Replacing a floppy drive
Discussion:
Floppy drives fail because
of dirt.
 | Air is drawn into the system
for cooling past the floppy heads. |
| A dirty head can scratch a
floppy that you insert and permanently damage it. |
| Since drives are very
inexpensive, when in doubt, replace it. |
| It is wise to have a spare
or two in stock, since they are crucial for data transfer. |
Using the other drive:
Flowcon batchers are usually
shipped with two floppies.
| From the opening menu, you can
select the alternative drive. |
| All menu options for saving
and restoring will use the designated drive. |
Testing a drive:
| Reading:
 | Insert a known good
floppy, and from a DOS prompt, type dir a: |
| The drive should turn, access,
and display file information. |
|
| Writing:
| Insert a floppy that is
erasable. |
| From a DOS prompt, type format a:/u |
| When the operation completes
(1-2 min) try reading it per above. |
| The DIR command should show
about 1,457,664 bytes free, less if you have bad sectors. If the reported amount is less
than about 1,350,000 you have excessive errors. |
| Reformat the drive. |
| If the DIR still shows a
lesser space free, discard the floppy. |
|
To replace a floppy drive:
Removing the drive:
| Turn off the computer and unplug it. |
| Remove the screws holding the floppy drive in
its bay. |
| Push the drive enough further into the case to
make it easier to disconnect the power and data cables. |
| Remove and tag the old drive as bad. |
Installing the new drive:
| Turn off the computer and unplug it. |
| Insert the drive through the front of the
case. |
| Push it in past the mounting point (further
into the case) to make it easier to connect the power and data cables. |
| Connect the data and power cable to the new
drive.
| The stripe on the data cable (pin 1) goes
toward the power connector. |
| Be sure the data cable is centered correctly
on its mating connector. |
| This is usually an 'open header' type
connector, and it is possible to misalign the cable. |
| Try to keep the cable unmoved at the
motherboard. |
| Verify that the cable is securely attached at
the motherboard.
 | If the cable has been removed, make sure it is
not misaligned. |
| Sometimes the best way to check is to
carefully remove and reinstall the connector. |
|
|
| Reinstall the screws holding the floppy drive
in its bay using at least one screw per side. |
New system Installation:
If the floppy does not work
when putting together a new system
| Make sure the CMOS is
configured to match the drive. |
| We supply 1.44 meg capacity
drives, and you need to configure this menu for both drives. |
| A missing configuration, or a
wrong one like 1.2meg will not work. |
|
