Activant Dimensions Getting Started page 25

Floppy Disk Drive
Cleaning the diskette drive periodically is highly recommended. The "read
heads" can become dirty either from use or from collecting dust floating in the
air. This may cause the drive to be unable to read the information or data
that is stored on a diskette. It is recommended that you clean the drive before
loading a Dimensions release or copying any data to a diskette to make sure
the drive is functioning properly.
Use a commercial diskette drive cleaning kit that uses a liquid cleaning
solution rather than an abrasive. These are available at most computer
supply stores.
1. Follow the instructions included in the cleaning kit up to the point of
2
3. Insert the cleaning diskette.
4. At the SuperDOS prompt (>), enter:
5. The system accesses the cleaning diskette and then displays an error
6. Remove the cleaning diskette from the diskette drive.
7. Allow the heads to dry a few minutes before using the diskette drive.
Tape Drive
This is probably the most important peripheral cleaning you need to do. You
should clean the tape drive a minimum of once every eight hours of tape drive use.
In some environments, excessive airborne dust will accumulate and force more
frequent cleanings. There are two methods of cleaning the tape drive--using a
cleaning kit or manually cleaning it.
Cleaning Kits
This is the easiest method of cleaning a tape drive. Obtain the right cleaning
kit for your specific tape drive and follow the manufacturer's directions. If
you change the model or type of tape drive, remember to get a new cleaning
kit as well.
Dimensions 14
inserting the cleaning diskette.
Sign on the computer with a password that allows access to the system
prompt.
DIR 1:*:*
Press Enter.
Or at the Unix prompt ($), enter:
tar -tv -f/dev/fd0
Press Enter.
message. Ignore the error and enter the DIR command 3-4 more times to
clean the heads completely.
Chapter 1. Hardware Training
17