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Tandy1000TX floppy issues

S

SuperXT

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2015
Messages
25
Location
Alberta, Canada
Hey all, I just purchased a new in box Tandy 1000TX, CM-5, DMP-132 and Mouse all new in box from a classified ad(great find I know!)
everything is in great new shape obviously but the 3.5" floppy drive has issues even though it's never been used(still had yellow shipping insert in it)
when it receives power either from on cable power or the 4-pin connector the light stays on and the drive motor goes full speed. I ruled out cable or motherboard floppy controller as both work fine with my 5.25" and homemade Tandy 3.5" drive. I checked the board on the floppy for any obvious solder shorts or metal fragments but it seems fine, any suggestions??



TL;DR new old stock floppy drive lights and spins all the time when powered regardless of 34-pin cable plugged in or not.

Pics
https://imgur.com/a/3ZgfFwX

(repost from TRS/Tandy, get more visibility)
 
SuperXT said:
Hey all, I just purchased a new in box Tandy 1000TX, CM-5, DMP-132 and Mouse all new in box from a classified ad(great find I know!)
everything is in great new shape obviously but the 3.5" floppy drive has issues even though it's never been used(still had yellow shipping insert in it)
when it receives power either from on cable power or the 4-pin connector the light stays on and the drive motor goes full speed. I ruled out cable or motherboard floppy controller as both work fine with my 5.25" and homemade Tandy 3.5" drive. I checked the board on the floppy for any obvious solder shorts or metal fragments but it seems fine, any suggestions??



TL;DR new old stock floppy drive lights and spins all the time when powered regardless of 34-pin cable plugged in or not.

Pics
https://imgur.com/a/3ZgfFwX

(repost from TRS/Tandy, get more visibility)
Click to expand...

Nice find Super. You can substitute any 3.5" but know that the latter ones will probably be fixed to 'DS0'. so if that's the case, change the 5.25" accordingly. Can you check the problem 3.5" in another PC?
 
I could but I’d have to make a modified cable as Tandy puts +12 and +5 through the 34 pin cable and I don’t think that’s the issue cause if I put power to the drive without any floppy cable connected it immediately spins and lights up, working floppy drive will only light up and spin when it receives the command from the host.
 
SuperXT said:
I could but I’d have to make a modified cable as Tandy puts +12 and +5 through the 34 pin cable and I don’t think that’s the issue cause if I put power to the drive without any floppy cable connected it immediately spins and lights up, working floppy drive will only light up and spin when it receives the command from the host.
Click to expand...

Kind of points to something may have let go on the floppy's PCB. Possibly a shorted cap? That floppy problem aside, you've got a sweet system there.
 
SuperXT said:
I could but I’d have to make a modified cable as Tandy puts +12 and +5 through the 34 pin cable
Click to expand...

FWIW a cheap and easy way to "neuter" the power feed is to cut a "stacking header" or wire-wrap female connector to the right length to plug into the motherboard (or the drive, it doesn't matter, wherever there's clearance), bend/cut the pins that carry the power, and plug the cable into it. Here's an old thread about how I defanged the power feed on my HX-motherboard-ed hackmobile.

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthre...-for-Tandy-1000s-with-power-over-cable-wiring

40 pin female stacking headers meant for Raspberry Pi applications that you can easily trim to size are cheap and easy to find on Amazon. Nice thing about defang-ing it at the motherboard end is you no longer need to worry about which cable you use, and if you want you can tap the +5/+12v there on the bent-over pins and route them into a drive power cable.
 
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