The top of the disk surface close to the inside has what looks like a slimy trail! It was making a squeaky noise in the drive so I pulled it. I've been trying to get this drive to work with my Altair, so it may be possible that it stepped inward too far, could that have gotten grease or something on the head maybe?
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3.5" Floppy Drive squeaking - opened the disk shutter and saw something odd
- Thread starter alank2
- Start date
durgadas311
Veteran Member
Not at all helpful, but that doesn't stop anyone else: I once had a brand-new 5.25" floppy diskette that kept coming up "not ready" in every drive and system I tried it on... could not turn the disk at all - as if it were square! had us all baffled, until I dissected it and found that excess glue had been applied to the jacket flap and had glued the disk to the jacket.
Is that a new diskette, or could it have been contaminated before? Is this the first time you've tried to use this drive? (could the drive head or mechanism have been serviced by an auto mechanic that thought copious amounts of grease solves everything?)
Typically, floppy drives have a hard-stop to prevent the head from moving past the outermost/innermost points. There should be no way to get the head to move into the spindle - which should not be greased anyway.
Is that a new diskette, or could it have been contaminated before? Is this the first time you've tried to use this drive? (could the drive head or mechanism have been serviced by an auto mechanic that thought copious amounts of grease solves everything?)
Typically, floppy drives have a hard-stop to prevent the head from moving past the outermost/innermost points. There should be no way to get the head to move into the spindle - which should not be greased anyway.
SomeGuy
Veteran Member
Pull the jacket apart and see what is inside it. It only takes a little bit of contamination to rip a 3.5" disk up. If the disk was around oil or some other liquid, a little drop could have leaked in there. If it was a disk that had been stored in a humid storage locker for 30 years, then it is going to at least have residue on the cookie surface that will rip things up.
It looks to me like whatever it was caused friction when the head moved over the surface. Yes, even a lubricant can increase friction. If it was something sticky, it only takes an almost microscopic amount to foul things up.
Be sure to at least run a disk cleaner through your drive. You probably should open and inspect your drive.
It looks to me like whatever it was caused friction when the head moved over the surface. Yes, even a lubricant can increase friction. If it was something sticky, it only takes an almost microscopic amount to foul things up.
Be sure to at least run a disk cleaner through your drive. You probably should open and inspect your drive.
Both drives it touched were opened and cleaned.
I opened up the disk and there was a small piece of something next to the track. It felt like sugar when I crushed it between my fingers - I was eating a cinnamon doughnut and perhaps a small piece of sugar got inside it somehow? That is my only guess.
I opened up the disk and there was a small piece of something next to the track. It felt like sugar when I crushed it between my fingers - I was eating a cinnamon doughnut and perhaps a small piece of sugar got inside it somehow? That is my only guess.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
That's a good guess. Rule 1 of bench work: Don't eat or drink while you're working. It only takes a spilled cup of coffee to make a mess of your work. When handling "naked" floppy cookies, I wear white cotton gloves so that I don't contaminate things with my skin oils.
I can remember a release celebration involving champagne and the only copy of the release code. Next day, pulling the cookies out, rinsing them in distilled water and installing them in new jackets, then checking them with crossed fingers. Then making two copies. (This was before hard disks on development systems).
I guess it could have been worse--the code might have been on punched cards...
I can remember a release celebration involving champagne and the only copy of the release code. Next day, pulling the cookies out, rinsing them in distilled water and installing them in new jackets, then checking them with crossed fingers. Then making two copies. (This was before hard disks on development systems).
I guess it could have been worse--the code might have been on punched cards...
I guess the rule is if something can get in there and mess up the works it will! I was really surprised it made it past the shutter somehow, but maybe it fell on top, then I put the disk in the drive and then it fell on the surface.