28 Jun
2013
28 Jun
'13
2:10 p.m.
Was the MO drive used on the NeXT cubes a standard 650MB unit, or was
there something special about it? (e.g. sector size, encoding, format,
etc.)?
Anyone have an extra to spare?
--Chuck
29 Jun
29 Jun
7:40 a.m.
On Jun 28, 2013, at 2:10 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Was the MO drive used on the NeXT cubes a standard
650MB unit, or was there something special about it? (e.g. sector size, encoding, format,
etc.)?
Not standard. The disks it uses are physically different from "standard" ones.
They are physically the same as early WORM disks like the IBM 3363, though the media is
different.
The drive NeXT used was made by Canon, and is the same as the Canon DiskFile. However, you
cannot use a Canon DiskFile to read NeXT cartridges because the low level format is unique
to the NeXT.
So if you want to read NeXT MOs, you need a NeXT.
I have something like six units here, and none of them work. Including the one in my old
cube I bought in '95 which worked when I bought it, continued working for many years,
was possibly the last functioning NeXT MO in existence, and then just stopped while it was
in storage. I have the idea it could be coaxed back into life somehow, but they are just
about perfectly impossible to work on. If anybody has had any success repairing these, I
am unaware of it. One guy says he's had success, but won't share information, so I
am choosing to believe he's a liar.
Good luck. You're going to need it. /@:
ok
bear.
--
until further notice
9:20 a.m.
On 06/29/2013 07:40 AM, r.stricklin wrote:
I have something like six units here, and none of them
work.
Including the one in my old cube I bought in '95 which worked when I
bought it, continued working for many years, was possibly the last
functioning NeXT MO in existence, and then just stopped while it was
in storage. I have the idea it could be coaxed back into life
somehow, but they are just about perfectly impossible to work on. If
anybody has had any success repairing these, I am unaware of it. One
guy says he's had success, but won't share information, so I am
choosing to believe he's a liar.
Good luck. You're going to need it. /@:
None of that surprises me. I recall when the cube came out that the
business of a no-hard-disk-just-MO was a big "feature", which I thought
was one of the most wrong-headed decisions that St. Jobs ever made.
Time, it seems, has proved me right.
This is in a response to an inquiry out of the blue--there are only 3
MOs and the requester has had no success in retrieving the information
on a (supposedly) working NeXT cube.
If anyone would like to tackle this one, contact me and I'll give you
the referral.
--Chuck
11:17 a.m.
On 06/29/2013 07:40 AM, r.stricklin wrote:
I have something like six units here, and none of them
work.
Including the one in my old cube I bought in '95 which worked when I
bought it, continued working for many years, was possibly the last
functioning NeXT MO in existence, and then just stopped while it was
in storage. I have the idea it could be coaxed back into life
somehow, but they are just about perfectly impossible to work on. If
anybody has had any success repairing these, I am unaware of it. One
guy says he's had success, but won't share information, so I am
choosing to believe he's a liar.
Good luck. You're going to need it. /@:
I contacted an old friend who I recalled, was a NeXT fan. It turns out
that he still has an old cube with MO drive, put away working over a
decade ago. So, the next step is to see if the thing will power up and
boot.
I'll keep the list posted, if anyone cares.
--Chuck
11:51 a.m.
What is the problem with the drives, dead lasers?
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Guzis
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2013 2:17 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: Next MO question
On 06/29/2013 07:40 AM, r.stricklin wrote:
I have something like six units here, and none of them
work.
Including the one in my old cube I bought in '95 which worked when I
bought it, continued working for many years, was possibly the last
functioning NeXT MO in existence, and then just stopped while it was
in storage. I have the idea it could be coaxed back into life
somehow, but they are just about perfectly impossible to work on. If
anybody has had any success repairing these, I am unaware of it. One
guy says he's had success, but won't share information, so I am
choosing to believe he's a liar.
