External floppy drive not reading disks

[orjanh]

I have an external floppy drive for my A500 that is having some issues. After inserting a disk into it, Workbench reports all disk as "DF1:BAD". Even disks that are working in the internal floppy drive.

I uploaded a short video showing what happens when I insert a disk here

A few seconds after the disk is inserted you will hear a low "click" (that is the drive making that sound, not the surroundings).
It doesnt show very well in the video, but the green LED is working, but very dim.

I tried cleaning the heads, and the insides of the drive without that making any difference. I were careful not to bend the arm for the upper head when cleaning.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?


Thanks!

[orjanh]

I'm suspecting the motor being the cause of the issue, all though I'm not sure. It makes a humming sound when a disk is inserted, but goes quiet when the disk is ejected. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[paul1981]

I'm suspecting the motor being the cause of the issue, all though I'm not sure. It makes a humming sound when a disk is inserted, but goes quiet when the disk is ejected. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Is the motor spinning? Look for videos on youtube of the Amiga 500 disk drive working.and you will be able to hear whether the noise is correct.

I can't actually play your video on my naff old android.

[jltursan]

Do you have any other external drive to test with?, the external drive circuitry is a little bit different from the internal one; so maybe there's a problem in the A500 itself.

[vince_6]

With a multimeter check the voltage of the power plug that goes to the drive.
If it is OK then try another one and replace your internal with your faulty one.
Some external drives work inside the amiga too.

[paul1981]

Oh...external drive. I'm blind! Check for siezed motor...WD-40 may make it work.

[orjanh]

I measured drive connector on the back of the Amiga and got 4.95v on the 5v-pin and 11.84v on the 12v-pin, so I guess that's fine.

The external drive has a 26 pin floppy connector while the internal drive has a 34 pin connector, so I won't be able to swap them around for testing purposes.
I guess I could measure the external drive itself, but I'm not sure where 5v, GND and 12v is located:


As for the motor sounds; it can be heard in the clip in the first post (here), does it sound normal? When the drive is empty the humming (audible in the video) stops, and the drive makes the ticking sound (as normal) while waiting for a disk. The ticking sound is louder in the internal drive, but I guess that can vary from drive to drive?

Perhaps this is a dumb question, but I think this is the motor:) - and I am able to turn it manually with ease, so I guess it is not seized?:



Edit:
I unscrewed the motor to be able to flip it around and get a better look when using the drive. I could see that it was spinning without any problem. However, I noticed that the belt seemed a bit loose, and may not be tight enough to be able to get any traction off the motor. I stoumbled upon a couple of threads talking about the RF-332 cases with Citizen drives (which I have), and it seems that people are having to replace old belts in these types of drives.

The belt is barely moving when the drive is trying to read a disk, so I guess this could be the issue?

Thanks!

[paul1981]

Belt driven? Yes, without a doubt it will be a stretched drive belt. Look no further...

[orjanh]

Great, thanks!

I'll check my local electronics shops for it (or Ebay if I'm unable to find the correct one).

I'll give an update once I get the new belt.

[orjanh]

Got the new drive belt today. They might not look too far apart in terms of length, but the old one is a bit longer.
Old belt on top, new below:



I installed the new belt with relative ease, started Workbench, inserted a floppy into the drive and... success!
Pretty happy with that fix

If anyone wonders, this is the belt I got.

[Acill]

Awesome find! Thanks for sharing. I have a couple drive that seem fine that may need this done. I plan to check it out this weekend now!

[paul1981]

Got the new drive belt today. They might not look too far apart in terms of length, but the old one is a bit longer.
Old belt on top, new below:



I installed the new belt with relative ease, started Workbench, inserted a floppy into the drive and... success!
Pretty happy with that fix

If anyone wonders, this is the belt I got.

That's great, i'm really pleased the new belt is working for you. From looking at the sizes of those belts, I'd expect that the new one should be more tighter (shorter) than what I'm seeing in the photo - you'd be suprised how much belts can stretch from new after 20 or more years down the line. If the drive shows any sign of incorrect behaviour, then replace the belt with one a bit smaller (tighter) than the new one you currently have.