Re: IIGS won't handle floppies

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Vincent Quinn writes ...

>

> ....

> 

> When booted from a hard disk, my IIGS has decided it's not going to read,

> format or write to any sort of floppy disk attached to the SmartPort. SCSI

> read/writes to hard disk or Zip are fine.

> 

> If I boot the GS from a 3.5" floppy it appears to be fine and reads the

> disk with no problem - it won't format a 3.5" disk though.

> 

> I'd love to find out that this is a software problem, but I suspect it

> must be hardware (SmartPort controller chip?). For the past six months I

> have had one Apple 3.5" and two converted Disk ][s daisy-chained to the

> port with no problems. Recently I added a second 3.5" - that could be

> purely co-incidental.

> 

> Anyway, when booting from a hard disk, the symptoms are:

> 

> �plug in one converted Disk ][ and boot up - the machine sees two of 'em



     'Not sure; but, this may be normal for some versions of GS/OS.





> �put a 3.5" disk in either drive and everything locks up - the busy light

> on the drive stays on until a forced restart

> �a 5.25" disk will mount on the desktop - but if I try to format it I get

> "I/O error $27".

> 

> All of the four drives seem fine. The 3.5"s work perfectly

> (read/write/format) when attached to my PC Transporter (in the same GS).

> The Disk ][s work perfectly (read/write/format), again with the same GS,

> if attached to a Disk ][ controller card in either slot 6 or slot 2. They

> are also fine attached to a //c disk port.

>



     When your 5.25" drives are attached to the GS, they are the last

two drives on the chain; right?



     Some suspects include an intermittantly loose or shorting line on

one of the 5.25" drive cables, a loose/shorting line somewhere between

the input and output of the new 3.5" drive, a loose or dirty connection

at one or more drive sockets.



     Another possibility is that your converted 5.25" drive cables are

too long or otherwise subject to noise or cross-talk.



 

> I've tried booting from a different hard disk (different system) and from

> a Zip partition  (same system) and had the same problems with the floppy

> drives.

>



     This is a good sign! If there is a hardware problem, it seems to be

somewhere in the drive chain.



 

> My last (forlorn?) hope that it could be software is - I'm getting a

> message I've never seen before when trying to launch some apps on the hard

> disk by double-clicking:

> Error: could not load/unload resource

> Type=8001

> ID=00005A06

> Error=1E06

>



     $1E06 is "Resource not found".



 

> Also (this may be completely unrelated), if I try to open 'Control Panels'

> from the Apple menu, usually nothing happens - I have to use

> <Apple><control><escape>.

>



     It sounds like software links are getting messed around. You might

try the 'standard fix' for weird stuff: scrap your DESKTOP files in all

ICONS/ folders.



 

> Anyone tell me what's wrong? If it's hardware, I have a scrapped //c

> motherboard - can I replace a faulty GS chip with anything on there (all

> of the //c chips except for the IWM are fine)?





     There does not seem to be anything wrong with your inside-the-GS
hardware.



     Since you have a PC Transporter, adding the second 3.5" drive may

have been the 'last straw' in terms of noise-producing power drain,

especially if your GS is a standard ROM-01 model.





> 

> Alternatively, (since I have a work-around for the 5.25"s), can I leave

> the 3.5" drives attached to the PC Transporter and access them when in

> GSOS/ProDos - perhaps by patching ProDos? Would they then format disks

> under MFM, instead of GCR?

> ....



     A fellow PC Transporter owner may know the answers. How are you

planning to boot 3.5" ProDOS diskettes?





     Try pulling out your PC Transporter. If this permits your drives to
work correctly it could be an indication that the PCT draws more current
than your present setup can supply without producing noise on the +5V
and +12V lines. (Installing heavier +5, +12, and GND Power Supply leads
will significantly this sort of noise and may eliminate glitches.)



     You may still need to scrap at least the DESKTOP file in your Hard

Disk boot volume ICONS/ folder.



     If your converted 5.25" drive cables are susceptible to noise

and/or crosstalk, there may be no way to get them to work at the end of

the SmartPort drive chain. Unless you get at least one standard IIe/IIgs

5.25" drive, you may have to stick with your Disk ][ card work-around.  


     The 3.5" drive recognition problem is something which used to pop

up from time to time on our system. It seems to be related to the

presence of a SCSI interface and whether or not noise messes up the

result of drive checks during power up. Inserting a 3.5" diskette into

Drive 1 just after turning ON the computer usually solved the problem;

but, the best fix is to reduce system noise.







Rubywand