Most of the time when a read/write head has problems, it’s either dirty or out of alignment.
This is good news, because these are the only serviceable components in the drive. The vast majority of physical problems with floppy drives have to do with the read/write heads. If a belt has simply come loose, it’s usually easy to slip it back over the disk spindle wheel and the wheel connected to the drive motor.įortunately, motor problems and electrical problems are rare with floppy drives. It’s pretty much impossible to get a replacement belt, although I did once see someone use a rubber band as a spare belt to get them through the night until the computer store opened the next day and they could get a new drive.
If you have either of these symptoms and an older drive, it is possible that a belt that connects a motor to the physical hardware could have broken or come off the track. The read/write head assembly in this floppy drive is connected to the stepper motor via a screw drive shaft. The light proves that the drive is getting power, but the drive motor that spins the disk, shown in Figure A, isn’t working. If you don’t hear the disk spinning when you attempt to access the drive, but the drive’s light comes on, you can be relatively sure you have a motor problem. It’s easy to tell when you have a motor problem. If you have this type of problem, it’s game over: Go buy a new drive. There’s really nothing that can be done from a user’s perspective to repair a dead motor or an electrical problem with the floppy drive’s circuit board. Floppy drives rely on computer-controlled motors to move the disk and drive heads into the correct position to read or write data. Even though floppy drives cost less than 20 dollars these days, they’re still complex pieces of equipment.
#MAC DISC DRIVE BROKEN HOW TO#
In previous articles, I’ve explained how to determine whether a floppy drive problem is related to the floppy drive itself, the disk controller, or the disk. But what if you just can't bear to replace a drive until you're sure it can't be fixed? This article tells what parts you can and can't service within a floppy drive. The floppy drive's low cost and ease of installation have made it virtually disposable. Quick steps to service a broken floppy drive