12 Oct
2018
12 Oct
'18
9:34 a.m.
Does anyone have the user, technical and/or service manual for the original
10MB Iomega Bernoulli drives? Bitsavers has the manuals for the later
half-height 10.0/10.5 MB "Alpha-10H", but I'm looking for docs for the
original model, which was full-height with a SASI (pre-SCSI) interface.
I have the drives, about 20 cartridges that I want to image, and some
additional scratch cartridges.
I've never used Bernoulli drives before. These drives and cartridges were
last used around 1986. I'll disconnect and test the power supply before
powering up the actual drives, but is there anything else I should be
concerned with?
Does anyone have known-working 8-inch Bernoulli drives?
14 Oct
14 Oct
4:29 p.m.
Hi Eric,
I have working 10MB and 20MB units here being driven by a PC XT with the
Iomega specific card for them.
I've had to puts lots of effort into cleaning the heads on them. I'm not
sure if there is an oxide shedding problem or just 30 years of dust that
I'm fighting, but they do seem to be very finicky at this stage. It also
could be a media formatting problem; I think they have servo tracks that
were laid down at manufacturing time, so if you have a read error on the
servo track there is no way to fix it.
Mike
On Fri, Oct 12, 2018 at 9:34 AM Eric Smith via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
Does anyone have the user, technical and/or service
manual for the original
10MB Iomega Bernoulli drives? Bitsavers has the manuals for the later
half-height 10.0/10.5 MB "Alpha-10H", but I'm looking for docs for the
original model, which was full-height with a SASI (pre-SCSI) interface.
I have the drives, about 20 cartridges that I want to image, and some
additional scratch cartridges.
I've never used Bernoulli drives before. These drives and cartridges were
last used around 1986. I'll disconnect and test the power supply before
powering up the actual drives, but is there anything else I should be
concerned with?
Does anyone have known-working 8-inch Bernoulli drives?
15 Oct
15 Oct
1:04 p.m.
Hi Mike,
The Bernoulli disks definitely do use servo, so as you say, if the servo
patterns are damaged the data is toast.
Do you have any advice on head cleaning? The docs on the second-generation
drive (Alpha-10H) just say to use a cleaning cartridge, and I don't have
one. I've cleaned floppy drive heads with isopropyl and a lint-free swab,
but I'm reluctant to do this to the Alpha-10 without advice from someone
who's done it.
Best regards,
Eric
16 Oct
16 Oct
8:03 a.m.
Get a cleaning cartridge ... it's the easiest way.
In theory the head is slightly recessed behind the polished plate that
establishes the airflow near the media; remember, the media deforms and
rises toward the head, making contact with the polished plate but not
touching the head. So maybe a super long foam Q-tip can get all the way in
there, but that's going to be tedious.
On Mon, Oct 15, 2018 at 1:05 PM Eric Smith via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
Hi Mike,
The Bernoulli disks definitely do use servo, so as you say, if the servo
patterns are damaged the data is toast.
Do you have any advice on head cleaning? The docs on the second-generation
drive (Alpha-10H) just say to use a cleaning cartridge, and I don't have
one. I've cleaned floppy drive heads with isopropyl and a lint-free swab,
but I'm reluctant to do this to the Alpha-10 without advice from someone
who's done it.
Best regards,
Eric
15 Oct
15 Oct
9:42 p.m.
I can confirm that the media is starting to degrade - at least, it
does if it wasn't stored properly. I have a couple of cartridges here
that are shedding badly. You can manually open the cartridge by
tripping the catches and sliding the door open, and look at it. Here's
a picture of such a shedding/unusable cartridge after an attempt to
read it:
https://i.imgur.com/Pb4AyQo.jpg
The oxide clogs the heads up pretty good - it's vital to keep the
heads clean and to inspect cartridges before using them so you don't
gunk them up. Look for dull/chalky looking media. Obviously any mold
spots are bad as well. And if you do get a bunch of read errors
(clunking noise), be sure to check and clean the heads before using a
good cartridge. I'm not sure if the oxide buildup will damage
otherwise good media, but I can't help but think it might.
I do have a fully working 10MB drive and controller, and the ability
to image cartridges.
I'd love to find more actual technical documentation on these drives
as well, everything I know about them is from getting mine to run. I'm
also always looking for more cartridges.
-Ian
On Sun, Oct 14, 2018 at 9:59 PM Michael Brutman via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hi Eric,
I have working 10MB and 20MB units here being driven by a PC XT with the
Iomega specific card for them.
I've had to puts lots of effort into cleaning the heads on them. I'm not
sure if there is an oxide shedding problem or just 30 years of dust that
I'm fighting, but they do seem to be very finicky at this stage. It also
could be a media formatting problem; I think they have servo tracks that
were laid down at manufacturing time, so if you have a read error on the
servo track there is no way to fix it.
Mike
On Fri, Oct 12, 2018 at 9:34 AM Eric Smith via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
> Does anyone have the user, technical and/or service manual for the original
> 10MB Iomega Bernoulli drives? Bitsavers has the manuals for the later
> half-height 10.0/10.5 MB "Alpha-10H", but I'm looking for docs for
the
> original model, which was full-height with a SASI (pre-SCSI) interface.
>
> I have the drives, about 20 cartridges that I want to image, and some
> additional scratch cartridges.
>
> I've never used Bernoulli drives before. These drives and cartridges were
> last used around 1986. I'll disconnect and test the power supply before
> powering up the actual drives, but is there anything else I should be
> concerned with?
>
> Does anyone have known-working 8-inch Bernoulli drives?
>
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