24 Aug
2012
24 Aug
'12
8:27 a.m.
Has anyone had any success at all recently in recovering data from
Wabash-branded floppies?
I haven't. The binder on these things has gone to Hades and the
oxide will flake off if you so much as touch it with a drive.
Yesterday, I thought I'd try again after swearing off of the things,
as the disks in question were 10-sector rather than soft-sector. I
wondered if 10-sector being rarer than the soft-sector variety might
not be different.
No soap. That grinding sound, accompanied by dirty heads tells me
that *no* Wabash disk is worth touching.
Anyone got any secrets for these?
Cheers,
--Chuck
24 Aug
24 Aug
9 a.m.
On Fri, 24 Aug 2012, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Has anyone had any success at all recently in
recovering data from
Wabash-branded floppies?
I haven't. The binder on these things has gone to Hades and the
oxide will flake off if you so much as touch it with a drive.
Yesterday, I thought I'd try again after swearing off of the things,
as the disks in question were 10-sector rather than soft-sector. I
wondered if 10-sector being rarer than the soft-sector variety might
not be different.
No soap. That grinding sound, accompanied by dirty heads tells me
that *no* Wabash disk is worth touching.
Anyone got any secrets for these?
Can they be baked to refresh the binder?
g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://www.scarletdme.org - Get it _today_!
Buying desktop hardware and installing a server OS doesn't make a
server-class system any more than sitting in a puddle makes you a duck.
[Cipher in a.s.r]
9:37 a.m.
On 8/24/12 8:27 AM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Anyone got any secrets for these?
Try pulling the media and cleaning it with Weber Costello Markerboard Cleaner,
then let it thoroughly dry.
I am really curious if this works for anyone else. I've tried it a couple of times
and have had some success with batches of media that were complete trash.
10:32 a.m.
On 24 Aug 2012 at 9:37, Al Kossow wrote:
> Try pulling the media and cleaning it with Weber
Costello
Markerboard
Cleaner, then let it thoroughly dry.
Seems to be mostly water (>90 percent) with some PEG and ethylene
glycol added. If the customer insists, I'll give it a try.
But this isn't a simple case of oxide shedding. The damned oxide
doesn't even stick to the substrate. Horrible, horrible stuff.
The web turns up similar experiences:
http://majzel.blogspot.com/2008/05/wabash-destroyer.html
http://gja.space4me.com/things/Recovering_My_BBC_Micro.html
http://www.theusenetarchive.com/usenet-message-%22flakey%22-8-inch-
diskettes-was-re-steve-nasa-has-a-problem-they-need-you-11376810.htm
--Chuck
11:34 a.m.
Al Kossow wrote"
Try pulling the media and cleaning it with Weber
Costello Markerboard
Cleaner, then let it thoroughly dry.
I wonder if you could pull the media and apply a spray coat
of very fine, very hard lacquer. That might smooth the surface
and hold the oxide in place long enough to get a good read.
Otherwise, I wonder if you could apply that solution that you
used to use with mag tapes. That stuff that makes the flux
transitions visible. Then scan the disk with a high resolution
scanner and see if you could decode the image.
Bill S.
10:09 a.m.
On 08/24/2012 10:27 AM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Yesterday, I thought I'd try again after swearing
off of the things,
as the disks in question were 10-sector rather than soft-sector. I
wondered if 10-sector being rarer than the soft-sector variety might
not be different.
No, my experience of the soft-sector ones was exactly the same, with a
failure rate very near 100%. I got sick of dealing with them and having to
clean drive heads after every single one (and in one memorable case it tore
one of the heads clean out of the drive when it shed its oxide layer). I'm
sure I've complained about them on the list before (and certain Parrot
disks, although those seem to be a bit more of a lottery and don't *always*
cause problems).
cheers
Jules
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