JDW Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 I've been speaking to a gentleman in the comments section under one of my YouTube videos about his 800K floppy drive, and today he shared a video of his problematic clicking head with me here: As you can see, the optical sensor is in fact working fine. If it was dirty or clogged, it would not work as shown in the video above. But as you can see, the head is still trying to move back over and over. Is this a case of the Zero Track problem? Does the screw holding the optical sensor in place need to be loosened and the optical sensor moved back slightly? Or is the cause of this problem something else? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDW Posted February 15 Author Report Share Posted February 15 The more I ponder this problem, the more it bothers me. I don't see how it can be the Zero Track Alignment problem. If it was that, I would expect the head to stop it's repetitive motion when the head was manually moved forward and then a tool was inserted into the optical sensor (see the video above). But as you can see, the head continues to move back even when a tool is inserted into the optical sensor. That tool merely freezes the head location, but the head still attempts to move back. You can see the worm gear moving the whole time. Is this a defective chip on the circuit board? Or does the drive really know where the head is located, and in that case it requires the head to go back a certain number of steps before it stops? But if that is true, what is the purpose of that optical sensor? Hmmm... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDW Posted February 16 Author Report Share Posted February 16 Currently 110 views of this thread but the only replies are mine. Surely one among us must own a floppy drive and have seen something similar. If so, I want to hear from you! Thank you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LaPorta Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 I personally do not have any recollection of an issue such as this. Seems to me like either something is not being sensed properly, or the signal is not properly interpreted. One suggestion: to make sure not not further damage or strip the head, I'd suggest he remove it and just test the worm gear without the head on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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