I had a post on an issue I hit while doing a clean & lub of the floppy drive from a Mac Plus that I pulled out of the closet. After getting the drive back in the PLus, I've got exactly the same issue as I had originally. The main issue is that it's not reading the floppy. I've tried several including OS installer disks but not getting past the question mark icon and the following X icon. It's also not ejecting short of manually with a paper clip. I'm hearing 2 types of sounds. One sounds like the disk being spun and i'll hear this for around a second, a pause for around a second, and then another spin sound for a second. The second sound I hear is hard to describe as it also cycles for brief noise, a pause, and another brief noise. It's not a bad sounding mechanical noise but does strike me as something trying & failing to actuate. I took a short vid with sound and maybe someone can identify the issue...
Mac Plus floppy drive not happy
- Thread starter tomcrete
- Start date
What disks are you attempting to boot with? The ✕ could mean you're using the wrong system file.
Regarding the eject issue, did you already replace the eject gear? If so, it might be out of spec. Even some of the gears I've had printed by ShapeWays have been just enough out of whack to not work. If you haven't replaced the gear it's almost certainly crumbled.
Regarding the eject issue, did you already replace the eject gear? If so, it might be out of spec. Even some of the gears I've had printed by ShapeWays have been just enough out of whack to not work. If you haven't replaced the gear it's almost certainly crumbled.
I've got quite a number of floppies including some original Apple installer disks. I get the same results with any floppy I've tried so far. I just dug an LC out of the garage and will get that fired up to verify the floppies themselves.
One of the steps with the clean & lub that I just did was to take the floppy ejector unit apart to look at the gear. All were intact and appeared functional so I just cleaned out the old grease and relubbed.
yep. i rewatched some vids of the process and pretty sure i did things right. Also, it's acting same way with the same noises as it was before I tore into it.
That does sound like the ZTS isn't lined up correctly. I would crack the case open again, take the drive out of its bracket, then place it on something that's not metal, so it doesn't provide a dead short when the power switch is on. While the computer is powered up, loosen the screw for the ZTS, then insert a known good floppy. As it tries to read it, slide the ZTS until it starts reading the disk. Tighten the screw down when it reliably loads a program (the Finder, or another application). Reinstall it in the bracket, then close up the machine. Until you have the eject motor replaced, plan to have a paperclip or a very small and long screwdriver to insert through the hole to manually eject whichever disk you're using.
The eject motor issue, it might be worth checking with @MacEffects to see when he gets some more of the Japanese eject gears. They seem to be better than the 3D printed ones.
The eject motor issue, it might be worth checking with @MacEffects to see when he gets some more of the Japanese eject gears. They seem to be better than the 3D printed ones.
I tested with the floppy drive externally so I could see what was going on. The one noise is the disk spinning although it's not being read. I thought the other noise might be the eject mechanism having a hard time so I removed it (left it wired), removed the cover, and removed the one gear so I could see the little metal gear. It wasn't turning. That noise seems to be coming from towards the front of the drive. Any of this sound like something recapping might resolve?
Unrelated to this thread, but that explanation of ZTS actually helped me fix one of my busted 1.44mb drives. HUGE THANKS!
No problem. @Paolo B was the person who clued me in on it... In this post: https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads/superdrive-floppy-maintenance.549/post-5174
an update... i was testing with the floppy drive externally so i could see what was going on. initially, the gears were fine in the eject motor assembly but the motor wasn't getting triggered at all. based on a vid i watched, i thought it might be corroded contacts internally so i attacked from that angle and was able to get the motor to spin when it should. not unexpectedly, that broke teeth on the gear that always breaks 
so i'd welcome recommendations on best replacement as i hear some of the replacement gears aren't very good.
something else i could also see was that the R/W drive head would initially move to the 0 track position. however, it's not happy there so i may be doing the ZTS adjustment. am hoping that taking care of the gear and track adjustment resolve things so i don't have to look into recapping.
so i'd welcome recommendations on best replacement as i hear some of the replacement gears aren't very good.something else i could also see was that the R/W drive head would initially move to the 0 track position. however, it's not happy there so i may be doing the ZTS adjustment. am hoping that taking care of the gear and track adjustment resolve things so i don't have to look into recapping.
I got a set from the guy in Italy selling them on eBay. Expensive, but much better quality than some I got locally (here in Australia).
MacEffects also sells purportedly higher quality ones; I bought a pack recently but haven't tested them yet... 
They work pretty well. Eject motor is a little louder than it normally would be, but, at ieast the disks eject properly again. Installed one in my Centris 650's floppy drive's eject motor assembly.MacEffects also sells purportedly higher quality ones; I bought a pack recently but haven't tested them yet...
Never seen anyone selling NOS, and given how they deteriorate with age I’m not sure I’d want them..
If you mean the MacEffects gears, they are not 3D printed I don't believe, and they're certainly not NOS. I don't recall the manufacturing process for them and currently the page is not listed since they're out of stock.
They're 3D printed by @Kay K.M.Mods.
Extremely high quality! My Shapeways gears (regular) (premium) are a decent alternative if MacEffects is out of stock. Kay's gears higher quality as demonstrated in this thread. Dozens (possibly even hundreds at this point) of people have used my gear and are happy with it.
edit: also, my gears are open source so anyone who has a high resolution 3D printer (e.g., resin) can print their own!
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The gears are back in stock fresh from Japan. I'll be out of town until at least Wednesday but will ship once I am back if anyone still needs Kay's gears