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How to install an MFM HDD

Lutiana

Lutiana

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Ok, it has been many many years since I installed one of these. Right now I am trying to get an 85Mb (ST-506 based) drive into my 5160 so I can low level format it and test it before I send it off to someone who has bought it.

In the 5160 I have an ST10 controller (at least that is what the POST screen tells me), this controller was connected to a 20mb MFM drive (Seagate ST4053) that was working correctly. Simply swapping the ST4053 with the ST-506 drive gets me a 1701 error.

So here are my questions:

1. How do I set the drive type in the controller? There is no on screen menu to get into so is it done via jumpers or some sort of basic code?

2. How do I know if the ST10 controller can even support this drive?

EDIT: This is the MFM Controller I have, it says it is a ST-506/ST412 controller. Also the controller is version 2.37 and it says "[Not Released] after the version number.
 
That really helped.

I was able to get their utility to come up. It give me the option to select the drive number (the controller supports up to 2 drives). Whichever one I choose I get a message saying "That Drive is not ready" and it drops me to the command prompt.

Meanwhile the drive spins up at boot up, then after about a minute it spins down again.
 
Check a couple of things.

First, if this is the only drive, does it have the terminator installed?

Is the drive select set to the first (DS0) and is the control cable (the 34 conductor one) a "flat" cable with no twists?
 
Chuck(G) said:
Check a couple of things.

First, if this is the only drive, does it have the terminator installed?

Is the drive select set to the first (DS0) and is the control cable (the 34 conductor one) a "flat" cable with no twists?
Click to expand...

See http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/micropolis/1335-71MB-5-25-FH-MFM-ST506.html for the setting on the drive.

It is not a flat cable. There is a twist in it right before the end connector (the one I was connecting to the ST-506 drive).

The drive was set to DS2 (Drive 2), I moved the jumper it is now set to DS1 (Drive 1).

This is the only drive (I am unplugging the working 44mb drive) and I do believe that there is a terminator installed, there is a blue thing installed in RN1.

No change after jumpering it to DS1
 
As there's no motor control line on the ST506/ST412 interface, your motor powering down may mean that the drive is suffering and the on-board microcontroller is shutting things down. I've seen this with several MFM drives where the spindle motor can't reach speed.

If there's a spindle brake, make sure it's not dragging.
 
It does look like it has a break, and it is not dragging on the spindle.

I plugged the drive in earlier to just power see if it powers up. It did and it even initialized (I heard the head moving back and forward. I then unplugged it. Since then I do not hear it initialize and shuts the spindle off after a minute or so (even with just power connected).

Would this explain the controller not picking it up (and giving me a 1701 error)?

FYI: This drive looks practically new, and knowing the guy I got it from it probably is NOS that he only used once or twice.
 
lutiana said:
I plugged the drive in earlier to just power see if it powers up. It did and it even initialized (I heard the head moving back and forward. I then unplugged it. Since then I do not hear it initialize and shuts the spindle off after a minute or so (even with just power connected).

Would this explain the controller not picking it up (and giving me a 1701 error)
Click to expand...

Yup. There's one possibility, but I'm not familiar with your drive. Some drives have a rubber bumper that contacts the heads when they retract. With time, this turns to goo and can entrap the heads so they can't move off of their retracted position.

Sometimes a smart rap on the side of the HDA can free them. I'm guessing that the drive microcontroller can't get through its initial seek test. So it gives up and powers the spindle down.

But that's just a guess on my part.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Sometimes a smart rap on the side of the HDA can free them. I'm guessing that the drive microcontroller can't get through its initial seek test. So it gives up and powers the spindle down.

But that's just a guess on my part.
Click to expand...

Tried that.

I decided to open it up in a make shift clean room (steamed up bathroom). The head is not frozen, it moves freely. The drive spins up, but the heads never move from their position. It seems that their default position is in the very center of the disk and get locked there when power is cut. When power is active and the disks are spining i can move them with my hand just fine, but as soon as you let go they return to the middle of the disk.

So do you think this disk is toast? Or is their anything else I can try?
 
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