1000EX - startup disk not working

[phreakindee]

Just got a 1000 EX, untested before so I don't know what all works and what does not. This is also my first Tandy experience. It is my understanding a regular bootable MS-DOS floppy will work on startup. When I try this, starting with v3.2, it just tries to read the disk real quick and says "Insert startup disk and press any key to continue"

It does with every version of DOS I have tried, and all of them work on other IBM-compatible machines I have so the disks themselves are good. I also tried downloading and starting up the Tandy version of 2.11 from Tvdog's website, that didn't work either (the DOS disk, not DeskMate). Am I missing something? Or is the drive just bad? The light turns on, disk sounds like it's spinning, but nothing happens. Connections looks fine inside, at least on the drive's end.

If it is a bad drive, can I just use a regular half-height 5.25" drive to replace it? According to the Tvdog FAQ, it pretty much looks like it so long as it's DD not HD. Thanks for any help!

 

[Tupin]

Make sure the disk and the drive head is clean, that will prevent it from reading.

Are you going to do a Youtube review of the 1000EX? :D

 

[phreakindee]

Make sure the disk and the drive head is clean, that will prevent it from reading.

Are you going to do a Youtube review of the 1000EX? :D

Yeah I used a head cleaner disk and surprisingly it didn't come out that dirty. I have noticed a bit of a rattle, it almost seems like the head isn't connecting with the disk, so I'm leaning toward a bad drive. I was just making sure there wasn't anything special, as it should work about like any other IBM wannabe.

And yes, I plan to be reviewing it if I can get it working! So I may be on the lookout for a 360k drive.

 

[Tupin]

There are several auctions for 5.25 floppy drives on eBay. Here's one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Epson-SD-521-360K-Half-Height-Floppy-Drive-Vintage_W0QQitemZ270409690818QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item3ef5ac6ec2&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

How did you download a DOS disk from the internet to a 5.25 inch floppy? That's the one bad thing about the 1000EX, it uses 5.25 inch floppies and a lot of DOS disks/games that you see are 3.5 inch, which would work on another Tandy PC-compatible, the 1000HX. Somebody ought to make a USB 5.25 inch floppy drive.

 

[phreakindee]

There are several auctions for 5.25 floppy drives on eBay. Here's one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Epson-SD-521-360K-Half-Height-Floppy-Drive-Vintage_W0QQitemZ270409690818QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item3ef5ac6ec2&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

How did you download a DOS disk from the internet to a 5.25 inch floppy? That's the one bad thing about the 1000EX, it uses 5.25 inch floppies and a lot of DOS disks/games that you see are 3.5 inch, which would work on another Tandy PC-compatible, the 1000HX. Somebody ought to make a USB 5.25 inch floppy drive.

Thanks, yeah I have been looking, and hopefully I can find one that works. I've bought from that dude before.

And I just used another drive that is in an old Pentium PC I have with Windows 95, using WinImage. From there it takes the disk image and formats the floppy, writing it as a 360k disk. Works great. But neither my original DOS disks nor the copies work with the Tandy... yet

 

[Great Hierophant]

Is the drive you are using to copying the images onto the disks a 360KB or 1.2MB? This is something that is often overlooked.

Also, try a booter PC game instead of the DOS disks.

 

[phreakindee]

Is the drive you are using to copying the images onto the disks a 360KB or 1.2MB? This is something that is often overlooked.

Also, try a booter PC game instead of the DOS disks.

It's a 1.2, but it's working perfectly so far with my other IBMs (5150 and such). And the original MS-DOS disks I have don't work either, so it's not my 1.2MB drive I do not think...

Tried an original PC-booter disk, still the same lack of result. :sad:

I suppose another thing to test is the Tandy drive on another computer...

 

[phreakindee]

Okay, so it appears to be the disk drive... at least I hope. It does not work at all in another computer, just spins and spins and does nothing. Pretty much the same thing it's doing in the Tandy.

 

[phreakindee]

I got another disk drive for it, and that doesn't work either. This one was a different brand, but honestly I have no idea if the stupid thing even works anyways. The seller I got it from didn't mention all the noticeable physical damage to the drives I got from him

 

[southbird]

It does not work at all in another computer, just spins and spins and does nothing.

Is this using a setup you know to work with a 360KB drive? Because I tried using a 360KB drive in this weird Pentium-M motherboard, which DOES allow its selection in the BIOS. The gist of it is, if the drive is all alone on the cable, it works great. If its chained in either primary or secondary with a 1.44MB 3.5, it ... spins and does nothing. The spindle motor kicks on when requested, but there's no activity light, and the heads don't seem to do anything. (And if anyone knows what that behavior's about, if perhaps it is greater than just "the BIOS is broken", let me know...)

But it does sound like you've tried everything common. Obviously using a 360KB disk in a 1.2M drive tends to lead to some problems here and there. There's always a chance the EX's controller is toasted. But in case you are exhibiting similar symptoms to what I described above ... make sure the drive is isolated on whatever machine you hook it up to.

 

[Great Hierophant]

But it does sound like you've tried everything common. Obviously using a 360KB disk in a 1.2M drive tends to lead to some problems here and there. There's always a chance the EX's controller is toasted. But in case you are exhibiting similar symptoms to what I described above ... make sure the drive is isolated on whatever machine you hook it up to.

Considering that the Tandy 1000EX supports for only one drive inside the system and one drive outside the system, which are not common, that should not be difficult.

 

[phreakindee]

... make sure the drive is isolated on whatever machine you hook it up to.

Good point I didn't think of. I was trying it, other than in the Tandy, in another computer that is a Pentium system. I have not checked the BIOS and it was on the same cable as a 3.5" drive. I will try with just the B: drive and check the BIOS, to check if the Tandy's Teac drive is indeed not working or maybe the Tandy itself is the culprit.

 

[phreakindee]

Well, I tried both of my 360k drives in the Pentium II computer again, this time setting the BIOS to 360k B: drive and having it be the only drive on the controller. Still got the same results... it just spins and spins when trying to access it. Does the same with both drives, either get a seek error or drive not ready error. In DOS mode and Win95 modes. So, that almost makes me think either both drives are bad or both drives are good and they just don't work on the computer I'm trying them on, which would mean my Tandy's controller could be blown.