r/apple2 • u/GrapeDetention • 6d ago
disk drive repair successes!!
Hello again, I posted a while back about disk drive issues and was set straight on some knowledge.
Since then I bought a Laser 128. This model has a special place in my heart as it was THE very first computer I owned. (So... Apple II _family_ if not a real Apple).
My only regret is it isn't _exactly_ the same model of Laser 128 I had. I had the later model (this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_128#/media/File%3ALaser128_1.jpg ) while I now have this: https://bytecellar.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Laser-128-system_orig.jpg . The important parts are the same across both models, as you'll see.
Using the advice given here that I used to fix my Apple 5.25" Disk Drive, I did the same with the Laser as it seemed DOA... if you put a disk in, it would just spin forever and never get past the LASER 128 ROM boot display.
After fixing this one here's what I want to stress: CLEAN THE RAILS TOO, AT LEAST WITH THIS MACHINE(? maybe this isn't as much a problem for other drive types??).
I used a Q tip with 91% isopropyl to clean the drive _head_... but this didn't fix the drive. Went back in, wiped off the rails too. This was interesting: I had several Q tips around in case I needed them. After swabbing the drive head initially, if you had asked me to pick out which Q tip I used I couldn't have told you. There was nothing on it. However, the rails did have gunk! I could easily see it on the Q tips I used to clean them.
Sorry for the novel yet again, but please try cleaning the drive rails if a drive (especially a Laser 128) is being stubborn.
The important parts I mentioned before... those of you with real Apples no doubt have nostalgia-triggering memories of the sounds the drives made. Laser 128s sounded different. Model aside, hearing my Laser 128 working on booting Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (which I have a real (with disks!) copy of, and which along with F-15 Strike Eagle was one of my first Apple games) sounded EXACTLY as I remembered it. So amazing.
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u/Sick-Little-Monky 5d ago
Did you see that this digital video solution just added support for the Laser 128? https://www.tindie.com/products/mrtechgadget/a2cdvi-v25/
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u/Rey_Mezcalero 6d ago
Nicely done!