Re: Help with Apple II+ and Disk ][

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Michael Crown writes ...
> 
> Please help.  I have an Apple II+ with a Language Card and the Disk ][ controller
> in it.  I have 3 CPUs, 2 Disk drives and 3 controller cards.  I keep trying
> different combos because I cant seem to get any of them to work properly.
> They will read a disk but then the next day it doesnt read the disk.  I have
> tried many differenent disk. Do I need do clean the drives? If so how.


     A drive with dirty heads _could_ be at least part of the problem.

     The easiest way to clean a drive's R/W head(s) is with a Cleaner
Diskette. This is a diskette with a paper disk such as the 5.25" and
3.5" Cleaner Diskettes available in Radio Shack's Disk Drive Head
Cleaner Kits. These kits usually include "Cleaning Fluid" (isopropyl
alcohol), too.

     The 5.25" Cleaner Diskette has panels you pop out to expose the
cleaning surface. Apple II 5.25" drives have a single head which
contacts the disk from the bottom and a pressure pad which presses
against the top side. So, pop out the panel on the bottom side of the
Cleaner Diskette and leave the top panel in place. When cleaning, insert
the diskette with the bottom side facing down. This lets the paper disk
rub against the head and avoids wear on the pressure pad.

     To clean your 5.25" drive head, you sqirt a few drops of Cleaning
Fluid onto the Cleaner Diskette disk, insert it into the drive, and get
the disk spinning for 20 seconds. (Booting the Cleaner Diskette is one
way to get it spinning. If DOS or ProDOS is installed, doing a CATALOG
is another way. For example: CATALOG,S6,D2 would get your 5.25" Drive 2
spinning.)

     If you think it has been several months since the drive was last
cleaned, repeat the procedure-- i.e remove the Cleaner Diskette, add
more fluid, etc.. 



> Do I need to adjust the drives?

     Possibly, some adjustment will help. 


>  If so how?

     The following is by Steve Buggie (in our F005FDISK.TXT FAQs file on
Ground):

>>

     The typical 5.25" drive will run for months with no need for
maintenance save an occassional dusting or session with a head-cleaner
disk. When adjustment is required, it will usually be to fine-tune Speed
or, less often, to set track centering.

     If a 5.25" drive has difficuly reading diskettes, including those
it created, and head-cleaning does not help, then, the odds are it's
time to adjust speed. If your drive is a Disk ][ and does not have the
external 'Speed Knob' mod, look for a small hole on the lower right side
near the back-- some owners add this hole to allow easy access to the
Speed Adjustment mini-pot screw. If there is no hole, you will need to
remove the case. (Remove bolts on bottom and slide out the drive through
the front.)  

     On the 5.25" Apple 'Platinum Drive', the Speed Adjustment is
accessed through a small hole on the bottom of the drive near the front
on the right side. Non-Apple 5.25" drives may place the Speed Adjustment
almost anywhere. Look for a small hole through which you can see a screw
head. If you don't fine one, remove the case and look for a mini-pot
labeled "Speed" or something similar.

     The most popular speed adjustment software utility is, probably,
dear old Copy II Plus. From the menu, just select "Verify", then "Drive
Speed". Put a diskette into the drive you want to adjust and, turning
the Speed Knob (or min-pot shaft) use Copy II's numeric speed display to
zero-in on the 'magic' 200ms. number. (Standard Disk ][ rotation speed
is 300 rpm, which comes out to be 0.2 seconds per revolution.)

     Other speed adjustment utilities show an rpm number or a hires
pointer. Whatever, all speed check routines need to read AND write; so,
you will usually need a "scratch diskette" which you do not mind having
over-written.

     Track-center realignment is needed when a Disk ][ writes and reads
its own disks fine, but does not 'communicate' with many other Apple II
5.25" drives. It generates disk errors when reading disks written by
other drives and other drives have the same problem with its diskettes.

     CALL A.P.P.L.E's APTEST, now in the public domain, tests
track-center alignment. With  this software, the user checks the
alignment of the drive with disks regarded as well aligned --- such as
Apple diskware supplied with the computer or some unprotected, original,
commercial software diskette. (In a pinch, a diskette formatted by any
drive that has no problem reading most other diskettes should be okay.)

     Basically, a track-centering test tries to step your head between
two tracks of the 'standard' diskette and read the tracks on either
side. If the number of successful reads from each track is about equal,
the head is "centered" and your drive is well-aligned with the standard
diskette.

     The test may indicate serious misalignment. ("Aha! That explains
why my IIgs and II+ have problems reading each other's diskettes!") 
Centering adjustment is done by slightly repositioning the stepper motor
(mounted on the underside of the drive). This requires loosening the two
bolts holding the stepper-motor, rotating it clockwise or
counter-clockwise, and retightening.

     The adjustment/test process may require several repetitions. Each
time, the program will report "differential fractions". The smaller
these numbers, the closer you are to near perfect alignment with tracks
on the diskette.

<<


     It may be that the reason you could read/use some disks at first
but can not use them now is that something was written to the disks
during use-- e.g. you saved a file, etc.. The newly written stuff may
show up as corrupted upon a future use if the drive R/W head was very
dirty or speed was incorrect or the drive is out of alignment vis-a-vis
the diskette.

     My suggestion is that you first pick _one_ II+ and _one_
controller-drive combination that seems to work better than the others.
Add a second drive and clean both drives. Boot a diskette with Copy II+.
Use the VERIFY-- DRIVE SPEED option to check/adjust speed of both drives
(remember to stick in a blank or 'don't care' diskette for the speed
adjustment).

     Once you have the above setup going, try doing Copy II+ CATALOGs of
other diskettes. (If you are using a DOS 3.3 version of Copy II+, you
will only be able to work with DOS 3.3 diskettes. A ProDOS version of
Copy II+ will let you work with DOS 3.3 and ProDOS diskettes.)  Most
copy-protected diskettes (like originals of commercial games) will not
CATALOG. Try copying diskettes for which you can do a CATALOG.

     The basic idea is to get _something_ working and, then, as much as
possible, do your testing with copies. Let us know what you discover.



> Is there a simple basic program I
> can type in to test the CPU and Language card?   This is driving me nuts.

 ....

     Any "64k" game is a pretty good check for your Language Card-- i.e.
if the game works, your LC is probably okay. This looks like, mainly, a
disk drive sort of problem.



Rubywand