Date   : Thu, 12 Mar 1992 23:45:01 GMT
From   : elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!tamsun!tamuts!jdb8042@ames.arc.nasa.gov (John Donald Baker)
Subject: QX-10 is back from the Dead!

A few months back, I came to c.o.cpm with a problem:  My QX-10 had just died!

Thanks to the help I received from Wayne Sung (sung@concert.net) who did
long-distance diagnosis with me via e-mail, and George Worley, a fellow QX-10
enthusiast and SysOp of "PIC of the MidTown" BBS in Houston, TX [(713)
527-8939]
who loaned me his Technical Manual, I now have the CPU back up and running
just fine.

The problem turned out to be bad filter capacitors in the power supply.

I had first come to c.o.cpm asking bout the hard disk that died on the QX-10.
That project is now back on.  I received a second drive mechanism from a fellow
member of our very small Houston, TX CP/M user's group.  I installed it and ran
the ComRex ComFiler diagnostics and everything checked out.  I then proceeded
to format the disk.  (The original mechanism refused to format.)  After
about 30
minutes the formatter declared ***DRIVE FORMATTED AND READY FOR USE***.  Every-
thing appeared to check out and I saved a couple of 0-length files on the disk.
I then parked the heads and turned everything off.  When I turned the system on
again, the Hard Disk was dead.  It would not read, write or format.

NOTE:  The recommended shutdown sequence demanded by the documentation is
       CPU first, then Hard Disk.  If this is not generally accepted, I will
       happily disregard the manual.

I have since had the opportunity to connect the mechanisms to a MeSsy-DOG
machine where they format (low-level), partition, and format (DOS) just fine
and they operate flawlessly.   Unfortunately, I did not have the QX-10's hard
disk software with me when last I had opportunity to check the mechanisms on
the QX-10 itself, so I'll be doing that this weekend.  I'll post my results.

Thanks in advance for any additional help you can provide.


John D. Baker  ->An Apple 3.5", 5.25", 8" PCPI Applicard ZCPR3 nut//
Internet:  JDB8042@{tamuts|rigel|sigma|summa|zeus|venus}.tamu.edu
UUCP:  The Black Box: ...buster!blkbox!jdb8042 [(713) 480-2686|-2685 (2400)]
BBSs:  JOHN BAKER on Z-Node #45 [(713) 937-8886],
The Vector Board [(716) 544-1863], PIC of the Mid-Town [(713) 527-8939]
Karnage: "Fire at will!"  /  Wil (desperately dodging a hail of automatic
  weapons fire): "AAAAIYEEEE!!"  /  Karnage: "No, no.  Do not fire at Wil, he
  is my Second Mate.  FIRE AT THE SEA-DUCK!!"