Date   : Sun, 02 Sep 2001 14:16:03 +0100
From   : "Richard Gellman" <r.gellman@...>
Subject: Re: Disk drive fault 04 - is there any hope?

>I'm trying to revive a BBC Master with a Viglen dual 5.25" floppy disk
drive. All I get when I try to access the drive is the sound of a
>spinning disc, clicking of the head across the disc, and eventually the
error "Disc fault 04 at :0 00/13" or similar. I think the error means >the
disc head is misaligned. Is there anything practical I can do (I'm not an
electronics whizz) or should I bin the drive and buy another?

I've just look through my Ahkter disc drive manual, and through master
reference manual part 1, and can find no information on fault 04. (which
means its probably a real error and acorn couldn't be bothered to document
it on the grounds that its supposedly rare).

Although the disc dault itself is rather dubious. To the english-speakers
amongst us, it reads: "Disc fault type 4 on drive 0 at track 0 sector 13".
And since DFS discs are only supposed to have 10 sectors per track,
something odd is going on here. (ADFS discs have 16 sectors per track, but
report disc error, not disc fault).

As for what to do, I pass. Could be the internal controller board on the
disc drives, or the floppy disc controller itself being odd.

-- Richard Gellman

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