Hello, I have a CoCo3 512k that i fired up after a bunch of years. Had to do a few manual repairs to the keyboard but the computer itself seems to be working fine. I am having an issue with the dual floppy drives and I am honestly not sure if they are working right or not because I forgot how to use them.
I have the floppy FD-501 controller and a dual drive floppy enclosure. The bottom drive seems to be a TEC FB-500 and the top drive seems to be a Mitsumi uncertain of the model. I plug the floppy controller into the CoCo with the power off. All the cables are plugged in. I turn the floppy drive on first then boot up the CoCo. I place a floppy disk in either drive and shut the latch but I hear nothing. If memory serves the drive spins the disk at least for a second or two right? Neither of these drives do that. If I try to initialize the drives per the documentation, DSKINI0 or 1 I get the ?SN ERROR. While plausible I find it unlikely that both drives have gone bad.
First question is what is the proper procedure to initialize these drives? Second question am I right in remembering that the floppy spins for a second regardless if it initialized or not. What can I do to troubleshoot these drives? Is there a way to test the CoCo's expansion slot to make sure it is not bad?
Any help would be appreciated. Trying to determine if I have bad drives, a bad controller, or I am doing something incorrect.
Thanks!
I have the floppy FD-501 controller and a dual drive floppy enclosure. The bottom drive seems to be a TEC FB-500 and the top drive seems to be a Mitsumi uncertain of the model. I plug the floppy controller into the CoCo with the power off. All the cables are plugged in. I turn the floppy drive on first then boot up the CoCo. I place a floppy disk in either drive and shut the latch but I hear nothing. If memory serves the drive spins the disk at least for a second or two right? Neither of these drives do that. If I try to initialize the drives per the documentation, DSKINI0 or 1 I get the ?SN ERROR. While plausible I find it unlikely that both drives have gone bad.
First question is what is the proper procedure to initialize these drives? Second question am I right in remembering that the floppy spins for a second regardless if it initialized or not. What can I do to troubleshoot these drives? Is there a way to test the CoCo's expansion slot to make sure it is not bad?
Any help would be appreciated. Trying to determine if I have bad drives, a bad controller, or I am doing something incorrect.
Thanks!