That head motor might have taken some dirt in? I don't have a very good recommendation on how to fix that I'm afraid. You can dismantle the drive and remove the motor just to try turning its shaft with your fingers to see if it's indeed seized up or not. Hopefully it's not, then probably some white grease can be applied on the shafts to ensure the head assembly slides nicely on them.

Good luck

wbahnassi wrote on 2025-06-15, 08:18:

That head motor might have taken some dirt in? I don't have a very good recommendation on how to fix that I'm afraid. You can dismantle the drive and remove the motor just to try turning its shaft with your fingers to see if it's indeed seized up or not. Hopefully it's not, then probably some white grease can be applied on the shafts to ensure the head assembly slides nicely on them.

Good luck

Thanks for the reply. It did indeed seem stiff. I don't have any white grease. So I used a small brush to apply a tiny amount of WD40 to the motor shaft and also the smooth shaft that the head runs on. It now sounds much better, and no error as far as the boot process Is concerned now.

The next issue is that it says it can't read the disk. I think it is making the right sounds now? It's been 30 years since I last had a 5.25" drive so my memory may be faulty.

I have tried cleaning the heads with IPA and cotton buds and also cleaned the contacts that the floppy cable connect to.

The floppy cable is brand new, bought on ebay. The floppy disks I am using are brand new 3M disks (from sealed box of disks). I have tried a game disk also (StarGlider by Rainbird).

Here is what it does now:

https://youtu.be/Vb2OKdPew2A?si=5T_uJ3OKWdZMS_iB

The drive seek sounds and looks good. What model drive is it ? Maybe a jumper is not set proper...

Horun wrote on 2025-06-15, 21:41:

The drive seek sounds and looks good. What model drive is it ? Maybe a jumper is not set proper...

The model is Panasonic JU-475-3AGJ

I haven't changed any jumpers. This is a photo of the current settings:

Is it possible that the jammed mechanism, or knocks recieved in postal system, has caused head misalignment? I don't have any tools to test or fix head alignment.

It sounds like the stepper motor skipping a phase, can be a bad motor (rare), bad connection (sometimes happens) or dirty/sticky head sled rails (very common).
Clean the rails (these polished metal rods) with IPA, using a cotton swab. A proper clean requires disassembly so if you have never done that, try to avoid it - for now at least. DO NOT lubricate anything, in fact any previous attemps at lubrication might be the cause, the lubricant dried up and hardened or attracted too much dust and dirt. When unpowered the head should move with just a little force applied to the sled with a finger. You can move it around to check how it slides, and also to get better access to the rails for cleaning.

after the cleanup mentioned by Deunan, download IMD here
https://web.archive.org/web/20250511105201/ht … siccmp.org/img/

you can use it to move the heads a track at a time, format a specific track etc, it gives a lot of info

Deunan wrote on 2025-06-16, 13:47:

It sounds like the stepper motor skipping a phase, can be a bad motor (rare), bad connection (sometimes happens) or dirty/sticky head sled rails (very common).
Clean the rails (these polished metal rods) with IPA, using a cotton swab. A proper clean requires disassembly so if you have never done that, try to avoid it - for now at least. DO NOT lubricate anything, in fact any previous attemps at lubrication might be the cause, the lubricant dried up and hardened or attracted too much dust and dirt. When unpowered the head should move with just a little force applied to the sled with a finger. You can move it around to check how it slides, and also to get better access to the rails for cleaning.

Hi. Thanks for your help. I have now given the worm screw off the motor and the guide rail on the other side a gentle clean with cotton bud and IPA. As far as I can tell the head is moving freely. Whether it's aligned or not is another matter.

randi wrote on 2025-06-16, 21:09:

after the cleanup mentioned by Deunan, download IMD here
https://web.archive.org/web/20250511105201/ht … siccmp.org/img/

you can use it to move the heads a track at a time, format a specific track etc, it gives a lot of info

Thanks for the link. I have tried it. It seems to step track to track ok. From 0 to 80. However it doesn't seem to read any data from either head.

https://youtu.be/-Ga1Q7xu2yE?si=yqh5yGOg5b9aobom

Just in case the 3.5" floppy is interfering somehow I have removed that from the cable for this test.

I am thinking that perhaps I should just request a refund on this drive. I don't want to have to take it apart TBH. Do you think that is best option?

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2025-06-17, 06:00:

I am thinking that perhaps I should just request a refund on this drive. I don't want to have to take it apart TBH. Do you think that is best option?

Well if you don't want to mess with it, that would be the best option. Before you do though there is one more experiment to try. If you have a 5.25" HD floppy that's good and can be erased.

