Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: sir_inferno on December 30, 2003, 02:02:09 PM
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The Hedley Davis Memorial Disk Drive
Any1 know what that's all about? :-)
From that video on the closing of c= :-(
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I have been thinking about that too, and the only conclusion I can come up with ( based on absolutely no facts ) is that the drive somehow "slipped" from his hands, and seated itself in the wall... :)
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slipped, with VIOLENT ANGER :-D
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Yea I always thought that was great. I wonder why he threw it...
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The story I've heard says it was actually a drive that had failed, and was responsible for causing a very strange bug that took several weeks to find. Upon discovery of fault, the floppy drive was ejected from the system with enough vengeance that it found its way to that resting place. Of course, everyone else found this quite humorous, so it was suitably framed where it hit.
Disclaimer: This may be partly or even completely incorrect. It's just what I remember hearing a very long time ago.
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From that video on the closing of c= :-(
Where can one see this video?
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Where can one see this video?
It`s from The Deathbed Vigil (and other tales of digital angst) made by Dave Haynie.
It may still be on googlevideo...
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Hmmm.... I might be able to shed a little light...
Okay, so imagine you are the lead enigneer/project manager on a new system. And this system really is your baby. You conceived of its basic design, drove it from start to finish, really poured your soul into it.
And you get back your "it better be right this time because production starts with it unless you really screwed up" prototype motherboard. You build it up, and start testing. Everything has to be right, but that is okay because you were OCD careful and checked everything before sending it out for fab. Just a quick validation, and things should be golden....
But the damn floppy doesn't work. What the hell? The motherboard really provides no value add to the floppy control, everything is controlled by Agnes and Denise. There is nothing there to fail. Swap diskettes. swap Denises, swap anguses, swap power supplies. Still no good. Double check the netlist and the layout. Nothing. The floppy always 'just worked' before. Shit. Whip out the scope and start poking here and there. How the hell does this floppy thing work anyway? What exactly should the signals look like?
So roll up your sleeves, grab more coffee, dig out the docs and start reading and studying. Spend many hours refreshing your memory about how it is supposed to work, and then spend a few more with the scope. Poke at a working system and compare signals. Add pressure because you really need to release it, but certainly can't if the floppy doesn't work.
Hours go by. 2 pm.... 6pm... 10pm... midnight... 2am... Everything checks out, all the signals look great, why doesn't it work? WTF!!?
Then the really dim light bulb goes off. I mean the micro-watt kind, the kind that, by virtue of the single photon it emits, signals that it is infinitely more brilliant that you are.
There is nothing wrong with the very expensive prototype motherboard you have been slaving over. Maybe, just maybe, it is that floppy drive you have been testing with. Swap it out, and presto! Everything works great. See no problem, you've just wasted 12 hours real time (and 5 years of your lifespan) because of a cheap POS floppy drive!! Or more accurately, because you were too stupid to try swapping that out long ago.
Now let he without sin cast the first stone, but if you had wasted your time like that, then maybe, just maybe you would understand. Simply put, there was no longer room in this universe for both me and that floppy drive. It was him or me. Sadly, my efforts to propel it into the next universe were interrupted by the wall. I went home.
I ain't proud of it. But the damn thing got what it deserved.
Or did it? Thanks to the deathbed vigil video, that damn drive is now more famous than I will ever be. It won. What's next? A freaking wikipedia page for the damn floppy drive?
I can see my tombstone now.
His floppy didn't work,
so his proto didn't go
Here lies a dumbass engineer,
died stupid, dontcha know.
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Wow!!!
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Thank you very much for that interesting anecdote.
And yes i am on your side. The floppy drive diserved it!
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@hedley,
That is a hilarious story, thanks for sharing it so completely. It so sounds like something I could have been guilty of, specially in my younger days, but now that I am old and wisened, I have learned to check the most obvious and easiest solutions first and have thankfully not repeated too many of those frustrating moments in life over the past decade.
Thanks again. Also, welcome to Amiga.org as I see that this post is your first, unless you have been using a different member name in the past. It is great to see any of the original Amiga engineers visiting this great Amiga site. I hope you will share much more of your knowledge and history of the Amiga in the days, weeks and months to come.
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Thanks alot!
I cant remember last time I laughed this much from a posting on amiga.org :)
As for floppy drives, I keep a pile of them exactly for the occations you describe, and a floppy drive emulator as well, just in case.
Cheers!
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Hmmm.... I might be able to shed a little light...
Heh heh. Thank you for the inside story! And thank you for helping to build a damn good computer.
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Great story
LOL, Remember, there is a 90% chance it was either Dave's or Bil's fault......
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I agree... WOW!
Easily one of the best posts I've read on A.org for some time....
Hedley, I really hope you'll stick around A.org .... Great Story!
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Now let he without sin cast the first stone, but if you had wasted your time like that, then maybe, just maybe you would understand.
Welcome to Amiga.org! It feels good to know that I, too, have suffered the shame of an engineer of your caliber. Damn fine story, and damn fine work, Sir. Thank you for both.
My first memory of such a time was spending four -- or was it six? -- frustrating hours (with some breaks, mind you) on a small 6502 routine, recoding, writing, scribbling, cussing, maybe even crying at one point, only to find that my whole problem was caused by an innocent looking BEQ which should have been a BNE. How the Hell did I miss that? Not only shameful, but it should have been a red flag and notice to pursue a career which did not involve troubleshooting, as there have been a few, more entertaining, occurrences since.
What's next? A freaking wikipedia page for the damn floppy drive?
Somebody working on this? I do not have a wp account.... :roflmao:
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Hahaha I loved seeing that on the Video. It was AWESOME! I can relate with those darn floppy drives! Wish I could chuck a few at my wall and frame it!
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Ya, well, you should try answering when the inevitable question pops up during job interviews.
If you like a good story, this one from the C128 days should amuse. http://home.datacomm.ch/fmeyer/c64/c128_story.html
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Nice story...
Hey, Hedley... Is this you? :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PfzLRs7YC0
Love the shades! Did anyone ever tell you you look(ed) a bit like Judge Reinhold? :-)
Cheers,
Mike.
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Funny thing is that most of these FB354 drives go out of alignment and can actually be fixed... ;-)
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Great tale. I don't have near that much control. I have had to learn how to patch wall board from those strange rectilinear holes that tend to appear around me when I loose it.
And that's with no where near the stress levels that the famed framed drive caused...
Oh well, Zen helped a lot.
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can u leave the video link ?