Good source of info on 8” diskettes and OS65D
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:52 am
I’m experiencing the joys of working with 8” floppies with a C8P. Every time I try to copy a diskette, I get an ERR #3 that the destination disk is write protected. In fact, I see no write protect/unprotect tab or hole anywhere. Anyone know the trick? Do I need to cut out a tab on the disk?
Also, with two drives tested so far (Siemens FDD-100-8), the head motor appears to lack the strength to move/reset the head to track zero, so (with power off), I manually move the screw so the head is positioned over track zero. With that, the disk boots every time. But I’m going to have to find some source for replacing that motor/screw.
[Update: So, after flip through some Siemens manuals, I understand how the write protect works and I’m guessing the sensor and associated logic is faulty -- resulting in a default to write inhibit. I think there is a trace I can cut to break the inhibit circuit. As for the stepper motor not moving the head to track 0, either the motor is bad or the track 0 sensor is bad (drive thinks its always in track 0 position) or both. ]
Thanks for any help you can provide. TB
Also, with two drives tested so far (Siemens FDD-100-8), the head motor appears to lack the strength to move/reset the head to track zero, so (with power off), I manually move the screw so the head is positioned over track zero. With that, the disk boots every time. But I’m going to have to find some source for replacing that motor/screw.
[Update: So, after flip through some Siemens manuals, I understand how the write protect works and I’m guessing the sensor and associated logic is faulty -- resulting in a default to write inhibit. I think there is a trace I can cut to break the inhibit circuit. As for the stepper motor not moving the head to track 0, either the motor is bad or the track 0 sensor is bad (drive thinks its always in track 0 position) or both. ]
Thanks for any help you can provide. TB