🚀 go-pugleaf

Well, the information on various disk drive has subsided, so I'll post the
entire archive in another posting.  To recap: my drive started to give write
errors, often even refusing to boot.  I tried tightening all the connections
and making sure the chips, most notably the DMA chip were seated.
Everything seems to have failed.  I now have to possibilities.  I can (a)
take it to a repair place 2 hours away, which would be rather difficult
since I work full time during break and don't have a car most of the time.
On the other hand, I could (b) just order a new IBM style 3.5" drive and
hope that it works.  I have decided to follow the latter route for several
reasons.  First, I can always use the second drive even if it won't work
internally.  Second, I'm planning on getting a BMS board set and Seagate 238
30 meg hard disk as well, so I'll have a power supply and case handy.  There
also a few possible problems with this route.  The drive might be too big,
or might not attach correctly (I asked about the screw holes and it, a
Fujitsu, does have them.), or it might not have the correct input/output for
the write-protect sensor.  To protect myself from that possibility, I
ordered from a place that offers a 15 day refund policy.  As far as the hard
disk goes, BMS has been highly recommended and I see no reason to go with
ICD instead since it sounds as if they merely copied the BMS board and made
few improvments.  I don't mind minor hardware jobs, and the BMS board set
sounds fairly easy to assemble without soldering and all that hard stuff.
(I don't want to buy the Atari or Supra drives because of minor problems
like size, cable length, potential reliability problems etc.  I also think
it will be fun to put everything together.)  The Seagate drive is cheap and
basic and 30 meg, which is better than the Atari-specific drives for the
same size.  So, my system should end up looking like this.

   DS/DD internal floppy (Fuijitsu - IBM-style)        $115
   DS/DD external floppy (old internal drive           $000
                          used only for reading) 
         needs a cable from E. Arthur Brown            $35
   BMS board set                                       $250
   Seagate 238 30 meg hard disk                        $275
   Power supply and case combo                         $80

I'm only actually buying the new internal drive for now - I have to get the
ST working well before I invest any more money into it and I still don't
know for sure that the DMA chip isn't the culprit.

                                      Adam

Thanks to all of you who sent information or offered help in one way or
another.  Luckily I didn't lose anything in the whole mess and I've sort of
enjoyed the research I had to put in to finally decide.  If anyone has any
major problems with what I've decided, please feel free to tell me; I'm
still open to suggestions.
-- 
Adam C. Engst                                     engst@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu
        		      		          pv9y@cornella.bitnet
"If it's not interactive fiction, it's not fun."