Section 2 - Commodore Computers

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126 COMPUTEI COMPUTE! May, May. 1Q82.lssue 1982, Issue 24 GeHingYour Getting Your Atari Disk Drive Up To Speed UpToSpeed Bob Christiansen Bob Christiansen Vice-President Vice-Presicient Quality Software Reseda, CA Resedo.CA [fyou have an Atari 8 10 disk drive that has always wo rked reliably, then count yourself fortunate. At Quality Software we have spent about half our If you have an Atari 810 disk drive that has always worked reliably, then count yourself fortunate. At Quality Software we have spent about half our original investment repairing our Atari drives. Other publishers of software for the Atari Personal <strong>Computers</strong> have told us of similar experiences. It <strong>Computers</strong> have told us of similar experiences. It appears that the 810, at least the original version, was not built ltlo to work eight hours a day. In Atari's defense, substantial improvements have been made to thee 8S10 since it first appeared and the reliability of newer models should be better. reliability of newer models should be better. One of the most frequent problems with the 810 is that it can get out of speed adjustment. The 810 is supposed to spin diskettes at 288 revolutions 8 10 is supposed to spin diskettes at 288 revolutions per minute (RPM). The hardware, which was actually designed to operate at 300 RPM, , has a potentiometer that allows the RPM to be adjusted potentiometer that allows the RPM to be adjusted over a considerable range. Speed acUustment adjustment capa bilily bility is imponant important because Illany many faClors factors can vary the actual speed of ol the drive. The speed potentiometer OIlle le r is not nol accessible without removing reilloving the drive cover, but anyone who \\Iho can handle a screwdriver can, with proper care, adjust the speed of their own 810 drive. We will explain later how to do this. own 8 10 drive. We will ex pl ain later how to do this. The Symptoms Of An Improperly Tuned Drive The symptoms exhibited by a drive that is out of adjustment are usually that it starts getting format errors (drive is tOO fast) o r that someone else cannot errors (drive is too fast) or that someone else cannot read a diskette that your drive wrote (drive is too slow). Other reading and writing errorse rs may also occur, but these two symptoms are the most also occur, but these Iwo symptoms are the most common. C0I11111 o n . A drive thai spins too fast is in danger of im A drive that spins too fast is in danger of im proper formatting. It may not write all 18 sectors before completing oneo revolution. TheT last sector is written wl·itten on top tOP of the first, destroying g the first. A fast drive will also have trouble writing a sector fast drive will also have trouble writing a sector onto O l1tO a diskette diskclle that was formatted ono n a slower drive, because it will overwrite the physical space drive, because il will overwrite the physical space provided on the diskette. A drive that spins too slowly packs the data so close together er that the diskette becomes hard to read, especially by another drive turning at a faster speed. Slower drives can usuallyy read diskettes formatted and written llen at faster speeds, but the reverse is nOt true. Thus, if yo ur friend cannot reverse is not true. Thus, if your friend cannot read a disk that you wrote, the most likely event is that his drive is normal and your drive is too slow. that his drive is normal and your drive is too slow. If your drive is LOa too slow, , youu Illay may never know it until yo u make a diskette and se nd it to a frie nd. until you make a diskette and send it to a friend. The fact that outsidee tracks have a bigger circumference than inside tracks means that data is ... the 810 ... was not built to work eight hours a day. ...the 810... was not built to work eight hours a day. packed closer together on the inside tracks (the packed closer together on the inside tracks (the higher sector numbers). Therefore the higher sectors' numbers are usuallyy thee first to fail onn a slow drive. These facts about slow and fast drives slow drive. T hese facts about slow and fast drives are generallyy true about all soft sectored disk drives, not just the e Atari 810. A Program To Test RPM