Date   : Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:10:42 +0100
From   : "Ian Wolstenholme" <BBCMailingList@...>
Subject: Re: Viglen Winnie / Miniscribe 3438

Are you sure it isn't a Miniscribe 8438?

I have had this problem many times with Miniscribe 8425 and 8438
drives.  They are identical drives but the 8425 is an MFM drive
and the 8438 is RLL.

The 8425s were in some early Archimedes A300 & A400 series 
machines and they have a very distinctive sound when they spin
up.

The problem probably is that the drive motor has got stuck.  On this
drive the motor is outside the drive so you can rotate it yourself.  If
you're feeling brave and the data on the drive isn't too important
then switch it off and have a go at gently rotating the motor a full
revolution and back again to move the head mechanism from one
end of the disc surface to the other.  It will probably come back to life
after doing this with a bit of luck.

What controller board is inside the Viglen Winchester?  I imagine
it's an Adaptec ACB4000 or ACB4070.

Any ST506 drive will work with a proper BBC Winchester system, ie.
Acorn/Akhter (were there any others?) host adapter and a 
compatible bridge board like the Adaptec one or Xebec.

You can use MFM or RLL drives but remember that if you have
an MFM controller board you can only use MFM sector density
even with an RLL drive (ACB4000=MFM, 4070=RLL).

I have successfully used about two dozen different ST506 drives
with the Adaptec ACB4000.  I've had the odd one which won't 
format but I think this is more to do with drive age than
incompatibility per se.  You will be OK with Miniscribe 8425/8438,
Seagate ST225, ST157, Tandon, Kalok, Rodime etc.  All the
old makes from the good old days before mega storage came
along at the same size as a postage stamp!

Best wishes,



Ian



----- Original Message -----
From: Joel Rowbottom
To:  bbc-micro@...
Cc:  Andrew Benham <adsb@...>
Sent:  Tue, 11 Jul 2006 22:45:23 +0100
Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] Viglen Winnie / Miniscribe 3438

At 22:42 11/07/2006, Andrew Benham wrote:

>>Anyone have the "flashing LED" error codes for the Miniscribe 3438 
>>which is inside the Viglen external hard disk unit? I think mine's 
>>gone pop but want to verify if it's the board or the drive.
>
>Very bottom of the page

Ta. I'd found the codes but not for that particular model. Same code, 
indicates to me the drive itself is faulty.

A brief question for those more intelligent than me: will "just any" 
ST506 drive work, or does it need to be a particular model? If so, is 
there a list anywhere of drives which are known workers please?

Ta


jx


--
Joel Rowbottom, was-kid, geek, coder, bad penny, 'Net addict since 1991
Personal: http://www.joel.co.uk | Pics: http://photos.jml.net