How to repari a floppy diskette drive ?

[Stegozor]

Hello everyone,

I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5
internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it seems
to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct (the led is
not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only floppy on my
computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access the drive the led
goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an empty drive, and I
get the "drive not ready" message.
The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't recognize
it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A: and hit OK
to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or chkdsk a: commands
do not work either. I already tried the same diskette on another
computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is correctly formatted
and has no problem.

Did anybody here have to deal with the same problem? What its origin
could be ? Is there an easy way to repair my drive ? I know buying a new
one costs around only 15€ but I'd like to try to repair first. Thanks in
advance for any help.

PS: My floppy doesn't have jumpers you can see on the image at
http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/storage/52964/Jumpers.htm (in the
circle). The place is just empty.

 

[kony]

Hello everyone,

I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5
internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it seems
to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct (the led is
not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only floppy on my
computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access the drive the led
goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an empty drive, and I
get the "drive not ready" message.
The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't recognize
it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A: and hit OK
to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or chkdsk a: commands
do not work either. I already tried the same diskette on another
computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is correctly formatted
and has no problem.

Did anybody here have to deal with the same problem? What its origin
could be ? Is there an easy way to repair my drive ? I know buying a new
one costs around only 15€ but I'd like to try to repair first. Thanks in
advance for any help.

PS: My floppy doesn't have jumpers you can see on the image at
http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/storage/52964/Jumpers.htm (in the
circle). The place is just empty.

Most drives don't have jumpers these days.
If the bottom is uncovered, circuit board exposed, examine
it for any signs of problem. Pop the top cover off, but
leave the rest of the drive intact, then connect to system
power supply, insert floppy and see if the mechanics are
moving freely.

You might also take a cotton swab and pure alochol, cleaning
the heads gently AFTER blowing any excess dust out. If the
tension spring on the head arm seems to not be applying
enough pressure, and if it's the stepped-notch design for
the spring, adjust the spring to the next higher notch.
That's about all, if it still doesn't work then replace it.

It could be that the drive is just hopelessly out of
alignment, try inserting a blank disc, formatting it in the
drive, then writing to it, reading from it, etc... if the
drive will read/write to a disc it formatted but not do so
consistently with discs created in any other drive, best to
just throw it away, there is no reliable way to realign
today's floppy drives.

 

[Apollo]

Hello everyone,

I just received as a gift an already used Sony MPF920-E /131 3"5
internal floppy drive (for desktop computers) but unfortunately it
seems to be out of order. Connection to the motherboard is correct
(the led is not always on), Bios settings are OK, and it's the only
floppy on my computer (A: for Dos & Windows). When I try to access
the drive the led goes on, and I hear characteristic sounds as with an
empty drive, and I get the "drive not ready" message.
The problem is that when I insert a diskette the drive doesn't
recognize it and I have the "drive not ready, insert a diskette in A:
and hit OK to continue" message as well. Using DOS, format a: or
chkdsk a: commands do not work either. I already tried the same
diskette on another computer and on mine, and as you may guess, it is
correctly formatted and has no problem.

I had a floppy drive do this once, I even bought a new drive and it was
the same, it turned out to be a faulty cable, if you have a spare cable
try it first.

 

[Mike Walsh]

If you suspect that the drive is out of alignment you should completely erase the floppy before formatting it using a bulk tape eraser. That will force it to do a low level format.

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 01:47:33 +0100, Stegozor

It could be that the drive is just hopelessly out of
alignment, try inserting a blank disc, formatting it in the
drive, then writing to it, reading from it, etc... if the
drive will read/write to a disc it formatted but not do so
consistently with discs created in any other drive, best to
just throw it away, there is no reliable way to realign
today's floppy drives.

--

When replying by Email include NewSGrouP (case sensitive) in Subject

Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

 

[ChrisJ9876]

From: Mike Walsh (e-mail address removed)

Date: 11/02/2004 9:04 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <[email protected]>


If you suspect that the drive is out of alignment you should completely erase
the floppy before formatting it using a bulk tape eraser. That will force it
to do a low level format.

But if it is out of alignment, and you do the above, the disk likely will not
be readable on another PC.

 

[DaveW]

You cannot repair a floppy drive. Buy a new one.

 

[R. Wink]

If I remember correctly, there's an LED that shines through the window of the floppy disk to a receiver, be it a 5 1/4 or 3
1/2 size. If the LED is not on or if the receiver is shot, the a replacement of either or both is in order.
I make the assumption that the drive motor is working and that the heads are in moving and good shape.
You might also want to get a floppy disk cleaning set to clean the heads.
R. Wink

 

[Gareth Tuckwell]

If I remember correctly, there's an LED that shines through the window of
the floppy disk to a receiver, be it a 5 1/4 or 3
1/2 size. If the LED is not on or if the receiver is shot, the a
replacement of either or both is in order.
I make the assumption that the drive motor is working and that the heads
are in moving and good shape.
You might also want to get a floppy disk cleaning set to clean the heads.

Which would probably cost a few pounds. A new drive would cost between 5 and
10 pounds!