[Coco] Unreliable Coco3

[David Roper]

Hi Louis,

I've got two drives (one pretty-much new) and they both act exactly
the same with my Coco3, and work flawlessly with my Coco2 - I'm 100%
sure we can count out the drives and/or controller as a source of
problems

Any suggestions on cleaning out an expansion port?

- David

On 22 October 2012 23:54, Louis Ciotti <lciotti1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> To me sounds link you have two issues, a somewhat flaky expansion port
> (hence the garbled screen), and a drive problem (the IO errors).  The
> expansion port is probably just dirty.  The drive could be dirty heads
> and/or the rails need to be cleaned and lubricated.
>
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2012 at 8:49 AM, David Roper <ebonhand09 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Brian,
>>
>> The main difference between what you've reported and what's going on
>> for me is that the drive is responding and doing *some* things, but
>> it's as if a signal isn't getting from the drive back to the Coco
>>
>> Instinct keeps telling me it's the cartridge port
>>
>> I just wish I had more hardware skills so I could diagnose it and fix it!
>>
>> - David
>>
>> On 22 October 2012 22:28, Brian Blake <random.rodder at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> David,
>>>
>>> Check out this post on my blog from a few years ago:
>>> http://tandycoco.com/blog/archives/42
>>>
>>> While mine didn't weird display issues like yours, the floppy drive access
>>> problems certainly sound familiar...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 10/22/2012 6:36 AM, David Roper wrote:
>>>>
>>>> So, I got myself a new controller and drive combo (thanks, Nick!)
>>>>
>>>> .. turns out that the main problem is actually my 512k Coco3 - the new
>>>> drive is showing precisely the same behaviour as the old one.
>>>>
>>>> I've tried the same setup with my Coco2, and everything runs smooth and
>>>> perfect
>>>>
>>>> I suspect something is wrong with my Coco3's cartridge port, and would
>>>> appreciate any ideas
>>>>
>>>> Symptoms:
>>>> When loading a cartridge (either through modified multipak or 'naked
>>>> in the port'), at least some of the time (1 or two times out of four)
>>>> the screen will be filled with garbage (green background, yellow
>>>> blocks) or, the entire display will be shifted a half-character to the
>>>> left
>>>>
>>>> If it does load properly -
>>>> 'DIR' with an unformated disk in the drive causes 5 'grinds' and an
>>>> ?IO error (drive motor stops)
>>>> 'DIR' with a formatted disk in the drive causes at most 1 'grind', and
>>>> then the drive motor spins endlessly
>>>> 'DSKINI0' causes at most 1 'grind', and then the drive motor spins
>>>> endlessly
>>>>
>>>> The above is precisely the same symptoms as my old controller/drive,
>>>> and is 100% reproducible. Once again, the drive and controller work
>>>> flawlessly on my Coco2
>>>>
>>>> Any ideas, suggestions, diagnostics? (or replacement Coco3s in Australia?)
>>>>
>>>> Kind regards,
>>>> David
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
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