[Coco] Unreliable Coco3

[Louis Ciotti]

Those are tough....  I have heard of people folding normal paper over
the edge connector on the cartridge and inserting it and removing it.
The paper is slightly abrasive and may clean the contacts.  Best bet
is to replace the connector if you really think that is the point of
failure, but I do not know if they are still available, I would think
they would be at digikey.

On Mon, Oct 22, 2012 at 8:58 AM, David Roper <ebonhand09 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Louis,
>
> I've got two drives (one pretty-much new) and they both act exactly
> the same with my Coco3, and work flawlessly with my Coco2 - I'm 100%
> sure we can count out the drives and/or controller as a source of
> problems
>
> Any suggestions on cleaning out an expansion port?
>
> - David
>
> On 22 October 2012 23:54, Louis Ciotti <lciotti1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> To me sounds link you have two issues, a somewhat flaky expansion port
>> (hence the garbled screen), and a drive problem (the IO errors).  The
>> expansion port is probably just dirty.  The drive could be dirty heads
>> and/or the rails need to be cleaned and lubricated.
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 22, 2012 at 8:49 AM, David Roper <ebonhand09 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Brian,
>>>
>>> The main difference between what you've reported and what's going on
>>> for me is that the drive is responding and doing *some* things, but
>>> it's as if a signal isn't getting from the drive back to the Coco
>>>
>>> Instinct keeps telling me it's the cartridge port
>>>
>>> I just wish I had more hardware skills so I could diagnose it and fix it!
>>>
>>> - David
>>>
>>> On 22 October 2012 22:28, Brian Blake <random.rodder at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> David,
>>>>
>>>> Check out this post on my blog from a few years ago:
>>>> http://tandycoco.com/blog/archives/42
>>>>
>>>> While mine didn't weird display issues like yours, the floppy drive access
>>>> problems certainly sound familiar...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 10/22/2012 6:36 AM, David Roper wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> So, I got myself a new controller and drive combo (thanks, Nick!)
>>>>>
>>>>> .. turns out that the main problem is actually my 512k Coco3 - the new
>>>>> drive is showing precisely the same behaviour as the old one.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've tried the same setup with my Coco2, and everything runs smooth and
>>>>> perfect
>>>>>
>>>>> I suspect something is wrong with my Coco3's cartridge port, and would
>>>>> appreciate any ideas
>>>>>
>>>>> Symptoms:
>>>>> When loading a cartridge (either through modified multipak or 'naked
>>>>> in the port'), at least some of the time (1 or two times out of four)
>>>>> the screen will be filled with garbage (green background, yellow
>>>>> blocks) or, the entire display will be shifted a half-character to the
>>>>> left
>>>>>
>>>>> If it does load properly -
>>>>> 'DIR' with an unformated disk in the drive causes 5 'grinds' and an
>>>>> ?IO error (drive motor stops)
>>>>> 'DIR' with a formatted disk in the drive causes at most 1 'grind', and
>>>>> then the drive motor spins endlessly
>>>>> 'DSKINI0' causes at most 1 'grind', and then the drive motor spins
>>>>> endlessly
>>>>>
>>>>> The above is precisely the same symptoms as my old controller/drive,
>>>>> and is 100% reproducible. Once again, the drive and controller work
>>>>> flawlessly on my Coco2
>>>>>
>>>>> Any ideas, suggestions, diagnostics? (or replacement Coco3s in Australia?)
>>>>>
>>>>> Kind regards,
>>>>> David
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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