Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

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Tracer bullet's picture
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Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

ok got my 2 gs and 2 3.5" and 5.25" disk drives. I connect the 2 5.25" disk drives, they work great. 3.5" disk drive just sits there with the light on. Connect 5.25" to 3.5", system just hangs at boot up. can't get into control panel. Online and on the doc's for the 3.5" drives, it says they must be first in line to the computer then the 5.25" drives.
What settings for the control panel do I use? Slots are as follows: 1 printer, 2 modem, 3 built in text display, 4 mouse, 5 smart port, 6 disk port, 7 you card, startup slot: scan.

I've tried every thing to get he 3.5" to be recognized. I have 2 drives. checked them both on my Mac Classic. they work fine there. 2GS is ROM 1.
no matter what settings I use, I can't get the system to see the 3.25". I"ve tried double density disks and the system just doesn't want to see them.

Thanks

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

found the system test sequence. Held down ctrl, option, open apple and reset. system goes into a test phase. it comes back System Good. no matter what I set the control panel to, the system tries to boot with the 3.5" and just sits there. drive light on, but nothing happens.
Can someone who has a 3.5" and 5.25" disk drive, tell me how their system is setup, which drives are plugged into what, in which sequence and what settings they have on their control panel please.

This is getting frustrating.

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

Hello Doug,

The settings in the control panel are just fine. These are the default values and it should work great.
As you pointed out, if you want to mix 3.5 and 5.25 drives, the 3.5 must be connected first (i.e. directly to the IIGS smartport). Then the 5.25 comes next.
At boot, the 5.25 will be the first to try to boot then the 3.5 comes on.

On the IIGS, what happened if you connect only the 5.25 or the 3.5 drive ?
Is the 5.25 drive working ?
What 3.5 disk are you trying to boot ? Is it an original one or a backup ?

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

Hello Doug,

The settings in the control panel are just fine. These are the default values and it should work great.
As you pointed out, if you want to mix 3.5 and 5.25 drives, the 3.5 must be connected first (i.e. directly to the IIGS smartport). Then the 5.25 comes next.
At boot, the 5.25 will be the first to try to boot then the 3.5 comes on.

On the IIGS, what happened if you connect only the 5.25 or the 3.5 drive ?
Is the 5.25 drive working ?
What 3.5 disk are you trying to boot ? Is it an original one or a backup ?

Antoine, he has already answered some of these questions in another topic. http://www.applefritter.com/content/formatting-35-floppies

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

Hello Doug,

The settings in the control panel are just fine. These are the default values and it should work great.
As you pointed out, if you want to mix 3.5 and 5.25 drives, the 3.5 must be connected first (i.e. directly to the IIGS smartport). Then the 5.25 comes next.
At boot, the 5.25 will be the first to try to boot then the 3.5 comes on.

On the IIGS, what happened if you connect only the 5.25 or the 3.5 drive ?
Is the 5.25 drive working ?
What 3.5 disk are you trying to boot ? Is it an original one or a backup ?

I pluged the 3.5" in first then the 5.25" drive. the system just hangs and the 5.25 doesn't boot at all. I've tested both 3.5" drives on my Mac Classic and I can format disks and they work fine on that system.
The 5.25" drives work fine if they are the only ones i'm using. the system doesn't see the 3.5" by itself.
Both 3.5" drives are original Apple drives.
Looks like it might be the motherboard. I'm going to make sure all the roms are seated properly.

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

made sure all the roms are seated, and noticed C61 capacitor is possibly leaking. C11 or C6 looks the same. These are 1000 microfarad 16 volt caps right? I'll replace both of them and the battery. 3.6 volt battery right? Can I use 3 1.5 volt batteries instead on a external battery holder? I would much rather prefer that then to re soldering one on the motherboard again.

Tested the 3.5" again, same issues.

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

For what it is worth, I couldn't read 3.5 reliably until I replaced the RAM card I was using.

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

Can I use 3 1.5 volt batteries instead on a external battery holder?

http://www.reactivemicro.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_36_25&products_id=45

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

For what it is worth, I couldn't read 3.5 reliably until I replaced the RAM card I was using.

I took the 1 MB ram card out of the system and there was no difference.

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

Can I use 3 1.5 volt batteries instead on a external battery holder?

http://www.reactivemicro.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_36_25&products_id=45

I'll pop by my local electronic store and grab a battery backup.
Thanks.

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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

Tracer,

You can get Double A battery holders (3 or 4 batteries) from Jameco Electronics fairly cheap.

Steven Smile

Tracer bullet's picture
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Re: Can't get 2 gs to see 3.5" disk drives

I picked one up the other day.
Any suggestions on what to troubleshoot next to get this system to see the 3.5" drives?
I know they work since the work on my mac classic.
Anything I should check else?

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