Re: Formatting disks

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Drew writes ...
> 
> Hey thanks for the input,
> They are DD Disks and my IIc can format them just fine, I'm going to tear
> apart the ][ gs drive to check it out.  One thing I dont get though,
> If it was a cable or a sensor in one drive, why would it effect the other
> drive ?
> I have a Disk ][ and  card hooked up as well as the stock ][ gs 5.25" and
> neither of them can format or write.
 ....

     If you have an active IIgs 5.25" drive and a Disk ][ Controller card
installed in Slot 6, the Disk ][ card needs to be some place besides Slot 6 in
order to be able to access both the IIgs 5.25" drive and the 5.25" drive
connected to the Disk ][ card.

     If Slot 7 is open, you could put the Disk ][ card in Slot 7 and set the
Slot to "Your Card". Slot 6 would be set to the default "Disk Port" setting to
allow accessing the IIgs 5.25" drive.

Note: Be sure power is OFF whenever a card is moved.


     About Write Protect (WP)... This is supposed to be a logic "1" when WP is
active. So, a break in the WP line to a drive can make it appear that the disk
is write protected.

     On the IIgs, most of the signal lines are fed through each drive to the
next drive in the chain (starting with the 3.5" drives, if any, and then the
5.25" drives). If any drive in the chain has a broken WP line, then it and any
drives connected to it are likely to have WP set ON.

     If the WP line has, somehow, become shorted to a +5V line, then, it is
unlikely that any drive on the chain will be able to pull the line low and all
drives on the chain will have WP set ON.

     As an experiment, go to your control panel (press OpenApple-Control-Escape
and select "Control Panel"), select "Slots", and set Slot 7 to "Your Card".
Make sure Slot 6 is set to "Disk Port". Also, set boot slot to "Scan". Press
Return to save the settings and get out of the Control Panel.

     Turn OFF the Computer. Place your Disk ][ Controller card with attached
drive in Slot 7. Attach just one 5.25" drive to the IIgs Disk Port.

     With a bootable disk in the Disk ][ drive (Slot 7) turn ON power. The disk
should boot. See if you can format diskettes in the Slot 7 (Disk ][) drive.
Probably, it will work fine.

     Next, try booting from Slot 6 (you can enter PR#6 from the BASIC prompt)
and try formatting a diskette in the IIgs 5.25" drive. If the disk boots and
you can do formats okay, the problem may have been a conflict due to having the
Disk ][ card in Slot 6.

     If the disk boots but you can not do formats, it may be time to turn OFF
power and remove the drive, open it, and poke around looking for either a
broken line at Pin 10 or Pin 10 shorted to a +5V line (Pin 6).



Rubywand