Format the floppy. Use /U to force the format in DOS if it doesn't want to start. See if that works, that is if the floppy is readable after the format. If so, the heads are misaligned (probably the track 0 sensor got loose and moved). If still no go, or the format fails no matter what you do, it might be some drive defect. Two bad heads are unlikely but a bad chip, or something broken insisde the pull-up/terminator pack for example. Nothing that can be easily solved so again that would be the cue to return the drive.

Deunan wrote on 2025-06-17, 10:29:

Well if you don't want to mess with it, that would be the best option. Before you do though there is one more experiment to try. If you have a 5.25" HD floppy that's good and can be erased.

Format the floppy. Use /U to force the format in DOS if it doesn't want to start. See if that works, that is if the floppy is readable after the format. If so, the heads are misaligned (probably the track 0 sensor got loose and moved). If still no go, or the format fails no matter what you do, it might be some drive defect. Two bad heads are unlikely but a bad chip, or something broken insisde the pull-up/terminator pack for example. Nothing that can be easily solved so again that would be the cue to return the drive.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to want to format either.

If I'd bought it as not working I'd probably try further. But since it was bought with no indication from the seller that it was not working (or even that it was untested) that I think I am within my rights to return it. It's a shame though, as I was looking forward to trying some game disks that I acquired for my psuedo 286/386/486 PC (Slowed down Pentium MMX with ISA video card) and 8Mb EDO RAM.

randi wrote on 2025-06-16, 21:09:

... download IMD here
https://web.archive.org/web/20250511105201/ht … siccmp.org/img/

Any particular reason you are going through "archive.org"?

ImageDisk is still a supported/developed tool, and the best place to get it is from it's official home:

http://dunfield.classiccmp.org

Just look for "Download Software/Images" near the bottom of the main page.

If you grab it from anywhere else, it may not be the most recent, possibly not having
improvements/fixes I've done recently.... and may not see certain notices - I specifically
ask people not to link directly to lower pages so that these notices will always be presented!

Looking at your picture of the jumpers.. try: change MDA to MDB jumped, the rest look OK. The MDA/MDB jumpers are for "Pin 34 by Drive Select", MDB is Default according to the docs.

Horun wrote on 2025-06-17, 15:14:

Looking at your picture of the jumpers.. try: change MDA to MDB jumped, the rest look OK. The MDA/MDB jumpers are for "Pin 34 by Drive Select", MDB is Default according to the docs.

Well spotted! I just tried though and unfortunately it hasn't helped. Disk Image acts the same. DOS command prompt now says General Error reading drive A. With jumper in previous setting it said not ready readying drive A.

I am not sure on the difference. But according to Google, the new response means it's having a problem reading data from the disk. The previous error means it's having problems communicating with the device? So, if thats correct, this is the correct jumper setting now. But it's still not working.

When I try to format a disk I now get error "Invalid Media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable". Before it just said "Not Ready"

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2025-06-17, 16:33:

When I try to format a disk I now get error "Invalid Media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable". Before it just said "Not Ready"

Is that with /U option as well? DOS is kinda stupid, it tries to detect the format on the floppy first and if it doesn't like what it finds that error is shown to the user. Doesn't mean the track 0 is actually bad.
Obviously it can also happen if track 0 fails to format because the drive isn't working properly, DOS can't tell if the floppy is bad or if the drive isn't working.

BTW when using IMD and moving the head you should press A to re-analyze the track if you don't see any valid sectors. IMD defaults to 250k/s, that is single density, rather than what's set in BIOS as drive type. Also try switching the head with H key (and maybe follow with another A), to see if both really see nothing. Try at least 10 tracks from 0 to 79, if nothing is ever found then either the head is so nicely misaligned that it always stops between tracks (that's rare) or the head amp chip is dead.

General Error Reading is good progress in your case. Now it's in alignment error territory rather than completely broken.
IMO DOS format is the last test to do after you fix everything. Otherwise IMGDisk is the tool to get there. Things to validate:

* Use IMD to move head with the keyboard sequence 0,1,2,3...until 7 then back to 0. You should not hear any strong knocking noises from the head in the process, especially when moving from 7 to 0.
If you hear knocking noises, you have an issue with track 0 detection sensor not telling the stepper motor to stop at the right position.

* Use IMD to erase a disk, then write any compatible image. If both operations succeed, the heads are in good shape, but they could still be misaligned.

* Use a preformatted disk that works in other drives to align your drive using IMGDisk's align function.

* With all the above done, go back to DOS and do a FORMAT A: /U /F:1.2 /S
This should now succeed. Try booting off the newely formatted disk. Then take it to another drive/machine and boot from it there too. If all works well, congrats! Your drive is now good and legit.

wbahnassi wrote on 2025-06-17, 21:01:

General Error Reading is good progress in your case. Now it's in alignment error territory rather than completely broken.
IMO DOS format is the last test to do after you fix everything. Otherwise IMGDisk is the tool to get there. Things to validate:

Many thanks for taking the time for such a comprehensive reply.

wbahnassi wrote on 2025-06-17, 21:01:

* Use IMD to move head with the keyboard sequence 0,1,2,3...until 7 then back to 0. You should not hear any strong knocking noises from the head in the process, especially when moving from 7 to 0.
If you hear knocking noises, you have an issue with track 0 detection sensor not telling the stepper motor to stop at the right position.

