gsteemso
Experienced Member
I recently acquired one of these units, and was not at all shocked to get the famous "blinking LEDs" error advisory when I turned it on. Sources online seem divided about the precise interpretation I should attach to the code thus reported (7 flashes, pause, repeat), though the general consensus is the fault probably lies in the second common RAM range. (I have seen conflicting reports indicating that the 2040 may or may not share a board design with the 4040. Did they use the same chip identifiers between the two boards? UD5 in one drive is not necessarily the same thing in a different model.) Alas, the only chip (and I checked them all) that seemed to get notably hot was a perfectly ordinary 7404 with no chip identifier printed next to it. It was right below what looks like an oscillator can, so for all I know, it's supposed to do that as part of the clock generation.
Any ideas?
I'd also be very interested in hearing any techniques people might have for cleaning the grime out of the actual drive units. With the computer circuits not yet working I can't really test the old full-height floppy mechs (which use late-1970s technology that is several years more primitive than anything else in my collection and thus is not compatible with anything else I have available), but I observe a fairly consistent layer of what looks like heavy, mysteriously-adhered (is it magnetized?), black dust throughout the whole 2040 unit's insides. Don't get me wrong, it actually looks pretty good for a 29-year-old piece of retrotech that has probably been in a storage locker or worse for most of its existence, but it's a long way from being clean enough that I'd feel safe trusting elderly, fragile magnetic media to it.
Other than these issues, the thing is in beautiful shape, with only minor cosmetic issues -- and a sticker in the lid indicates it's been upgraded to DOS 2.0, too. Definitely worth the $20, IMO.
Does anyone know what order the two mechanisms are supposed to sit in the 2040 case? According to the drive mechanism bezels, reading from left to right it goes {drive 1}, then {drive 0}. Totally unimportant, I know, it just seems a bit eccentric, and I can tell someone's had the thing apart at some point because the bezels and so on are sitting very slightly crooked in the case.
Thanks to anyone who can advise,
G.
Any ideas?
I'd also be very interested in hearing any techniques people might have for cleaning the grime out of the actual drive units. With the computer circuits not yet working I can't really test the old full-height floppy mechs (which use late-1970s technology that is several years more primitive than anything else in my collection and thus is not compatible with anything else I have available), but I observe a fairly consistent layer of what looks like heavy, mysteriously-adhered (is it magnetized?), black dust throughout the whole 2040 unit's insides. Don't get me wrong, it actually looks pretty good for a 29-year-old piece of retrotech that has probably been in a storage locker or worse for most of its existence, but it's a long way from being clean enough that I'd feel safe trusting elderly, fragile magnetic media to it.
Other than these issues, the thing is in beautiful shape, with only minor cosmetic issues -- and a sticker in the lid indicates it's been upgraded to DOS 2.0, too. Definitely worth the $20, IMO.
Does anyone know what order the two mechanisms are supposed to sit in the 2040 case? According to the drive mechanism bezels, reading from left to right it goes {drive 1}, then {drive 0}. Totally unimportant, I know, it just seems a bit eccentric, and I can tell someone's had the thing apart at some point because the bezels and so on are sitting very slightly crooked in the case.
Thanks to anyone who can advise,
G.
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