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TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
Symptom
Programs won't load,
and disk error light
flashes.
Cause
A disk error has
occurred.
Remedy
Check the disk error
channel to see why the
error occurred. Follow
the advice in Appendix B
to correct it.
(Be sure to spell program names exactly right, as the disk drive is very particular. even about spaces
and punctuation marks, and will not load a program unless you call it exactly the same thing it was
called when it was saved on the diskette.)
Your own programs Load
fine, but commercial
programs and those
from other 1551 owners
fail to load.
Your own programs that
used to Load won't
any more, but programs
saved on newly-formatted
diskettes still work.
Either the diskette you
are loading is faulty,
(some mass-produced
diskettes are) or your
disk drive is misaligned.
Older diskettes have
been damaged.
The disk drive has gone
out of alignment.
SIMPLE MAINTENANCE TIPS
Try another copy of the
troublesome programs. If
several programs from
several sources al ways
fail to load, have your
dealer align your
disk drive.
See the section on safety
rules for diskette care.
Recopy from backups.
Have your dealer align
your disk drive.
Your 1551 should serve you well for years to come, but there are a few things you
can do to avoid costly maintenance.
1.
Keep the drive well-ventilated. Like a refrigerator, it needs a few inches of air
circulation on all sides to work properly. If heat can't be avoided any other way, you may
cool the drive by placing a small filtered fan on the drive so its air blows into the cooling
slots. (An inexpensive air freshener is quite suitable for this.) However, the added air flow
will result in more dirt getting in the drive.
2. Use only good quality diskettes. Badly-made diskettes could cause increased wear on
the drive's read/write head. If a particular diskette is unusually noisy in use, it is probably
causing added wear, and should be replaced.
3. Avoid using programs that "thump" the drive as they load. Many commercial
programs, and diskettes that are failing, cause the disk drive to make a bumping or
chattering noise as it attempts to read a bad sector. If the diskette can be copied to a fresh
diskette, do so immediately. If it is protected by its maker against copying, the thumping
is intentional and will have to be endured.
4. It would be a good idea to have your 1551 checked over about once a year in normal
use. Several items are likely to need attention: the felt load pad on the read/write head may
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