[Coco] Back to the COCO

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 1/1/17 2:21 PM, Robert Gault wrote:
> Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>
>> I have finally had the chance to get back to my COCO's
>> again.  I joined the mailing list again but haven't got
>> the patience to wait for it to get approved.  :-)
>>
>> Why, you say?  Because After setting up a couple of COCO's
>> that worked fine the last time I had them out, I find that
>> all of them have problems.  Right now I have a COCO3 and a
>> COCO2 on the desk.  I have tried two different floppy controllers,
>> one of the originals and FD 502.  I have tried them with
>> DECB, HDB-DOS and NitrOS9.  I have tried 2 real COCO drive
>> boxes (2 thinline floppies horizontally  mounted), one original
>> floppy (vertical mount, no built in cable) and a TEAC 55GFR
>> that I have used successfully on many old systems.  Oh yeah,
>> I even tried a 720K 3.5" drive.  Nothing.  Can't get a DIR
>> from anything.  Can't DSKINI anything.  I also have Glenside
>> IDE cards.  Can't get them to DSKINI either.  Have a Cloud9
>> SCSI.  Same story. I have tried all the normal stuff (cleaning
>> edge connectors, multiple different cables) and nothing seems
>> to work.  Well, except Drivewire.  But that only seems to work
>> from the COCO3.  All attempts from the COCO2 get "protocol errors"
>> in the log.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> Just as a point of reference, these are not the only old systems
>> the seem to have failed all on their own over time while sitting
>> on the shelf.  I also have TRS80 Model 3 and 4 systems and all
>> of my FRE-HD modules seem to have stopped working after sitting
>> on the shelf for a couple years. :-(
>>
>> Looking forward to getting this stuff going as I have a couple
>> of COCO projects others my also find interesting if I can make
>> them work again.
>>
>>
>> bill
>>
>>
>>
>
> Bill,
>
> Take a deep breath and try to give us the details on just one system and
> its failings; say the Coco3 with some drive. :)

OK, cause I would really like to get the COCO3 going first anyway. :-)

>
> 1) Is there an MPI in the system?

Tried it without.  And with both models of MPI, the newer one with
the Cloud9 upgrade.

> 2) Does Disk Basic at least boot and give the log-in message?

With the original disk cartridge I get the DECB message.  With the
FD-502 I have the HDB-DOS with Drivewire PROM in and get the startup
message.  I can read DECB disk images and boot NitrOS9 using Drivewire.

> 3) When you try a disk command, does the drive/disk start to spin?

With DIR head moves back and forth and then either IO Error or Hang.
DSKINI homes the head and then hangs.

> 4) Have you opened the drive and watched the strobe markings to see if
> the spin speed is correct?

No, but having tried 6 drives with exactly the same result, I doubt
that's the problem.

> 5) What if any error messages do you get?

As above, sometimes IO Error on DIR command but usually just hangs.

> 6) Are your disks any good? Can you manually turn the medium within the
> sleeve with "no" friction? This assumes 5.25" disks.

Tried more than a dozen different disks.  Some with data already on
them and some (for DSKINI) blank.  Tried bulk erasing them, too.

>
> Without basic information, we can't provide help.

There you have it.  More questions, just ask.  If you have any
ideas I can try them out, too.

bill