Program 1I is a listingg of a BASIC program that you can n use to test the speed of your I' 810 disk drive. You don't have to know how the e program works to perform the test, but explanations of both the BASIC program and the machine language proggram it creates are given later in this anicle. article. Type in the BASIC BAS[C program, being carefullo to double check the numbers in the data statements. Save the program by giving it a name like "D:RPMTEST". Then, T with any formatted diskette in the disk drive. drive, RUN the program. The program reads sector one onceo each time the diskette spins around. It allows the drive to get up to speed, then reads sector one 100 times. This takes about 20 seconds. TheT elapsed time it takes the drive to turn 100 revolutions is clocked and the RPM is computed and printed out. At Quality QI1ali Software, we judge the outcome of the RPM test as follows: RPM CONCLUSION under285 too slow 285-290 285·290 OK, don'tadjusl adjust over290 too fast TheT RPMTEST program should be accurate within plus or minus one RPM. . If you )'OU run the program several times and get results that vary by more than one RPM, it may be due to one or both of the following owing problems which affect drive
THEE MOSAIC 32K RAM FOR ATARI 32K RAM BOARD The Only Choice For Serious Alcnl Owners' i 1 QUALITY RELIABILITY FLEXIBILITY · COMPATIBILITY SCREEN CLARITY THE MOSAIC MOSAIC OTHER ADVANTAGE 'Trade •Trade Mark off Atari, Awn, Inc. MOSAIC OTHER 32KRAM 32KRAMS Works in both Atari 400 & 800 ■ ■ • • Gold edge connectors for better reliability ■ ■ • • Fits Atari 400 without modification ion ■ ■ • • Custom components for better performance & reliability ■ • Highest quality components for the best screen clarity ■ Four year warranty ■ • Designed to take advantage of Atari 800's superior bus structure. ■ • Can be used with BK, 8K, 16K and future futu~e products. ■ • AllowsA AtariA 800 to have 2 slots for future expansion ■ • Designed so there's no danger of damaging your computer ■ • Designed for inter·board inter-board communication in Atari 800 ■ • Easy [Q to foHow follow instructions for simpler no-solder installation in Atari 400 ■ • Available irable companion board I | S5) to allow running 32K board independent off other boards ■ Full flexible memory configuration ■ • THE ONLY CHOICE You own the best micro computer available. available, the Atari*. A[an ~ . At MosaiC Mosaic we've made Atari Alan computers our only bUSiness business and have made our products the bes! anywhere. You've seen the advantage of haVing a products the best anywhere. You've seen the advantage of having a 32K RAM board. The Mosaic osaIC 32K RAM IS is the onty only board deSigned designed to meet your needs now and In in the future lOO. too. Ir has deSIgned-In designed-m nexlbJllty flexibility [0 be compatible with products available In [he near future. See for to be compatible with products available in the near future. See for yourseJ yourself. r. MOSelle Mosaic IS is [he the only chOice choice for the seriOUs serious Atari Atan owner. THE BEST SCREEN CLARITY THE BEST SCREEN CLARITY Here's what A.N.A.l.O.G. A.N.A.L.O.G. magazIne magazine had to [0 say: "MosaIC "Mosaic uses, uses. what we feel afe are the hrghesr highest quality components. components, which may Improve improve rehablitry." reliability." and ""The MosaIC Mosaic showed no sign of Inrerference interference and gave the best screen clarity." AtarJ800 Atari w fththe w.h Atari arlBOO w tth the w,h Memory Memory Configuration 32KRAM Boards Conflguratlon Configuration 32KRAM Boards Memory MOSAIC other 32K MI!InOfY MOSAIC other 32K 48KRAM 48K RAM Oang~r I ThIS 40 K W Ith BMIC 40KRM1 ConflgWilJlon (,\n (.lmldge (.'Itlflage DllOn Celli «lI[lIage Dolmagt' Compulr, Dolrnal}(' Compu: ..' Now from your nearest Mosaic $179.95 95 N o w from your n M dealer • Direa Direct from Mosaic o 5189.95 S ,~ ^ mO mosaic SAIC Damcge ComJ::uler (&lrrdge D~(ompu;('r ELECTRONICS 1-800-547-2807 P.O. . Box 748. Oregon City. City, Oregon 97045 503/655-9574
Page 1 and 2: 1\ MALA Educational Programs M\~ Fo
Page 3 and 4: May. 1982. Issue 24 COMPUTEI 101 Ma
Page 5 and 6: • the battle for the moons of Jup
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Page 11 and 12: • Announcing the Printing Breakth
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