512k Floppy Help!

[tylerstartz]

Hey all, today I picked up a 512k in excellent condition! Upon inspection, the floppy drive clicks non stop after powering on. I opened the case and found it seems to have an 800k drive in it, and that when it’s powered on, the head moves all the way back and the motor moving it continues to run. I read to check the optical sensor and clean it, so I did. No change there. If I unplug the sensor, it moves all the way forward and continues to run as well. Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[mg.man]

Looks like you have a yellow-stripe floppy cable, but I can't tell which version 800k drive you have. Do you have another (red-stripe) floppy cable you can try to see if that makes any difference? More info about the red- vs. yellow-stripe cables here:

400k internal drive problems: F0064 error code

As you're probably aware, the error code is "Couldn't Read System File into Memory" There are two possibilities here. Either, the system version on the floppy is too new for the machine (ROMs on the motherboard may be the old 64K originals), OR the floppy drive has a fault of some kind, OR the...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[mg.man]

Looking at your pic again, it looks like you have the -03 drive, so a yellow- cable would be correct?

 

[tylerstartz]

Looking at your pic again, it looks like you have the -03 drive, so a yellow- cable would be correct?

I have no clue!

 

[AndyDiags]

Looks like you have a yellow-stripe floppy cable, but I can't tell which version 800k drive you have. Do you have another (red-stripe) floppy cable you can try to see if that makes any difference? More info about the red- vs. yellow-stripe cables here:

400k internal drive problems: F0064 error code

As you're probably aware, the error code is "Couldn't Read System File into Memory" There are two possibilities here. Either, the system version on the floppy is too new for the machine (ROMs on the motherboard may be the old 64K originals), OR the floppy drive has a fault of some kind, OR the...

forums.macrumors.com

From article:

Also note that 800K drives model MFD-51W-03 with the red on silver model label must use a floppy cable with a yellow Pin 1 stripe (or a red stripe with a wire in the ribbon cable partially cut out. The other models ("MFD-51W" and "51W-10") with black on silver model labels use the red stripe cable with all wires intact.

In photo we do see he has a red-on-silver model. Then according to this he correctly has the yellow stripe ribbon.

However, taking a look at my external MFD-51W-03 dated 8611, which also has a red-on-silver label, I have a red red strip ribbon!

 

[tylerstartz]

I do not have another red on silver ribbon to test yet. I examined it a little closer last night and noticed if I take the optical sensor out and block it with something else, it stops! It’s the oddest thing. Because the tab on the head blocks it as well but doesn’t stop the stepper.

 

[mg.man]

red on silver ribbon

Just to be clear... the "red on silver" is referring to the Model label on the side of the drive:

The "newer" -10 drive has a black on silver Model label:

You need the yellow-stripe cable for the -03 (red on silver Model label) drive in a 512k - which appears to be what you have. So I don't think your issue is cable-related, though it might be useful to test it with another cable if you had one. Out of curiosity, what ROMs do you have? And do you have another Mac you can try the drive in?

 

[mg.man]

I have a red red strip ribbon!

It could be a "special" one - with one pin (9?) disconnected. I have run into these as well...

 

[tylerstartz]

 

[tylerstartz]

Just to be clear... the "red on silver" is referring to the Model label on the side of the drive:
View attachment 4391
The "newer" -10 drive has a black on silver Model label:
View attachment 4392
You need the yellow-stripe cable for the -03 (red on silver Model label) drive in a 512k - which appears to be what you have. So I don't think your issue is cable-related, though it might be useful to test it with another cable if you had one. Out of curiosity, what ROMs do you have? And do you have another Mac you can try the drive in?

I don’t have another Macintosh to try it in, yet at least!