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Re: Disk drive fault (BBC B)
Posted by Ian Wolstenholme on Saturday, November 30, 2002 at 12:31:08
Julie wrote:

Ian,
Thanks for your e-mail.
The disc drive ribbon is correctly connected. All the discs are 40 track formatted and have all previously worked. I'll try and format a blank disc when I get a chance!! Although, I'm not sure this will work, as the disc drive is not making all the usual sounds (grinding noises) it used to make when it worked a year ago. Perhaps drive head is not moving as it should. Disc drive: Watford Electronics DDFS 1.54T SINGLE DRIVE. Our BBC is not P.C. compatible.

Regards,
Julie

If you are still having problems, a further possibility might be that the drive heads have become dirty. This could happen after a period without use or if a disc has been inserted with a tiny bit of dust on the surface which has been transferred to the drive heads.

If you have a head cleaning disc then put this in and spin the disc a few times by using *CAT or shift-BREAK and then try to load one of your discs again.

If you do not have a head cleaning disc then you can make do with a cotton bud. Switch everything off and remove the casing from the drive. Dampen the cotton bud and gently wipe it onto each of the drive heads. The heads are the moving parts which "clamp" onto the exposed surface of a disc when the drive door is closed. Hopefully this will reveal a minute speck of dust on one of the heads which prevents anything working! Ensure the heads are dry by using another cotton bud and re-assemble and test another disc.

Hope this helps!


Ian
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