Message-ID: <137@adiron.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 6-Sep-84 09:36:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: adiron.137
Posted: Thu Sep  6 09:36:02 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Sep-84 05:38:30 EDT
Organization: PAR Technology, New Hartford, NY
Lines: 15

<>
While running Microsoft's Multiplan recently, my disk drive seemed to 
lock up and die.  Repeated attempts to load MP sometimes works; other
times not.  Is this the proverbial head alignment problem that has been
so rampant throughout the 1541 that I am experiencing, or it it something
new and frightening?  Anyway of checking out if my head is out-of-whack.
I have run the "test" program that comes on the 1541 Demo Disk and all
seems to be well -- there has to be some other way of checking.
Other disks load fine, just the MP one dies.  Will Microsoft supply a
new disk without paying the $10 (required for backup versions).
	Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this problem?
				Thanks,
				Stu Shea
				duke!adiron!stuart

Message-ID: <2163@pur-ee.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Sep-84 13:24:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: pur-ee.2163
Posted: Wed Sep 19 13:24:21 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 08:02:45 EDT
Sender: notes@pur-ee.UUCP
Organization: Electrical Engineering Department , Purdue University
Lines: 20
Nf-ID: #R:adiron:-13700:ecn-ee:19300003:000:852
Nf-From: ecn-ee!dunkelbe    Sep 19 10:47:00 1984



I recently purchased a copy of Multiplan, and immediately figured
out that it was copy protected by the NASTY sounds it makes as it
is loaded.  If you listen, after a bootstrap loader is installed,
the drive tries to move to track 0.  The 1541 controller is not
intelligent enough to remember which track it is on when it
gets a 'move to track 0' command, so it moves the total number of
tracks on a diskette away from the hub, usually resulting in 
half of the moves beating the head mechanism against the stop.

Previous correspondence on this system has proposed that this is
the cause of the alignment problem: the constant over-running of
track 0.  Solution?  Load Multiplan as seldom as possible, or be
willing to periodically re-align your drive (a 15 minute process
requiring only a couple of screwdrivers and a good diskette).

			Kirk