Re: Apple IIgs not recognizing 3.5 drives

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Obsbedia2 writes ...
> 
>> o- When you say eject does not work, do you mean the 3.5" drives on both
>> computers do not eject disks when the eject button is pushed?
> --YES
> 
 ....
> 
>> o- When you tested the 5.25" drives on the bad systems, were
>> they plugged into the 3.5" drives or directly into the Disk Port.
> --DIRECTLY into the disk port, with the 3.5 drive plugged into the
> second 5.25" drive.
 ....

     The Apple 3.5" drives need to be first in the chain. The 5.25" drives do
not correctly pass through all of the signals needed by the 3.5" drives; for
instance, the 3.5" drive enable line would be tied to ground.



>> o- Were the two bad machines on the same power line?
> --90% chance YES
> 
>> Were the machines
>> connected to the power line via a surge suppressor or UPS?
> --NO surge, unless it's a minor one built into
> the multi-outlet stick.  Never
> heard the term UPS, except for the nice truck
> that delivers Apple II treasures to me.
> 
 ....

AC Line --->UPS ---> Computer

     An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a good way to get
anti-glitch/anti-surge protection and to maintain power to the computer for
brief periods when AC Line power is very low or off.

     Multi-outlet sticks vary widely in terms of protection against glitches.

     If both computers suddenly showed the same kind of disk drive failure, one
possibility to consider would be that both got zapped by the same glitch and/or
surge. The zap might affect the disk controller, the drives, other associated
circuits, ... .


     For now, it looks like the main problem is that the 3.5" drives somehow
got plugged into the 5.25" drives. Putting them first in the chain may fix
problems, especially when using the replacement 3.5" drives.



Rubywand