[Coco] CoCo Model 1 Cartridge Port

gene heskett gheskett at shentel.net
Fri Dec 24 15:47:15 EST 2021


On Friday, December 24, 2021 6:40:06 AM EST Charles Hudson wrote:
> Yesterday I connected the controller to the CoCo and to the TCDD,
> following the procedure illustrated in the Tandy CCDS documentation.  In
> specific, the ribbon cable's red stripe toward the rear of the machine,
> using the non-keyed end of the cable, and the keyed middle connector to
> the drive.  I issued the command "dskini0" to format a disk and the
> motor turned, but no red light showed on the drive and after a few
> seconds a message indicating an I/O error appeared on the screen.
> 
> Looking at the error message list in the documentation three remedies
> are listed: make sure the disk is inserted properly, try another disk (I
> did both) , and call the Radio Shack Repair Center.  Not sure how to
> accomplish that one.  But I will take the drive apart and see if there
> is anything obviously wrong.  It occurs to me, however, that the fault
> may be with the controller or the cable.

if a stock cable it (missing contacts in the connector) should be on the far 
end connector to be disk0, the nearer connector is disk1. The disk0 drive s/b 
the only one with a terminator resistor pak in a 14pin socket, the drive1 disk 
should have them removed.

At these drives ages, head cleaning is in order and rail lube is dried up, and 
any junk in the threads that move the head needs to be cleaned down to bare 
metal and a drop of light oil applied.

Cheers, Gene Heskett.
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
 - Louis D. Brandeis
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>





More information about the Coco mailing list