Drive Activity Lights
#1
I have a 3.5" 1.44MB drive 0 and a 5.25" 360K drive 1 on my SCP with SCP software 1.91 on Hardware 1.1, Firmware 1.2.
When I access the media in drive 1, only drive 1 light comes on. When I access the media in drive 0, both lights come on.
Also I can't do a disk media test on 1.44MB diskettes in drive 0 even though it's a 1.44MB drive. I get Media failure Track 0 head 0.
720K diskettes test OK.

Tom Lake
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#2
Sounds like the cable is wrong, or your jumpers on the 5.25" drive are wrong. The activity light should come on when a drive selected, and never when the drive is not selected.

The problem with the media test is either truly bad media, has to do with your drive selection problem, or the drive is set to the wrong density mode (see the pull-down menu).
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#3
The only choices under Drive Type are 5.25" - 48 TPI and 5.25" - 96 TPI which is grayed out. Drive 0 is a 3.5" drive but there's no choice for it.

Tom L
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#4
That is correct.  These are options for different drives you might have attached.  There is no way to detect what type of drive is connected.

If the drive lights are coming on then it is a cable or jumper issue, there can not be any other cause.  Can you post a picture of your cable and drive jumpers?
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#5
(01-26-2017, 08:46 PM)admin Wrote: That is correct.  These are options for different drives you might have attached.  There is no way to detect what type of drive is connected.

If the drive lights are coming on then it is a cable or jumper issue, there can not be any other cause.  Can you post a picture of your cable and drive jumpers?

I'll be posting a pic soon but I still think there's something else going on. The drive works perfectly at 1.44MB when I put it in a PC with a floppy interface but it doesn't work with SCP even when it's the only drive on the cable. I've tried different cables and put it both before and after the twist. In all cases it passes the media test with 720Kb diskettes but fails with 1.44Mb diskettes that formatted perfectly when formatted on the PC with a floppy interface. I've tried it with both 64-bit Windows 10 Builds 15014 and 15019.

Tom L
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#6
Are you using the exact same cable in your PC as you are trying with the SuperCard Pro?

Make a disk image of the 1.44MB disk that is failing the media test and send it to data @ cbmstuff.com.   I can tell you exactly what is going on with the disk.

It sounds like the density jumper (or pull-down menu setting) is wrong.  If 720K disks are passing then SuperCard Pro itself is working correctly.  Writing is the same, no matter what type of disk (or drive).  If the density is correct, it could be that the media test is just seeing a bad read due to the heads being dirty.  The media test is very strict on what the read data must look like to allow it to pass.  Seeing a disk image of a disk you run the media test on will let me see exactly what is going on.

The version of Windows doesn't matter.  The SuperCard Pro hardware is fully self contained.  Anything can control it, and the results will always be the same no matter what controls it.
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#7
Well I really did it this time! I took the drive out to photograph it and now the drive light is on permanently on the only drive on the cable whether I have the 5.25" in there or the 3.5" drive. The cable is keyed so I know it's not flipped wrong. I tried both before and after the twist and the drive light stays on. SCP says the floppy is write protected. Both the SCP board's green lights are on. Could I have screwed up the SCP board anyway? If so is there a way to reset it without replacing it? Ugh!
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#8
Again, are you using the same cable on this drive with SCP as you did successfully with your PC?  If you have the cable flipped directions, what you describe can certainly happen, which can also damage the SCP hardware.

There should always be two green LEDs on when the SCP is sitting idle.
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#9
(01-31-2017, 08:57 AM)admin Wrote: Again, are you using the same cable on this drive with SCP as you did successfully with your PC?  If you have the cable flipped directions, what you describe can certainly happen, which can also damage the SCP hardware.

There should always be two green LEDs on when the SCP is sitting idle.

Yes, the cable is the same one but one of the floppy drives I tested didn't have a plastic shroud around the connector pins so I accidentally connected the cable backward. If the two green lights don't necessarily mean the SCP is OK then I guess I'll be ordering another one soon. Sad

Tom L
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#10
No need to order a new one. I offer a lifetime warranty on the hardware I sell. I cover everything, even if the board is damaged by your fault. You just pay the cost of the shipping to/from me. So, send it back to me and I will send you a new one:

Jim Drew
2440 Kiowa Blvd. N. Ste. 102
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
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