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Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

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disk format problems

disk format problems

2008-01-29 by jenningsr72

hello,
        have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk 
drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it 
gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy 
special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.

AW: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

2008-01-29 by Hans Artmann

Normal disks (HD, High Densitiy 1,44M) don't work . You need 720k floppies (DD, Dual Density).
They aren't easy to come by these days. Maybe in some music stores dealing with old synths
or search the net.
Hans
Show quoted textHide quoted text
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com] Im Auftrag von jenningsr72
Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 14:52
An: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Betreff: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

hello,
have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk
drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it
gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy
special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.

Re: disk format problems

2008-01-29 by sataraszewski

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "jenningsr72" <jenn11247@...>
wrote:
>
> hello,
>         have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk 
> drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it 
> gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy 
> special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.
>

You can always try this trick to "convert" HD floppies to DD floppies:
Cover the second punched-out square "hole" on the top of the disk (NOT
the write protect hole with the little shutter) with a good quality
opaque tape (you definitely don't want this coming off in your FD
drive!). This should do the trick for you.

steve

Re: disk format problems

2008-01-29 by Michael Junck

try covering the disk hole on the left slide with opaque tape
and try formatting once more, works on my VFX-Sd
greetings from germany
michael

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Hans Artmann"
<hans-artmann@...> wrote:
>
> Normal disks (HD, High Densitiy 1,44M) don't work . You need 720k
floppies
> (DD, Dual Density).
> They aren't easy to come by these days. Maybe in some music stores
dealing
> with old synths
> or search the net.
>  
> Hans
>  
> 
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com]
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> Im Auftrag von jenningsr72
> Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 14:52
> An: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
> Betreff: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems
> 
> 
> 
> hello,
> have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk 
> drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it 
> gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy 
> special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.
>

AW: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: disk format problems

2008-01-29 by Hans Artmann

Covering the hole is not a safe solution. Although it apperas to work sometimes you can easily loose your data over time.
There's enough information in the groups archive about the technical reasons for this, if you're interested.
For a simple transfer you can be lucky. If you use this trick for archiving don't complain when your data are gone.
Hans
Show quoted textHide quoted text
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com] Im Auftrag von Michael Junck
Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 16:07
An: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Betreff: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: disk format problems

try covering the disk hole on the left slide with opaque tape
and try formatting once more, works on my VFX-Sd
greetings from germany
michael

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Hans Artmann"
...> wrote:
>
> Normal disks (HD, High Densitiy 1,44M) don't work . You need 720k
floppies
> (DD, Dual Density).
> They aren't easy to come by these days. Maybe in some music stores
dealing
> with old synths
> or search the net.
>
> Hans
>
>
>; -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com]
> Im Auftrag von jenningsr72
> Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 14:52
> An: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
> Betreff: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems
>
>
>
> hello,
> have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk
> drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it
> gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy
> special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.
>

Re: disk format problems

2008-01-29 by chili88

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "jenningsr72" <jenn11247@...>
wrote:
>
> hello,
>         have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk 
> drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it 
> gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy 
> special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.
>

Aside from confirming that you are using 2DD disks - Double Sided,
Double Density, Double Track 135 TPI -

I have found that some occasional R/W errors can be overcome by using
a finger to exert a very gentle upward or downward pressure on the
edge of the disk in the drive while it's spinning. This suggests that
the R/W heads may not be in perfect physical compliance with the
magnetic media, and/or the heads need cleaning.

In the case of errors involving old disks formatted long ago, these
may be due to alignment drift.

A good primer on floppy technology can be found at
http : // www . accurite . com / FloppyPrimer . html
(sorry, I'm not yet permitted to post functional links).

Douglas

RE: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: disk format problems

2008-01-29 by James R. Pardonek

I've used the "tape" fix for years and have not had any problems.

 

 

James R. Pardonek, CISSP

Senior Network Administrator

Network Infrastructure Management and Maintenance

Computing Technology and Information Systems

Purdue University Calumet

Hammond, Indiana

 

CISSP_logo
Show quoted textHide quoted text
From: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of chili88
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 11:02 AM
To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: disk format problems

 

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD%40yahoogroups.com> , "jenningsr72" <jenn11247@...>
wrote:
>
> hello,
> have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk 
> drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it 
> gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy 
> special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.
>

Aside from confirming that you are using 2DD disks - Double Sided,
Double Density, Double Track 135 TPI -

I have found that some occasional R/W errors can be overcome by using
a finger to exert a very gentle upward or downward pressure on the
edge of the disk in the drive while it's spinning. This suggests that
the R/W heads may not be in perfect physical compliance with the
magnetic media, and/or the heads need cleaning.

In the case of errors involving old disks formatted long ago, these
may be due to alignment drift.

A good primer on floppy technology can be found at
http : // www . accurite . com / FloppyPrimer . html
(sorry, I'm not yet permitted to post functional links).

Douglas

Re: disk format problems

2008-01-29 by sataraszewski

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Hans Artmann"
<hans-artmann@...> wrote:
>
> Covering the hole is not a safe solution. Although it apperas to work
> sometimes you can easily loose your data over time.
> There's enough information in the groups archive about the technical
reasons
> for this, if you're interested.
> For a simple transfer you can be lucky. If you use this trick for
archiving
> don't complain when your data are gone. 
>  
> Hans
>  
>  
>  
>  

Well, maybe. 

