Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-11-04, 18:13:

Could someone post some pictures of the drive and I could provide some guidance on how to swap out the belt? It's actually quite […]
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Could someone post some pictures of the drive and I could provide some guidance on how to swap out the belt? It's actually quite simple on the EME279 drives once you've got a belt of the right dimensions:
Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?
The belt I've linked in there is what I install in any EME279 drive I find since they're all bad now, just a simple TPU print and I made a bunch of them last time I had the printer set up for printing belts.

I wish I could find the FDD module somewhere for a good price, I'm stuck with the space filler in the bay instead.

The hard drive died on mine too but it's working fine with a 1GB CF card that I formatted on another laptop that does have a working floppy drive. The 163 error you've got should go away once you're in the OS and can set the time, assuming that the CMOS batter is still working - from what I recall it's a rechargeable vanadium lithium cell that doesn't need replacing unless it completely fails to keep charge after the laptop has been powered via AC adapter for a bit.

I can post some pictures of the drive, however, unfortunately, I cannot provide you with any guidance on how to swap out the belt. I'm sorry.

Here are some pictures. I hope they're useful.
I made the decision to disassemble it only this much. I am hesitant to take it apart any further.