Previously on scuzzblog: Amstrad PC1512 HD20 - Batteries again.
Previously on scuzzblog: Checkmate 1500 - To infinity and beyond
Previously on scuzzblog: Amiga 500 - VIPER 520 CD
Previously on scuzzblog: Better Days - KCS PowerPC
ScuzzBlog: Diaries January 2025
Entry 23rd January 2025: Post 1: Amiga five and a quarter - Failing on the Checkmate.
Amiga five and a quarter - Failing on the Checkmate.
Succeeding with retro can be a real curse sometimes. Having sorted
the unit number on the unbranded 5.25" floppy drive I decided to
go check that the disk could be read on the Checkmate.
The Checkmate was owned by a guy that I guess first had just an
A500 running 1.3 which he expanded with an A590 XT hard drive and
the 5.25" floppy drive. I believe this to be the case cus I have
all his paperwork regarding the KCS PowerPC emulator card which
he would have had fitted when the machine was outside of the
Checkmate. The consequence of setting up the KCS was to leave a
KCS disk icon on the Workbench. The KCSRAM Device is in the Devs
drawer. Interesting to note that 2.04 has no DosDriver drawer.
First up 'scuse the shaky pics. I wasn't intending photographing
anything today so I wasn't set up for it. I mixed in a few library
images to give clarity to the kit.
So I banged the 5.25" disk into the drive and DF1: showed a failed
disk. Note that there is no CrosssDOS so I used an Amiga formatted
disk.
I tried to format the drive but never got passed cylinder zero.
Given that the very disk that I used back in Feb 2017 works on the
drive upstairs, and did work on this drive on the Checkmate I have
to conclude its broken, So I chucked it in the bin... NOT !
I spent a good while with my head cleaner, but sadly no joy. The
daisy chained 3.5" floppy drive is working and so I launched my
Veiga tools and ran DiskSalv. The drive and disk is recognised
but the process just throws up errors reading each and every block.
I sense there is a head failure or maybe alignment. The drive needs
to be dismantled and checked. Not something I was able to do today.
Anyhoo... I put everything away and reserved a future day when I
have more daylight and it's a touch warmer.
I did find this old C64 football game which inside had a 1966 stamp
for the World Cup that England won. How odd. The stamp is stamped
for 1966, so used in the day. Now I think about it that's not odd
at all.
I achieved nothing today. Well, other than giving the Checkmate a
run out. I also fired up the Amstrad 1512 to spin up the hard drive
and switched on the A500 with the ViperCD. Oh and I switched on the
HP hand held with Windows Mobile that I had to fully charge the battery
given how long it's been sitting here unused. Gets like that here.
Getting windy again.
Amiga five and a quarter - Failing on the Checkmate.
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