Perhaps I am just lucky, but I have HD FDs that were covered with tape
like this since 1986 (or whenever the Roland S-550 came out) that I
still use on my roland s-50 and s-550. Actually, I am surprised that
they even work at all given their age, although I occasionally have to
replace the bit of tape covering the hole because of drying or
cracking. But knock on wood - they still work!

steve

Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

2008-01-29 by Jonas Håkansson

Hi!
I have a VFX SD and it came with the old type of discs. But I have been using new type of discs to 3,5" HD and it works just fine. No need to put any tape on the extra hole either.
Regards Jonas.
Show quoted textHide quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 3:50 PM
Subject: AW: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

Normal disks (HD, High Densitiy 1,44M) don't work . You need 720k floppies (DD, Dual Density).
They aren't easy to come by these days. Maybe in some music stores dealing with old synths
or search the net.
Hans
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com] Im Auftrag von jenningsr72
Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 14:52
An: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Betreff: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

hello,
have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk
drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it
gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy
special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.15/1248 - Release Date: 2008-01-28 21:32

RE: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

2008-01-30 by Ken

I have a VFX-SD and the display stopped working, I opened it up and found a
couple of burnt resistors on the power supply board.  Does anyone know where
I can get a schematic or if someone could tell me the value or the color of
the color bands on R2 and R4 on their power supply board, I would certainly
appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

Ken 

 

PS. The power supply board P/N listed on the board is 4001008101 RevB

AW: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

2008-01-30 by Hans Artmann

Look into the file section of the group. The schematics are there. The SD's PS hasn't changed much compared to that of the vanilla VFX.
Hans
Show quoted textHide quoted text
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com] Im Auftrag von Ken
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 30. Januar 2008 20:58
An: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Betreff: RE: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems

I have a VFX-SD and the display stopped working, I opened it up and found a couple of burnt resistors on the power supply board. Does anyone know where I can get a schematic or if someone could tell me the value or the color of the color bands on R2 and R4 on their power supply board, I would certainly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Ken

PS. The power supply board P/N listed on the board is 4001008101 RevB

Re: disk format problems

2008-01-31 by surfermarketing

Hi
Try the Route 66 on the links page and email Richard. I bought about 200
disks from them a couple of years ago. They might be out of stock
though cause I don't see any on the site now. The ones I bought work fine
Mark

Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: disk format problems

2008-01-31 by Bob S.

There are at least two sellers on Ebay offering DS/DD disk media at a reasonable price....search on "720K floppy"....

Bob
El Segundo, CA


-----Original Message-----
Show quoted textHide quoted text
>From: surfermarketing <surfermarketing@...>
>Sent: Jan 30, 2008 7:43 PM
>To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: disk format problems
>
>Hi
>Try the Route 66 on the links page and email Richard. I bought about 200
>disks from them a couple of years ago. They might be out of stock
>though cause I don't see any on the site now. The ones I bought work fine
>Mark
>

Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: disk format problems

2008-02-06 by Ted Morris

I have a small problem with your "tape the hole" system....
Its not the disk that is bad... it's the difference between the drives...
Yes a 720k drive formats the disk in 720k increments
Yes the 1.44 drive formats the disk in 1.44mb increments
But mostly, the system you format the disk with, changes it so it can be used in it.
It might not work in another system
But a 720k format does not work in a 1.44 drive even if you are successful in doing so.
and a 720k drive does not format on 1.44 unless your operating system supports it. and vice-versa
And most 1.44 disks are pre-formatted with a dos format which is 64k, and are not system system disks at all until they are re-formatted.
And most system disks are 2mb and application disks are usually 1.44mb.
720k disks are early data system disks, that use compacted directory paths to store the data in machine code...the data is called discardable data.
1.44mb disks were the first system disks to store application data like dos and windows. this led to a revolution of system OSes that use primarily the same format principles of the 1.44 and it is truley a secret. I studied the assembler system from IBM and early DOS. and the disk format principle is really something to see on paper believe me...(I think that's why I like to collect rocks....and play music....)
Michael Junck wrote:
Show quoted textHide quoted text
try covering the disk hole on the left slide with opaque tape
and try formatting once more, works on my VFX-Sd
greetings from germany
michael

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Hans Artmann"
wrote:
>
> Normal disks (HD, High Densitiy 1,44M) don't work . You need 720k
floppies
> (DD, Dual Density).
> They aren't easy to come by these days. Maybe in some music stores
dealing
> with old synths
> or search the net.
>
> Hans
>
>
> -----Urspr\ufffdngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com]
> Im Auftrag von jenningsr72
> Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 14:52
> An: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
> Betreff: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] disk format problems
>
>
>
> hello,
> have had my vfx for about a year. trying to save info on disk
> drive. bought 3.5 disks from walmart. when I format disks on vfx it
> gives me bad data error. disks have never been used. do I need to buy
> special disks or how do I fix this problem. thanks for any information.
>





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Move to quarantaine

This moves the raw source file on disk only. The archive index is not changed automatically, so you still need to run a manual refresh afterward.