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Author Topic: Is my floppy disk drive broken?  (Read 18433 times)

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Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« on: May 08, 2020, 04:11:15 PM »
Hello! I have an A1200 and I can't load from my floppy disk drive. When I put in a floppy I get, beneath a picture of a floppy, the text "DF0::? ? ? ?" Is the drive broken?
Can you help me?
I love Amiga
Is an A500 diskdrive the same as an A1200 diskdrive?
« Last Edit: May 08, 2020, 05:10:21 PM by tippieislief »
 

Offline TribbleSmasher

Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2020, 07:38:47 PM »
The disk drive might be broken, dis-adjusted, dirty inside, worn out; the floppy cable might be loose; the disk you tried might be a game you cannot read from Workbench due to copy protection, the disk may be unformatted ... ;)
Some drives have been reported to contain a leaking capacitor, which may cause faults too.
The floppy drives for any Amiga are basically the same, besides the rare HD floppies, but for every Amiga you need a different eject button or front bezel form factor.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2020, 07:40:52 PM by TribbleSmasher »
 

Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2020, 09:32:40 AM »
Alright. So I guess it is possible to swap the drives and use their own eject button etc. So only swap the drives but not the eject button etc.? Does anyone know?
It is an internal drive.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2020, 10:01:31 AM by tippieislief »
 

Offline TribbleSmasher

Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2020, 10:39:07 AM »
You can try. Some Mitsumi drives are a little bit bigger, some Panasonics a little longer...
 

Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2020, 10:52:30 AM »
I have a few things to do. Then I will update this topic. Thank you for your help.
 

Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2020, 07:02:51 AM »
Maybe the problem is that he starts up workbench first and so doesn't go on with the floppy drive. When I start up my a1200 I get the on screen message df0:? ? ? ?.How can I let the a1200 start up from the internal floppy drive?
« Last Edit: May 10, 2020, 07:27:18 AM by tippieislief »
 

Offline TribbleSmasher

Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2020, 08:48:45 AM »
The internal floppy is alway present unless disabled. When you get this df0:???? icon then there is something wrong. For example the little internal switch in the drive that detects a disk is inserted is faulty.
You can try to bootup the machine with a disk already inserted at startup.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2020, 08:49:17 AM by TribbleSmasher »
 

Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2020, 03:57:10 PM »
Yes I have done that. He detects a disc. It doesn't matter if it is an original game disc or an empty unformatted disc or an copied game disc. He gives df0:? ? ? ?. I will get cleansing liquid soon. So I will clean him.
 

Offline TribbleSmasher

Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2020, 07:51:23 PM »
Did you open up the computer? Maybe only the floppy cable is loose. And don't spray some fluids inside the drive, first try compressed air for instance.
 

Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2020, 09:05:01 AM »
I haven't opened it yet. Is it save to use cotton swabs with cleansing liquid? I will check if it is the cable. I must say the drive works well But it doesn't do the whole job. It is only a bit dirty. It hasn't been used for 20 years. The ejectbutton is sticky, it is a bit heavy to push it.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2020, 09:10:09 AM by tippieislief »
 

Offline TribbleSmasher

Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #10 on: May 11, 2020, 11:57:23 AM »
Revising a floppy drive is actually not that difficult. Just don't do anything you are going to regret later. ;D

If you  carefully lift only the top cover you might already see the sticky grease or pieces of dirt inside. Cotton swabs are good, but from the little opening you are not gonna see much. The head is sensible, for instance.

Search on Youtube for "amiga floppy drive repair".
 

Offline matt020

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #11 on: May 11, 2020, 12:08:21 PM »
GadgetUk has some videos on his YouTube channel. Can I suggest watching some videos on YouTube on how to clean floppy drives.

Judging by whats been written so far, I think it could be dangerous to dive into this without seeing it getting done first......
A500, A600, A2000, A1200, CD32, A4000
 

Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #12 on: May 11, 2020, 12:13:15 PM »
Alright. I will use PRF-48. Is that good? It is a spray. Of course I must not spray in the drive. I will use it to wet the cotton swabs. And I will see a guidancevideo. Thank you.
 

Offline tippieisliefTopic starter

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Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2020, 06:45:14 AM »
I cleaned the drive but it still get the message df0:? ? ? ? How can I know the internal floppy disk drive isn't disabled?
 

Offline TribbleSmasher

Re: Is my floppy disk drive broken?
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2020, 08:47:53 AM »
It can't be disabled, as you can see it. To disable it you need to go to the early boot menu (hold both mouse buttons on startup) and deactivate it there for the actual session only.

It must be a problem with the floppy itself, either cable, de-adjustment or dirt, or the aforementioned little capacitor on the drive leaking.
If you have an external second drive try this just to make sure the fault is not in the chipset on the motherboard.