Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cbmvax!jesup
From: jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: One A500 Three Bad Disk Drives ?!!!
Keywords: A500, Drive, Lemon^3
Message-ID: <4132@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 29 Jun 88 00:20:43 GMT
References: <2228@ur-tut.UUCP>
Reply-To: jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 40

In article <2228@ur-tut.UUCP> rhir_ltd@ur-tut (Bob Hirosky) writes:
>	Since I bought my A500 last February I've had the internal
>drive replaced twice.  Last week I picked up my machine with high
>hopes that this third drive might work.  But Noooooooooo!

>		1)It only formats about 20% of the disks I feed it;
>		  the other 80% or so typically have "bad sector
>		  numbers" on the first or last tracks. I've tried
>		  brand new Sony, Kodak, BASF, and Nashua disks
>		  with the same "success" in each case.

	I don't trust BASF or Nashua as far as I can throw them.  Sony and
Kodak should be ok, though.  The errors you're getting are the typical errors
for bad disks.  Can the other drives format the same disks without problems?

>		2)It often fails to read disks that were made or
>		  even just used with one of my other two drives.
>		  Sometimes it replies read/write error when loading
>		  a certain file.  But what it really likes to do is
>		  say "not a dos disk" about many of my disks including
>		  the original Wbench. Disk.

	"Two other drives" - on a 500?  Does one of them have it's own
power supply???  The A500 only has power for 1 external drive, I believe.
Even the A1000 didn't have power for more than one external drive (though
it usually works, it can cause flakies due to low voltage.)  Sort of like
Putting 1.5Meg boards inside a 500 - BAD.  Since you may have been straining
your power supply, check the voltage to be safe, though it's probably fine
(when they go they die).

	Try removing BOTH external drives and see if the problem persists.

	BTW: are you certain he actually changed the drive 3 times, and didn't
just send it back with the same drive?  (Just checking all the possibilities,
no insult to him intended.)  It seems strange that the exact same problem
existed in three different internal drives, when the externals are fine
(since the only difference is which select line is on.)

-- 
Randell Jesup, Commodore Engineering {uunet|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!jesup