Stopwatch cursor issue in Workbench

[JimJagger]

Thank you.  Unfortunately I feel I'm a little out of my depth here.

I might experiment with Amiga Explorer to explore data on floppy disks that I can copy across - https://www.amigaforever.com/ae/

[scuzzb494]

You have a problem with a stuck hard drive. That length of time dormant its not unusual. You do have some of the partitions visible which is a start. First thing to do is switch her on and boot to that screen and leave the computer on all day long. I once had a ViperCD on a 500 that took over a day and then magically OK. I have a 4000 sitting behind me here that can take all morning before the light clears and I can start using her. These drives are slow to respond.

Also at what angle were you storing the drive... vertical, upside down. Try standing it on its side and opposite to how she was stored and maybe giving the box a very gentle tap. I have had A2000s that I literally stood on end and left them running all day. I would suggest the old freezer trick which I have used to revive half a dozen stuck drives. Mostly I just tap them. Listen when she boots and see if she make a couple of high pitched noises.

You will like this ...

https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_september19/scuzzblogdseptember19_2201.htm

I recently had the red light of death on a PS3 that I used a hair dryer to revive, but that was a slightly differing problem.

Little tip, if you do get her working try switching her on every now and then. I have an A600 on the bench at the moment that has a slowly dying hard drive. Happens.

PS I also have a Checkmate with an external SCSI drive that leaves the screen blank for ages and the light stays on. I have to soft boot CTRL right and left Amiga at least three or four times before she shows me an error message that identifies a checksum, which I cancel and then remarkably the drive activates. I have another 600 that I have to boot hard and then twice from a soft but she always fires up. There is a trick to it. Doesn't always work but with a little TLC should be able to get her back. All is not lost.

I have a similar drive to yours.. not  the same but another make. It has a drive connector at the back.

https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_december18/scuzzblogddecember18_2602.htm

scuzz

[JimJagger]

Thank you for your response, and apologies for taking so long to respond.  I've been dabbling on & off with the file transfer (once I acquired the cables).

I tried leaving the hard drive on for about 48 hours in total - but no luck I'm afraid.  I believe the drive was store on end (with the connection pointing upwards).  I'm still too afraid to give it a tap but I may resort to that next.  (I love the sound of the drive in your videos from the blog - the slow whir and gentle grinding brings back so many memories.)

I'll keep pottering around with the drive but I've also started hunting for local (or not so local) Amiga groups that I can attend.  I'm based in Edinburgh but have found one in Lincoln (where my mother lives).  Once lockdown eases I'll aim to take my gear down there and see what we can do.

Yes, your drive is almost identical to mine.  I have the same connector at the back and it plugs into the PCMCIA slot.

Thanks again!
Jim

[AndyFC]

Hi JimJagger, great that you've still got your Amiga and it's (mostly) still working! Hours & days of fun are ahead.

I had a similar HD to that one, like Scuzz mine was branded the Archos Overdrive 35. Mine had a separate power supply which plugged into a 3-pin plug but from your description I think your power supply plugs into the floppy drive port (like on Scuzz's pictures?). This doesn't make the hard drive DF1:, it's only using that port to get power.

The way mine worked if I had to boot from floppy (I am trying to remember back about 20 years as I stopped using my Overdrive when I got a Blizzard Accelerator and they don't work together) was a small 'AQ' icon appeared on the Workbench (it's a bit strange - a small icon with no apparent name but it was cleverly blank by it being named a single space). Double-clicking this mounted the partitions which were called AQ0: and AQ1: as standard. You can run this command from shell by typing " " and hitting enter (that's  quote-space-quote).

I recall that the Overdrive was very particular about it's set up and the boot partition (AQ0:) must be 8MB and AQ1: uses whatever capacity is left. I still have my boot floppy which has tools on to set up the hard drive in this way (effectively reset to default settings).

Overall the Overdrive is a case and adapter with a standard 3.5" IDE hard disk inside so if you DO need to replace the disk, then it's quite easy to do.