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JoeUser
Dallas, TX

Posted Wed May 05, 2021 5:17 am

Couldn't find a good answer after performing a forum search, so hope that I'm not re-hashing a topic previously covered.

I finally got around to re-assembling a recent A1000 acquisition (after retro-brighting the case parts). This one has a Spirit 1000 board, which was a pleasant surprise to discover!

I did notice during the re-assembly process (and while cleaning dust from fan, motherboard, etc) that the floppy drive had a ton of dust in it. Tried to blow as much of it out as possible, as I couldn't get the two tiny side screws to turn to remove the thin shielding and get to the innards for a more proper de-dusting.

So, soldiered on and reassembled everything, and immediately noticed some spotty functionality with the floppy drive. Finally got it to read the Kickstart disk, but after popping in the WB disk and perhaps half-way through the drive started sounding like it was having problems tracking (subsequently corrupted that copy of the WB disk).

Questions:
1. How hard is it to disassemble and clean up the drive, or is it even worth the bother?
2. Can another working drive from an external floppy (or another Amiga model) be used to replace it, or am I locked into a specific drive that only works with the A1000?

In the mean time, I think I'm going to swap the working drive from my other A1000 to continue on trying to get this A1000 with the Spirit board up and running.

Edit: I wonder if something like this would work, using a PC floppy drive as a replacement? Anyone have any experience or thoughts with this? https://www.ebay.com/itm/333509649554

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed May 05, 2021 10:03 am

The Amiga 1010 external drive is, as I recall, something you can use to swap out your A1K floppy drive. But finding those aren't exactly easy in 2021. But still a lot easier than sourcing an original A1K floppy drive.

It is possible to use more "modern" floppy drives, like from Sony. But they need a minor hardware change in order to work. Some of the Amiga 3rd-party vendors sell these. In fact, I bought one from a shop in Spain.

The problem with those drives is they don't match the screw holes on the very thick steel floppy bracket. And if you're a purist the LED light is wrong, but that's a fixable problem.

And, they can be extremely sensitive to get to work if the button alignment is a fraction of a millimeter off. But it is possible.

If you decide to go that route, the one key bonus (besides availability) is you get a lot of ground clearance afterwards.

UPDATE:
The drive I used is a modified PC drive. I believe there are videos on YouTube on how to do that surgery. The shop I used back then is sold out, of course.

User avatar
JoeUser
Dallas, TX

Posted Wed May 05, 2021 10:38 am

intric8 wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 10:03 am
The Amiga 1010 external drive is, as I recall, something you can use to swap out your A1K floppy drive. But finding those aren't exactly easy in 2021. But still a lot easier than sourcing an original A1K floppy drive.
I've got an A1010 drive I was already bidding on, so if I win the auction I'll compare the two drives once I remove the drive assembly from A1010's case. Good information to know, thanks! Hopefully, they're the exact same drive, and that would make it an easy swap. If I'm lucky I'll find out soon.

If I can get the original malfunctioning drive working, then I'd install it in the A1010 case and use that for a second floppy drive.

I'd rather not go the PC floppy route, unless absolutely necessary (for the reasons you stated). But, it's good to know that that could be an alternative if all else fails...

User avatar
Christian

Posted Wed May 05, 2021 10:17 pm

The A1000 used either NEC FD1035 or Matsushita JU-363 mechanisms.
The A1010
used either JU-363 or Newtronics D357A mechanisms - I have never seen an A1010 with an FD1035, but they may possibly exist.

Mounting brackets are different for these drives and different between A1000 and A1010, but the A1010 bracket can be used in the A1000.

I did a write up on how to disassemble, clean and lubricate the various drives that I can post, if there is interest.

User avatar
JoeUser
Dallas, TX

Posted Thu May 06, 2021 5:41 am

Christian wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 10:17 pm
I did a write up on how to disassemble, clean and lubricate the various drives that I can post, if there is interest.
Man, that would be awesome, thanks! If it turns out that all I need to do is to get the existing drive cleaned properly, then that's the best outcome, for sure.

There was a *ton* of dust in that drive, so there's no telling whatever lubrication is remaining has completely dried or caked up over the decades, as I haven't disassembled it yet. Knowing what to clean and lubricate (and what pitfalls to avoid) would be a tremendous help. At least I could rule out dirt and crud as a potential problem, and hope that it's not an electronic failure.

Appreciate the assistance!

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu May 06, 2021 7:24 am

@Christian if you do, just drop it as a brand new post. That'll be easier to point to in the future than a Reply.

User avatar
Christian

Posted Thu May 06, 2021 9:24 pm

I will do that. Will be a couple of days before I get to this.

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JoeUser
Dallas, TX

Posted Fri May 07, 2021 5:51 am

Followup: Got lucky and scored an A1010 external drive that I received yesterday. I needed to disassemble it to align the drive to properly eject the disk through the bezel slot, but it's working (tested formatting a few floppies and running DiskDoctor on some other suspect disks). Not sure why it fell out of alignment in its mounting bracket, but must've been dropped hard enough to shift. Anyway, all is well now with that drive.

It's a JU-363 drive, like Christian mentioned. The mounting bracket and drive look identical to what's in the A1000, so it should be a simple swap. I plan to use this working drive to replace the one in the A1000 that's acting up. That should take care of the A1000 with the Spirit 1000 expansion board.

Meanwhile, I'll take the malfunctioning one from the A1000, put it aside for cleaning, and then put that one in the A1010 (provided the cleaning did the trick).

User avatar
The Last Coder

Posted Sun May 09, 2021 11:17 pm

Maybe it's time for a Gotek on that A1000. I've got one that is 3d printed to sit in the drive bay. Loving it.





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