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IBM XT hard drive woes

Per what Chuck wrote, your hard drive is flashing a repeating error code. The drive is the problem.

The sound that I'm hearing in the video is of that of the spindle motor turning, but I could be wrong. Do you agree that the motor in the hard drive is running? If so, then head stiction (head stuck to platter) is ruled out.

If the information that SpidersWeb posted (at post #8) is applicable to your Miniscribe model (a good chance it does), and if I'm right about the error code being 1101, then that indicates that the drive is having a problem related to moving the head assembly. If I was in your situation, I would trying what vwestlife wrote of in post #12, very slowly.
 
It's a 3212. I don't think it's spinning. I feel no vibration, and doesn't seem to make noise. Although the PSU fan is very loud.
Rotating the pin didn't seem to help anything.
 
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A lot of these drives will spin up, do their checks and then power down if there are errors. You really need to see if the drive spins when power is first applied.
 
When I turn it on, I watched the little pin that I was advised to turn. It moves turns a little then stops then turns the other way and then stops. I'll check if it spins up again.
 
Ok. I hooked it up to an atx psu. It spins up. The spindle moves about 90 degrees then makes a slight grinding noise. The light still flashes the same.

Here's a video I just took showing the spindle while booting. Is your theory correct, Chuck?

 
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It's hitting the stopper :S I could be wrong but I'm thinking the stepper must have slipped out of position at some point.
If that's true it's fixable, but my suggestions would be a bit 'rough', so I'm hoping somebody knows how to reset it the proper way.
 
offensive_Jerk said:
Ok. I hooked it up to an atx psu. It spins up. The spindle moves about 90 degrees then makes a slight grinding noise.
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If you look at the photos [here], you can see that the Seagate ST-412's stepper motor has about 3/4 of a revolution of movement. Photo #1 shows its starting position (cylinder 0) being when the stepper 'flag' is sitting in the cylinder 0 sensor.

I have a faulty MiniScribe 3650 here, with lid off. With the heads at cylinder 0, the stepper 'flag' is sitting in the cylinder 0 sensor, as expected. If I then move the heads manually out to the maximum cylinder, I discover that the stepper motor moves through 2 complete revolutions (2 x 360 degrees).

Those two examples show that there can be a lot of difference between drive models.

I don't have a MiniScribe 3212 as you do, and so I don't know what its normal range of stepper motor movement is, but it will certainly be more than 90 degrees.

I think you have reached the point of having to remove the lid to see what is going on inside the head chamber. Of course, that will compromise the cleanliness of the chamber, but I don't think you have any other option if you want to see if you can repair the drive yourself.
 
modem7 said:
I have a faulty MiniScribe 3650 here, with lid off. With the heads at cylinder 0, the stepper 'flag' is sitting in the cylinder 0 sensor, as expected. If I then move the heads manually out to the maximum cylinder, I discover that the stepper motor moves through 2 complete revolutions (2 x 360 degrees).


I don't have a MiniScribe 3212 as you do, and so I don't know what its normal range of stepper motor movement is, but it will certainly be more than 90 degrees.

I think you have reached the point of having to remove the lid to see what is going on inside the head chamber. Of course, that will compromise the cleanliness of the chamber, but I don't think you have any other option if you want to see if you can repair the drive yourself.
Click to expand...

The link didn't work.
I did try moving it all the way clockwise and counter clockwise, just didn't film both.

I may have no other option than to open the cover. :(

Although, I finally did build my XT-IDE card that I got two or three years ago because of this. But, I would still like to use this old drive if possible. I just like the 28 year old mechanical tech still in operation. Too bad it's only 10MB though.
 
Yeah an XT isn't the same without the whirs and chirps. I actually stockpile MFM drives for this reason alone.

If it helps you feel any better, I had to remove the cover on my Miniscribe as well, it lived. Just do everything you can to reduce the chance of dust/hair/insects getting in and you should be fine. When putting the screws back in, you want just enough pressure to squeeze the rubber gasket - do not go 'as tight as you can'. Also if I remember, they're security torx, so I hope you have a set of bits.

If you want to buy a replacement, ST213 (not ST412) will be a more reliable drop in replacement (possibly need a LLF first) without reconfiguring or replacing your controller.
 
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I couldn't find any docs on his controller when I had a quick look, maybe someone else will have more luck.

My favourite controller in 8 bit is the WD XTGen - software configurable so you can use any MFM drive you please and fairly well documented.

Edit: I can find other NCL cards like the 5027, but no 5004 model.
Edit 2: as possibly implied above, doing an LLF on an ST225 with the card configured for an ST213 should work, just be wasting half the disk space
 
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SpidersWeb said:
I couldn't find any docs on his controller when I had a quick look, maybe someone else will have more luck.
Edit: I can find other NCL cards like the 5027, but no 5004 model.
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To note is that the OP's NDC5004 controller is not stock NCL - the ROM has been replaced by an Interface Incorporated one. For all we know, the drive table in the ROM is very different to those in the ROM of a stock NDC5004. Therefore, information on the web about the NDC5004 may not be applicable in this case.
 
Aren't we all jumping the gun?
Photos/info provided by the OP may indicate that the drive is repairable (by the OP, possibly under instruction).
 
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