Possible bad floppys...

Larry J. Ovshak () wrote:
: John Kinsella () wrote:
: : Howdy everybody. I recently had a bunch of PS/2 Model 60s fall into
: : my office. Unfortunately, it looks like the floppys are not working on
: : any of them...an example:
: : c:\ : : Insert new diskette for drive A:
: : and press ENTER when ready:

: : Invalid parameter

: : c:\ : :

: : I've spent the last few hours swapping drives around trying to see if
: : I could get a working configuration, but to no avail. I was just
: : wondering if anybody out there could actually verify that the floppy
: : drive is dead from the above information?
: : TIA!

: : John Kinsella, Sys Admin | UC Davis Math Department

: John, have you run the Reference Disk to verify the SetUp configuration?
: If so, and your drive A: is properly defined, your problem is likely to
: be either a bad floppy disk drive(s) or the floppy drive controller
: (FDC). Unless you can lay your hands on a known good FDD and swap it
: into the A: slot, then the FDC is also suspect.

: In the event you require replacement FDD's, I represent a small
: entrepreneurial firm, Precision Peripherals, Inc. We specialize in the
: sale of genuine IBM PS/2 FDD's that we thoroughly refurbish (i.e. clean,
: lube and align to IBM specs). And we sell them for a small fraction of
: what IBM would charge - our price is $65 each for the FDD I think your
: Model 60 uses and we warrant them for 6 months (assuming the FDD is IBM
: P/N 90X6766 or equivalent). FYI, IBM Parts (1/800/388-7080) charges a
: staggering $329 for this P/N (albeit brand-new) and provides a 90 day
: warranty. For your convenience and protection, we take Visa & M/C.

: Feel free to contact me, John, if I can help you in any way. I'm always
: glad to offer help with PS/2 FDD questions! For more detailed info, we
: have a posting in biz.comp.hardware if you happen to receive that Newsgroup.

: Larry Ovshak
: Precision Peripherals, Inc.
:

: Phone: 612/571-2905

He might also try a special driver update that deals with floppy/harddrive
problems (and other nuisances) called Dasddrvr.sys. There is a version
of it already on many refdisks, but the update takes care of problems since
the original was released. It is found at ftp.pcco.ibm.com in the
/pub/system_specific directory as ps2updat.dsk. He will also need to
download Ldf.com, found in the /pub/utils directory (and probably
elsewhere) that self-decompresses to extract the program Loaddskf.exe,
which translates *.dsk files to "disk images", essentially recreating
the intended program to the harddrive or floppy. Typing loaddskf at the
c: prompt in the directory the file exists will prompt you for and alert
you to options and syntax.
Dasddrvr.sys is required on PS/2 models 50, 60 and 80 running any Dos
operating systems. It is not required on the 25, 30, 50Z, 70, or if you
are running OS/2 on any of the machines. If you do try and install it on
a machine that doesn't require it then it will not install and won't
return an error message. (Preceeding and following taken an IBM error
code list)
There are five reasons for this particular device driver.

1. Intermittent read failures on 720K original application software
diskettes.

2. Intermittent 'Not ready' or 'General Failure' message on the floppy
or fixed drives.

3. Format fails on multiple formats of 3.5 inch diskettes. Get 'Track 0
bad or invalid media' message.

4. False 301 and 8602 error messages when the machine is turned on and
off quickly.

5. Loss of time or 162/163 error messages. this is the main reason for
installing the driver.

Probably the latest version of dasddrvr.sys can be found on the most
recent refdisk for his mod 60. Dasddrvr.sys needs to be installed as
a device driver in your config.sys file. I would first copy dasddrvr.sys
to my Dos subdirectory so it's on the path. Then, I would simply add the
following line to my config.sys file: (on the first line)

Device=c:\dos\dasddrvr.sys

As mentioned above, if the driver isn't needed, it doesn't install and
uses no memory. So, couldn't hurt.

: Howdy everybody. I recently had a bunch of PS/2 Model 60s fall into
: my office. Unfortunately, it looks like the floppys are not working on
: any of them...an example:
: c:\ : Insert new diskette for drive A:
: and press ENTER when ready:

: Invalid parameter

: c:\ :

: I've spent the last few hours swapping drives around trying to see if
: I could get a working configuration, but to no avail. I was just
: wondering if anybody out there could actually verify that the floppy
: drive is dead from the above information?
: TIA!

: John Kinsella, Sys Admin | UC Davis Math Department

John, have you run the Reference Disk to verify the SetUp configuration?
If so, and your drive A: is properly defined, your problem is likely to
be either a bad floppy disk drive(s) or the floppy drive controller
(FDC). Unless you can lay your hands on a known good FDD and swap it
into the A: slot, then the FDC is also suspect.

In the event you require replacement FDD's, I represent a small
entrepreneurial firm, Precision Peripherals, Inc. We specialize in the
sale of genuine IBM PS/2 FDD's that we thoroughly refurbish (i.e. clean,
lube and align to IBM specs). And we sell them for a small fraction of
what IBM would charge - our price is $65 each for the FDD I think your
Model 60 uses and we warrant them for 6 months (assuming the FDD is IBM
P/N 90X6766 or equivalent). FYI, IBM Parts (1/800/388-7080) charges a
staggering $329 for this P/N (albeit brand-new) and provides a 90 day
warranty. For your convenience and protection, we take Visa & M/C.

Feel free to contact me, John, if I can help you in any way. I'm always
glad to offer help with PS/2 FDD questions! For more detailed info, we
have a posting in biz.comp.hardware if you happen to receive that Newsgroup.

Larry Ovshak
Precision Peripherals, Inc.

Phone: 612/571-2905

: Howdy everybody. I recently had a bunch of PS/2 Model 60s fall into
: my office. Unfortunately, it looks like the floppys are not working on
: any of them...an example:
<snip
Found out what was wrong! Basically, the machines had been left powered off
for too long probably. As a result, the cmos battery and data had drained
out, and the machines didn't have cmos settings for the floppy drive. The
strange thing, I found out, is that I could read and write to the drive, but
I couldn't format it.
Anyways, thanks goes out to:

(Edson Gin)
(Aron Eisenpress)

John
­__
John Kinsella, Sys Admin | UC Davis Math Department | Hardware: (n) The
Voice: (916) 752-8801 | 585 Kerr Hall | part of a computer
| Davis, CA 95616 | that can be kicked.