Good luck. You're going to need it. /@:
I contacted an old friend who I recalled, was a NeXT fan. It turns out
that he still has an old cube with MO drive, put away working over a
decade ago. So, the next step is to see if the thing will power up and
boot.
I'll keep the list posted, if anyone cares.
--Chuck
30 Jun
30 Jun
10:13 a.m.
I believe there are issues with dead electrolytic capacitors among
other things. I suggest not powering on a drive without disassembling
and checking it first, though; I've heard of many cases where smoke
comes out of the drive when powered on.
I read somewhere that a Canon DiskFile drive can be used in a
NeXTCube. Is this true?
--David R
On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 2:51 PM, TeoZ <teoz at neo.rr.com> wrote:
What is the problem with the drives, dead lasers?
-----Original Message----- From: Chuck Guzis Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2013
2:17 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re:
Next MO question
On 06/29/2013 07:40 AM, r.stricklin wrote:
I have something like six units here, and none of
them work.
Including the one in my old cube I bought in '95 which worked when I
bought it, continued working for many years, was possibly the last
functioning NeXT MO in existence, and then just stopped while it was
in storage. I have the idea it could be coaxed back into life
somehow, but they are just about perfectly impossible to work on. If
anybody has had any success repairing these, I am unaware of it. One
guy says he's had success, but won't share information, so I am
choosing to believe he's a liar.
Good luck. You're going to need it. /@:
I contacted an old friend who I recalled, was a NeXT fan. It turns out that
he still has an old cube with MO drive, put away working over a decade ago.
So, the next step is to see if the thing will power up and boot.
I'll keep the list posted, if anyone cares.
--Chuck
1:54 p.m.
On Jun 30, 2013, at 10:13 AM, David Ryskalczyk wrote:
I read somewhere that a Canon DiskFile drive can be
used in a
NeXTCube. Is this true?
The issue with the DiskFile and NeXT media is with the SCSI bridge that is between the
DiskFile drive and the back panel. This is where the LLF comes into play (the bridge
translates SCSI block requests into tracks and sectors for the drive, and the software on
the bridge doesn't know what to make of the NeXT-format sectors).
If you remove the drive unit itself, they're the same. And no more reliable.
ok
bear.
--
until further notice
1:10 p.m.
On 06/29/2013 07:40 AM, r.stricklin wrote:
I have something like six units here, and none of them
work.
Including the one in my old cube I bought in '95 which worked when I
bought it, continued working for many years, was possibly the last
functioning NeXT MO in existence, and then just stopped while it was
in storage. I have the idea it could be coaxed back into life
somehow, but they are just about perfectly impossible to work on. If
anybody has had any success repairing these, I am unaware of it. One
guy says he's had success, but won't share information, so I am
choosing to believe he's a liar.
There seems to be talk about the Canon units not working right out of
the factory box because of bad capacitors on the motor control board.
If that's true, and it's not a case of laser-itis, I'll make the offer
that if someone sends me 2 non-working units, I'll recap both of them if
I can keep one.
I've also heard reports of clouded optics. Not sure what to do about that.
--Chuck
1:51 p.m.
On Jun 30, 2013, at 1:10 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
There seems to be talk about the Canon units not
working right out of the factory box because of bad capacitors on the motor control board.
If that's true, and it's not a case of laser-itis, I'll make the offer that if
someone sends me 2 non-working units, I'll recap both of them if I can keep one.
There's plenty of evidence to support that theory. I intend to perform my own
experiments on it, and more importantly, publish any successful results.
I've also heard reports of clouded optics. Not
sure what to do about that.
Could be? Mine seem clear. Certainly cleaning them hasn't helped any.
OTOH one of the problems I see reoccurring in, for example, the Sony CD mechanism at the
heart of the original Apple CD SC is the beam-splitting prism under the lens collects dust
and eventually defeats the focusing mechanism. Fortunately, it's cleanable. But if you
just try cleaning the lens you won't get anywhere.
ok
bear.
--
until further notice
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