27 Apr
2017
27 Apr
'17
10:49 p.m.
On Thu, 27 Apr 2017, Ethan Dicks via cctalk wrote:
> Additionally, for a testing framework to poke signals through the
> drive for debugging during the repair, what's a good platform? A
> PC running MS-DOS? The TRS-80 Model 4 itself? Besides doing
> directories, are there any good bits of software anyone can
> recommend for exercising floppy drives on a sub-system-by-subsystem
> basis? (move the heads, do a read, do a write...)
I'd still recommend Dave Dunfield's ImageDisk--it's got several good
functions--test RPM, Clean heads, check alignment, etc.
Runs on MS-DOS and, AFAIK, even on the 5150.
I'm actually a bit surprised that nobody's done a floppy exerciser for
the lowly Arduino. Easy enough--if you use the timer "capture" feature
on the AVR, you can even do simple disk read testing.
--Chuck