5.25" Floppy drive problems. Rings on my disks :(

[SomeGuy]

Anyone have this issue with ibm branded software? I'm seeing rings on some discs. I'm trying to figure out if the drive in my new acqire PCJr is wrecking disks.

Although this disk didn't have any rings and I tried it in my 5150 which I never have disk issues with and it never touched the jr. (Well not for 20 years at least). But it seems like every disk I put in the jr winds up like this. I have tried cleaning the drives with a diskette.

I think the jr wrecked a PC booter disk it came with. Anyone know how to back them up?

Never test a drive with an original disk.

Your drive heads are probably physically damaged. Remove the disk drive and visually inspect the heads. A cleaning disk won't fix physical damage.

As for copying disks, it looks to late for this one. Normally just copy disks with the DOS "diskcopy" command. For copy protected disks use Copy II PC or Google for an "unprotect".

If this happens to have been a normal disk, then you can try diskcopy using a known good drive and keep mashing "retry" when an error comes up. If this was copy protected you are pretty much out of luck as a copier won't know if the damage is part of the "protection" or not. And off hand I don't see "Home Budget, Jr" posted anywhere.

 

[offensive_Jerk]

Well, on the PC JR, first thing I did was clean the drive. I then tried a dos disk I had and it booted, so I figured the drive was fine. I then put in a PC Booter game and it worked for a while then quit. That's when I inspected the disk and found the rings. Then my DOS disk stopped working good too. I learned my lesson. I guess I should have inspected the media right after using.

But the thing is, I pulled this disk out of the lot I got the PCJR from. I looked at it and I didn't see any rings. I put it in my different computer, my PC XT which never had any issues like this and attempted to copy it to the hard drive right away. I only managed to get a few files off, but the program at least appears to work. But still sad that the original software seems to be ruined. I kept hitting 'retry' to copy and it seems like it got harder to read. Pulled it out and now it has the rings.

But I'm wondering, are the disks 'shedding' or is it the drive doing it? I immediately cleaned the XT's disk drive and put another disk in and it didn't get the rings after.



Go figure this software is nowhere else on the internet

 

[Stone]

But I'm wondering, are the disks 'shedding' or is it the drive doing it? I immediately cleaned the XT's disk drive and put another disk in and it didn't get the rings after.

In my experience it's always been the disks, never the drive. But that doesn't mean that a drive can't do this. However, I wouldn't expect a drive to be selective. If it does it to one disk it should do it to all disks.

IMO everyone here should have at least one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281084143912?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[offensive_Jerk]

In my experience it's always been the disks, never the drive. But that doesn't mean that a drive can't do this. However, I wouldn't expect a drive to be selective. If it does it to one disk it should do it to all disks.

IMO everyone here should have at least one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281084143912?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I do have one of those.
I do find it hard to believe that it was the drive, since my IBM 5150 drive never gave me the issues.

So Stone, you think it's the disks, then? Not the drive? I tried another disk in my PCjr, and it didn't seem to ring it. I'm just scared to try any now.

 

[Stone]

Try formatting some blank, new disks. that way there's no data to lose. Of course some blank, new disks that are actually 10 or more years old could be a problem as well.

 

[SomeGuy]

The even spacing of the "rings" in the picture suggest that the drive head was involved somehow. For ordinary dirt/grime I would expect randomly spaced rings.

Of course it is impossible to say for sure from just a picture, but it might have been one of the following:

Some dirt stuck inside the disk jacket temporarily got stuck on the head.
There was existing dirt or damage on the drive head. (damage to disks may not always be consistent)
The disk surface had deteriorated and it just fell apart as the head moved over it. - although I have yet to encounter that for myself. (Varying head pressure might explain if one drive caused damage and another didn't.)

So it very well could have been the disk, but either way I wouldn't 100% trust the drive without inspecting, cleaning, and through testing with non-critical media.

 

[Stone]

The even spacing of the "rings" in the picture suggest that the drive head was involved somehow. For ordinary dirt/grime I would expect randomly spaced rings.

The drive head is always involved. But the problem arises when the disk's coating deteriorates, sluffs off, and fouls the head(s).