What Is A Diskette; Safety Rules For Diskette Care; Inserting A Diskette - Commodore 1541 User Manual

WHAT IS A DISKETTE?
CHAYl'ER2
DISKETIES
sAfETY RULES FOR DISKETTE CARE
Keep the disk drive and its diskettes
a~ay
from all moisture,' dust , smoke , food. and
I. nets (including the electromagnets m telephones and TV s). Also keep them away
Before we actually begin using the drive, let's take a moment to look. at
t.ht
2.
:!
temperatures either too hot or loo cold for you _ lo
w_ o r~
in for_ extende_ d periods .
When not in the drive, diskettes should be stored upright inside their paper Jackets.
Do
not allow them to become bent or folded . Since the working part of the diskette. is on
the bottom, never set it down on a table top_ or other place where dust or mo1s_ t ure
might affect it, and be especially careful to keep your fingers away from the
opening~
in the diskette cover.
Test/Demo diskette packed with the disk drive. T<;> do this , grasp it by
~
label, "."hict
should be sticking out of the paper jacket. Then pull it out of the jacket which keeps
1~ ~
of dust and other contaminants . (Save the jacket; the diskette should always be
ke~t
m
1 ~
jacket except when actually in use in the disk drive .) It is often called a floppy
diskette
because it is flexible even though it is not safe to bend diskettes . 3.
A diskette is
m~ch
like a cassette tape, but in the form of a circle and enclosed withi1
Although some people sell kits intended lo " double your diskette's capacity_ " by
tting an extra write-protect notch into a diskette, it is best not to use the other side of
~e
diskette on the 1541 drive , even if your diskette is labeled ''double-sided.' '' Doing
a protective square plastic cover. As on
~
cassette tape, only a small exposed_ portion
o
the magnetic recording surface is sensitive. You may touch the rest of the diskette ani
time you like, but avoid touching the few small portion_ s that are
no~
covered by
~
4
_
protective cover. Also, never try to remove this cover. Unlike the paper Jacket, the plastt1
5
_
diskette cover is intended to remain on permanently .
50
will cause added wear to your diskettes and drive, and may cost you an important
program some day. . . .
When buying diskettes, you may use any good quality
51/ .
mch diskette.
Make sure the diskette cenler hole is more or less centered in its opening before
inserting the diskette into the drive. Although the hub assembly will correctly center
Next, notice the notch on one side of the diskette (it may be covered by a piece o
tape) . This notch is called the write protect notch. When it is covered with the opaq_ u e tap
packed with blank diskettes, the disk drive cannot change the contents of that diskette
Never remove the tape on the Test/Demo diskette.
The label on the top of the diskette says "1541
Test/Demo" on it, and tells
YO!
which diskette you are using. Blank diskettes come with extra labels in addition to
011<
applied by the maker of the diskette. Use them to describe your own diskettes.
most any diskette, it would be very difficult to rescue data from a diskette recorded
with its hub off-center. One way to help center diskettes is to " tickle" the drive door
shut instead of slamming it down. By gently closing it part-way , and then opening a bit
and then closing the rest of the way, you give the spindle more chances to center the
diskette properly . Another way to ease diskette centering is to buy diskettes that come
with reinforced hubs. These hard plastic rings around the hub opening make the
diskette hub more rigid , and easier to center properly.
At least two other parts of the diskette are worth mentioning: The
h~b
and the
acc~s
slot. The hole in the center is called the hub. A cone-shaped spindle fills it when the dri' 1
INSERTING A DISKETTE
door is closed, and its edges are clamped. This' keeps them from slipping, when
th
diskette spins at 300 RPM in use. . Spin Door
Drives
The oval opening in the diskette opposite the label is called the
access_sl~t.
It
expo~
To insert a diskette in a spin door 1541 (Fig l .B), first open the drive door by rotating
just enough of the diskette' s surface for the read/write head and_ load
~ad msi~e
the
dri..,
the door lever counter-clockwise one quarter tum until it stops , with the lever level with
to touch a one inch long line from the center to the edge of the diskette s working
su~acc
the slot in the front of the drive.
The bottom side of that slot is where all the information is written as the diskette spms.
1
Grasp the diskette by the side opposite the large oval access slot, and hold it with the
is one place your fingers should never touch. label up and the write-protect notch to the left. Now insert the diskette by pushing it
. . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - = - = - - - - - - - - - - - -- -
straight into the slot, the access slot going in first and the label last. Be sure the diskette
ACCESS SLOT goes in until it stops naturally, with no part showing outside the drive, but you shouldn ' t
WRITE
PROTECT
NOTCH
z
(/)
m
:D
-t
z
-t
0
0
:D
<
m
have to force or bend it to get it there .
With the diskette in position , seat it properly for use by twisting the door lever
clockwise one-quarter tum , vertically over the slot until it stops . If it does not move
easily, stop! You may have put the diskette in the wrong way, or incompletely . If that
happens, reposition the diskette until the door lever closes easily.
Pop
Doo~
Drives
. To insert a diskette in a pop door 1541 (Fig I.a) , first open the drive door by pressing
in and slightly up on the door latch. A spring inside will then pop the latch up into the
WHEN COVE RE D. DISKETTE open position, exposing a long slot for the diskette in the front of the drive.
~~~~~~'65
CANNOT BE LABEL Grasp the diskette by the side opposite the large oval access slot, and hold it with the
L - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -
!abet up and the write-protect notch to the left.
Fig.4. Position for I>Mkette Insertion
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