What you describe doesn't appear to me to be an alignment issue. Whether the drive is in or out of radial alignment, the appearance of the data will change as the relative position of head to track changes. I'd suspect index alignment if the thing doesn't find the first sector on a track. On the other hand, if it doesn't ever find a sector address mark, it's also possible that the controller has a hardware flaw. Have you tried this controller with a drive that works? Have you tried this drive with a computer that works? Since I'm not familiar with the hardware you're using, and since I'm not anywhere which would make sending you a candidate drive possible if I even have one, I can't suggest much.