Theletterf wrote on 2025-03-13, 14:10:
I'm getting a weird exception in Windows XP when running the command from the command line.
That is odd. What kind of exception? What does it say?
Is the drive doing anything at all? Most (but not all) 5.25" drives will start the motor for a few seconds when floppy is inserted. This is to help center it on the spindle when it's being clamped. Does it do that? Also try moving the head inwards (towards the spindle) with the power off and then watch it when you power the system on. It should move back to track 0, if not at power on then at least on first access attempt.
Theletterf wrote on 2025-03-13, 14:10:
Not sure how to clean the heads.
Very gently. From various comments I've read on the net most head damage is done by people who try to shove things in there and end up bending the suspension springs or ripping the head off completly. A q-tip soaked in 99%+ IPA or, if there is nothing else on hand, strong clear vodka, should be used to gently scrub the surface of both heads. Try to shine some light in there to be able to see if the head is clean or not, because sometimes the dirt can be caked pretty well and takes time to remove.
For all of that you might need to take the upper metal shield off the drive. It will work without it but replace it once you are done.
One last thing, you can try to take the MS1 jumper off and see what that does. It might restrict you from reading/writing to DD floppies but this is to see if the FDC is somehow not driving the density signal correctly, which might prevent HD operation on this drive.