FYI,
There's no reason the rom from a hard drive would contain any text strings whatsoever.
It does not talk to the user directly, the rom on the interface card does that.

When you say format, which format do you mean? DOS format or low-level format ?

As I mentioned, the error was while trying to low level format it.

Ya, the rom is prolly fine. It had its original protective label and was facing against the bottom of the drive. Would just be nice to have something to compare it to.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-03-01, 20:23:

FYI, There's no reason the rom from a hard drive would contain any text strings whatsoever. It does not talk to the user direc […]
Show full quote

FYI,
There's no reason the rom from a hard drive would contain any text strings whatsoever.
It does not talk to the user directly, the rom on the interface card does that.

When you say format, which format do you mean? DOS format or low-level format ?

It's also possible the EPROM is unique to the drive and contains a factory bad block list and calibration info..... though that is a relatively "modern" feature.

retrotechrestoration wrote on 2024-03-03, 00:45:

As I mentioned, the error was while trying to low level format it.

Ya, the rom is prolly fine. It had its original protective label and was facing against the bottom of the drive. Would just be nice to have something to compare it to.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-03-01, 20:23:

FYI, There's no reason the rom from a hard drive would contain any text strings whatsoever. It does not talk to the user direc […]
Show full quote

FYI,
There's no reason the rom from a hard drive would contain any text strings whatsoever.
It does not talk to the user directly, the rom on the interface card does that.

When you say format, which format do you mean? DOS format or low-level format ?

Dangit, sorry, missed that.

Looking at the photo of the eprom on the microcontroller & the datasheet... are you sure the eprom is in the correct location ?
the datasheet makes me think that the eprom should be filling the right most sockets and leaving the left ones open on the photo, since that's where the data pins are according to the datasheet.

though thinking about it... that wouldn't make sense, your hard disc controller would 've complained about the disk during bootup...

weedeewee wrote on 2024-03-03, 08:18:

Dangit, sorry, missed that. […]
Show full quote

retrotechrestoration wrote on 2024-03-03, 00:45:

As I mentioned, the error was while trying to low level format it.

Ya, the rom is prolly fine. It had its original protective label and was facing against the bottom of the drive. Would just be nice to have something to compare it to.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-03-01, 20:23:

FYI, There's no reason the rom from a hard drive would contain any text strings whatsoever. It does not talk to the user direc […]
Show full quote

FYI,
There's no reason the rom from a hard drive would contain any text strings whatsoever.
It does not talk to the user directly, the rom on the interface card does that.

When you say format, which format do you mean? DOS format or low-level format ?

Dangit, sorry, missed that.

Looking at the photo of the eprom on the microcontroller & the datasheet... are you sure the eprom is in the correct location ?
the datasheet makes me think that the eprom should be filling the right most sockets and leaving the left ones open on the photo, since that's where the data pins are according to the datasheet.

though thinking about it... that wouldn't make sense, your hard disc controller would 've complained about the disk during bootup...

Thanks for the reply. I'll look at that adapter more closely and check...I assume you're referring to the eprom datasheet? The BIOS does spit out a 1701 error on boot which is a pretty generic code unfortunately.

retrotechrestoration wrote on 2024-03-03, 18:03:

weedeewee wrote on 2024-03-03, 08:18:

Dangit, sorry, missed that. […]
Show full quote

retrotechrestoration wrote on 2024-03-03, 00:45:

As I mentioned, the error was while trying to low level format it.

Ya, the rom is prolly fine. It had its original protective label and was facing against the bottom of the drive. Would just be nice to have something to compare it to.

Dangit, sorry, missed that.

Looking at the photo of the eprom on the microcontroller & the datasheet... are you sure the eprom is in the correct location ?
the datasheet makes me think that the eprom should be filling the right most sockets and leaving the left ones open on the photo, since that's where the data pins are according to the datasheet.

though thinking about it... that wouldn't make sense, your hard disc controller would 've complained about the disk during bootup...

Thanks for the reply. I'll look at that adapter more closely and check...I assume you're referring to the eprom datasheet? The BIOS does spit out a 1701 error on boot which is a pretty generic code unfortunately.

No, the HD68P01V07 to which the eprom is mounted. https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/d … HI/HD68P01.html Looking at your first photo, the eprom should be shifted completely to the right, if i'm reading the datasheet correctly. The way it is connected now is guaranteed to deliver the microcontroller, the HD68P01, incorrect programming.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-03-03, 18:46:

No, the HD68P01V07 to which the eprom is mounted. https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/d … HI/HD68P01.html Looking at your first photo, the eprom should be shifted completely to the right, if i'm reading the datasheet correctly. The way it is connected now is guaranteed to deliver the microcontroller, the HD68P01, incorrect programming.

Oooh, neat...I've never seen one of those before!

Ah yes...I think you're right...leave the _index_ side four pins open. Good eye.

SUCCESS!

I moved the eprom into it's correct position...no go. I found a replacement WD1002A controller on ebay...no go. I tried different cables...and success! The drive works perfectly and has a ton of productivity software on it!

I'll make sure to image it immediately just in case. Thanks for everyone's help!

I'm so glad that the eprom survived !

Enjoy ! who would've guessed the cables after the eprom.

does the old controller work with the new cables ? better try it after you backed up the data on the drive 😀

weedeewee wrote on 2024-03-11, 20:42:

does the old controller work with the new cables ? better try it after you backed up the data on the drive 😀

Technically the cable that work are the originals that came with the machine. When I was testing the different controller card I was using the IBM cables it had come with.

The original WD1002A card is definitely shorted somewhere. The machine wouldn't even power up with it plugged in. I had a similar problem with a different card in the Franklin. Thankfully the power supply was smart enough to detect that and nothing else got damaged. 😀

News headline like: Test Trauma: Tantalum Terror Taunts Tech

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-03-12, 02:26:

News headline like: Test Trauma: Tantalum Terror Taunts Tech

Lol, wouldn't be the first time. I fixed a Compaq Portable 386 by replacing a single tantalum.

Btw, this Acer was last used by a property appraisers office in Georgia in July of 1995. Still had all it's documents, forms and spreadsheets.

That HMenu system is kinda slick. It automatically reads the root directory and updates the menu on each boot. Any commands put in an heyn.bat in each subdirectory will be run when a menu item is selected. It also has a cute little resident virus protection program.