When I got to format a disk on ADT pro, any disk I put in drive 2 shows up as I/O error. It will format them still, but even a disk that has stuff on it or when the drive is empty it still says I/O error. Both drives won't format side two of any floppy either; I get a * sign What could cause this?
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First, it sounds like Drive 2 is either suffering from a dirty head or from speed being out of adjustment. Download any of a number of diagnostic utilities to check the speed and see if it's far off of 298-300 RPM.
The second side of your disks won't format unless the write-protect notch is cut out of the other side. ADTPro is supposed to tell you that the disk is write protected, but it's crashing instead. So it looks like I need to fix that. But if it's not write-protected, it should go ahead and format.
Dave's right , you can always try and do a DOS 3.3 Format on the floppy itself.. What kind of drive is it? Is it a Disk ][ ? You can always use some good rubbing alch. on the drive head itself , or the drive itself could be out of wack and need the drive's speed set correctly... Just some food for thought , but Dave is on the right path as usual :O)
Patrick.
A24ever.
yeah they're disk II drives, I'll try and clean the head w/ some alcohol, and adjust the speed if the diagnostics tell me its bad.
yea there are plenty of good appz that you can run on the Apple II that will let you calibrate your drive , I think APTEST is one of them , and of course Copy II Plus...
good luck.
Patrick.
A24ever.
I cleaned the head, and ran a disk diagnostic on it. It is too slow, but I don't know how to adjust it. I looked it up online, but I don't have an external adjuster, and there was no hole near the back either.
You need to take the cover off to get at the speed adjuster.
http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2FDRIVE.html#003
Once you have the cover off of the Disk ][ . at the back of the drive , you will see a small rectangular part with a small slot at the end of it , you can use a tiny slotted screw driver to adjust the drive's speed , with programs like APTEST you can adjust to the proper drive speed. I know that there were posts before on this , and ofcourse online there are sights that give the proper drive speed that it should be adjusted to. Keeping the drive's head clean and the speed ajusted will make performance of the drive more accurate . Keep in mind though that alot of the Diskettes that are still around contain alot of dust and what not , and from time to time will collect on the drive's head.
Good luck.
Patrick.
A24ever.
You can also try your luck at the local
Radio Shack store and see if they still
have some of those old head-cleaning disks
around. Or try a computer repair place near
you. I wouldn't recommend using it a lot, but
once in awhile won't hurt. It helps clean off
the accumulated gunk and oxidation from the
drive head before and after cleaning it with
alcohol. Gets out any fibers or dust.