1270840283098419200

Maybe the worm gear is not clean enough?

 

[Dog Cow]

My new technique for these 400K drives is that I remove the 4 screws on the bottom that hold the cassette mechanism. Then I dip it in a pot of boiling water for about 6 to 8 seconds. That gets all that gunk loosened up and outta there real quick.

I will document this technique some time. It sounds reckless and dangerous, but it's terribly effective.

 

[dzog]

I love it. I just acquired a 128K (my first) and as anticipated the drive doesn’t physically accept disks. So I’ll be doing one of these soon enough for the first time... 

 

[petteri]

My new technique for these 400K drives is that I remove the 4 screws on the bottom that hold the cassette mechanism. Then I dip it in a pot of boiling water for about 6 to 8 seconds. That gets all that gunk loosened up and outta there real quick.

I will document this technique some time. It sounds reckless and dangerous, but it's terribly effective.

Sounds much safer than the mini blowtorch option I used. But it was rather fast method  :-D

 

[petteri]

I ran Sonytest's Error Rate Test for a while and results are:
 

Pass Count: 6

Adr Mark Errs: 1

Data Mark Errs: 299

With the track test the tracks 1-25 caused a lot of errors but after 30 to 79 it was quite error free.

So, something not ok. Any ideas what to do next?

 

[jjclay]

Another method of freeing up the grease was mentioned here: https://macgui.com/news/article.php?t=431

...heat it up in an oven to soften the old grease. Also try some WD-40 which you've probably got around the house.

I also keep some Xylene on hand, which works wonders (though it is nasty stuff, so you might want to wear a mask)

Where can I find this Sony test app?

JD

 

[petteri]

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