Sounds OK to me. No knocking and sounds quite smooth.

wbahnassi wrote on 2025-06-17, 21:01:

* Use IMD to erase a disk, then write any compatible image. If both operations succeed, the heads are in good shape, but they could still be misaligned.

The erase operation didn't report any issues. For the write operations I didn't have any compatible images. This is the only 5.25 drive I have l, so no way to make one. So I downloaded some MSDOS 6.22 images in 1.2Mb *.IMA format. I then used BIN2IMD utility from disk image to convert it to *.IMD format.

When I tried to use IMD to write that image, I get this:

Hmmm, that could be the index hole sensor. It's an infrared LED with an IR receiver on its opposite side to detect the hole in the disk. It could get dirty, so just use a cotton swab with alcohol to gently clean both the LED and the receiver. You will need to dismantle the drive to separate the upper plate from the rest so you can access this LED. And while at it, you can clean the write-protect LED as well in the same fashion.

Also, when you insert a disk and close the handle, do you see the heads fully clamping on the disk surface? They should be touching the surface and not float above it. If it's tough to tell, you can try to VERY lightly apply pressure on the upper head while it's trying to write. Sometimes a mechanical issue prevents the heads from fully clamping.

The fact that IMD thinks it can "erase" the disk suggests that the FDC is seeing the index hole.

Btw, I see you are using IMD 1.19 - current is 1.20, there may have been a fix (I recall putting 1.20 out shortly after 1.19
- unfortunately this time period is a "bit blurry" for me as it was fairly soon after my accident)

Also, make use of the 'A'lign/test function, it will tell you if the FDC is reporting any valid data, and also
lets you do things like recalibrate/move the head stepper etc.

If you have the drive "out in the open", a good way to tell is the heads are clamping together, is to insert thin strip of
paper under the upper head while the drive is open, close the drive and verify that the paper is noticeably harder to move
due to pressure from the head.

BTW: There are plenty of .IMD images on "Daves Old Computers"

DaveDDS wrote on Yesterday, 12:39:

The fact that IMD thinks it can "erase" the disk suggests that the FDC is seeing the index hole. […]
Show full quote

The fact that IMD thinks it can "erase" the disk suggests that the FDC is seeing the index hole.

Btw, I see you are using IMD 1.19 - current is 1.20, there may have been a fix (I recall putting 1.20 out shortly after 1.19
- unfortunately this time period is a "bit blurry" for me as it was fairly soon after my accident)
Sorry to hear you had an accident. Hope you are OK now?

I just downloaded from your website this time, rather than from archive.org. it still seems to be 1.19? Unless I did something dumb when copying it. Haha.

DaveDDS wrote on Yesterday, 12:39:

Also, make use of the 'A'lign/test function, it will tell you if the FDC is reporting any valid data, and also
lets you do things like recalibrate/move the head stepper etc.

Align doesn't seem to show any data. I tried moving across several tracks.

DaveDDS wrote on Yesterday, 12:39:

If you have the drive "out in the open", a good way to tell is the heads are clamping together, is to insert thin strip of paper […]
Show full quote

If you have the drive "out in the open", a good way to tell is the heads are clamping together, is to insert thin strip of
paper under the upper head while the drive is open, close the drive and verify that the paper is noticeably harder to move
due to pressure from the head.

BTW: There are plenty of .IMD images on "Daves Old Computers"

I am not sure I'd say that the paper is noticeably harder to move with the head down. But if I lightly press on the head, it doesn't seem to move any further down than it is.

I tried to write an image again, and seem to be getting a different error now:

I just double-checked on "Daves Old Computers", and under Software/Images ImageDisk shows as 1.20
I also downloaded the IMD120.ZIP it points at an when I run that IMD.COM it shows itself as 1.20

Sometimes browsers cache a LOT - that why I recommend flushing your browsers cache before downloading.
If you have an old page cached which points at IMD119.ZIP, that archive may still be on the site.

You should feel some resistance - not much, but you should be able to tell the head is being pressed on the paper.
If you use a thin strip which can fall to the side with the drive vertical and heads open - is it still that loose when the heads are
closed on it (and make sure you are getting it under the head - some drives have shielding which makes it tricky to get
it in the right place.

If there is no output from 'A'lign/tests = it would seem there's no data from the FDC.

When you 'E'rase, does it step over the whole disk?
Can you 'E'rase with no disk in the drive?