lastfuture
Offline
Freiburg, Germany

Hi,

I've salvaged the C128 and 1571 floppy drive from my parents' basement for making music, transported it here in my luggage via train and connected everything up. I then switched it to C64 mode and tried getting the directory listing by typing LOAD "$",8 but all I got was a lousy DEVICE NOT PRESENT  ERROR. I'm pretty sure that worked last time I checked (a few years ago).

Since I'm sure some of you are intimately familiar with the internals of these computers and perhaps also the drives I figured I'd ask here. Here's what else I tried:

I tried device numbers 8 through 15 and both of the serial ports in the back of the drive (which one is the correct one? the one below the power socket?). The drive resets when the C128 gets reset like it should so some connection must be present. I've then opened up both the C128 and the drive and pressed on each socketed chip to make sure it was properly seated.

The error is still appearing though. I'm afraid the transport vibrations could be to blame, or in the two years or so since I last started it something went bad. Does anybody have tips or a list of things I can try? I don't have another drive or another commodore to try which one of the two devices is to blame. I also don't have another serial cable.

XyNo
Offline
Joliette, QC, Canada

Have you checked your serial cable ?!

lastfuture
Offline
Freiburg, Germany

Thanks for the tip, I've just tried measuring continuity, but it's very hard without the proper tool and cable tips ... I THINK pin 3 may not be OK (Serial ATN according to http://www.hardwarebook.info/Commodore_Serial_I/O ) if I wasn't too clumsy holding everything steady for measuring.

Sooo... guess I'll order a replacement cable and see where that leads me.

irrlichtproject
Offline
Nomad's Land

can you give some more details, it's hard to diagnose like this. especially interesting: what do the drive motor and leds do when you're sending the load command?

edit: a note to all - always put a transport lock into your drive, or you have a good chance of damaging the mechanics while carrying it around.

Last edited by irrlichtproject (Jan 3, 2013 1:48 am)

lastfuture
Offline
Freiburg, Germany

There is absolutely no reaction when I try the load command. No LED flash, no motor sound, no spinning up. The power LED stays solid, unchanged. There is access LED flashing and spinning up only when it gets reset (either by turning it on or by resetting the C128 while it is connected) and the motor reacts when I insert or remove a floppy.

edit: I had a blank floppy in the drive during transport, does that count as transport lock?

Last edited by lastfuture (Jan 3, 2013 2:00 am)

irrlichtproject
Offline
Nomad's Land

that does indeed sound like a cable issue.

ed: never mind
ed2: yes, blank disk is perfect.

Last edited by irrlichtproject (Jan 3, 2013 2:08 am)

lastfuture
Offline
Freiburg, Germany

The new serial cable arrived and it did the trick! I was able to load a few games and everything works fine. Now I just need a floppy with SDI smile