A1200 Faulty Floopy Drive?

[Robert17]

Hey guys my A1200 doesn't seem to want to format any disks... either that or it's extremely fussy I'm using DD Disks and I need to get one working else I won't be able to savegame on Cannon Fodder, the drive reads all disks perfectly but I can't seem to get a format, anybody else had this problem before?

Thanks!

[Holley]

IIRC in the disk drive's head there's 2 coils, one low power for reading, one high power for writing.  I'd guess the second one in yours might be broken!  I guess you've tried formatting/writing to more than one disk, and have bunged a cleaning disk through - some brand new disks can be duff.

If you only want to write to disk once in a while the easy solution is to just get an external floppy ;-)

[Matt_H]

I doubt this is the problem, but it may be worth looking into if nothing else works. If you've got any expansions in your A1200 that provide a lead out the expansion port next to the mouse connectors, it's possible a cable or something is causing the drive motor to physically catch.

[Robert17]

It always gets stuck and can't format cylinder 99 if that's any help? It's totally unexpanded and it used to format disks not all that long ago... perhaps all my disks are crap though lol

[Holley]

@MattH - Would it still read if that was the case, though?

If it starts formatting ok /then/ gets stuck it might be an alignment problem.  Don't suppose you have any other machines to try it in?

[Matt_H]

Yeah, try some other disks and see if they work. A run with a cleaner disk wouldn't hurt either. You may also want to pop the lid and see if all the connections inside are secure.

[Holley]

Ummm, Matt, what did I say?

I guess you've tried formatting/writing to more than one disk, and have bunged a cleaning disk through - some brand new disks can be duff

:-P

[Robert17]

I've got the cover off now and I'm just messing around blowing dust out etc, trying to do a full format but it takes ages!! How long does it usually take? P.S these arent brand new disks so is the amiga fussy about disks that could possibly be bad?

[Holley]

It should only take a minute or so, and Amigas should be just as fussy as any other DD disks (not as bad as recycling old HD disks).

If you take the floppy out you can carefully pop the top off (they click together, it's easy to figure out how to take 'em apart, but the metal is easy to bend by accident!).  With the top off you can check for fluff etc, but again it's easy to mess up the internals by accident.

If the problem is alignment or a broken head it will be time for a new drive.  If you tried several disks that look ok on the outside (and under the shutter) then it probably isn't them, unless someone else threw them out of course ;-)  Like Matt said, it's worth checking the cable & clearance, but if you've not been in the case already it's unlikely.

[Matt_H]

Holley wrote:
Ummm, Matt, what did I say?

I guess you've tried formatting/writing to more than one disk, and have bunged a cleaning disk through - some brand new disks can be duff

:-P

That's what happens when I don't read all the posts in a thread :-)

[Holley]

At least Robert should be reassured that we're not just pulling this out of nowhere :-) Must admit it's been ages since I've had any problems like this, on an Amiga anyway ...

[Robert17]

Does anyone know where I can get a new/used internal floppy drive for a good price then, what about this compatability thing I've heard about with newer disk drives?

[Holley]

Basically you need a spare drive from another Amiga, get your hands on one of the Eyetech convertors that lets you bung in a regular PC drive, or get an external one and use that drive for writing and the other for reading.

(check out, or put up a wanted on, www.AmiBench.com for all three, or someone here may be able to help)

[Robert17]

I see Vesalia sell them but I've never dealt with them before, has anybody else? And do that have what I'm looking for exactly?

[Robert17]

Well I haven't got any shiny new dd disks yet but I just bagged myself an external floppy drive from ebay for £3.99 lol