Disklavier

Hi Everyone,

Mostly just a lurker here as I like to know about player pianos, I am a 
piano player as well.

I also have a 35 year career in A/V recording, some community television 
and as a computer technician.

Floppy drives and disks have been around from about the mid 1970s into 
the late 2000s.


(See Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk)


Along with aging, they have always been problematic because as with 
audio tape and video

tape, the floppy drive head(s) is/are in actual physical contact with 
the magnetic rotating disk.

Eventually as with all audio tape machines, i.e. reel to reel, 8 track, 
audio cassette and all video

tape machines, i.e. reel to reel, Sony 3/4 inch U-Matic, Sony Beta or 
JVC VHS cassette, the heads

get dirty and clogged with dust and audio or video tape gunk which in 
the old days you had to

periodically clean off either by bringing the unit to a repair shop, or 
taking it apart and cleaning

it yourself by hand with Q-Tips and rubbing alcohol and a Degausser.


(See Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing) or buying a 
self-cleaning floppy disk, 8 track, cassette, u-matic, Beta)


Or you could try a self-contained audio reel to reel,  8 track, audio 
cassette or video reel to reel, Sony 3/4

U-Matic, Sony Beta or JVC VHS cleaner.  Sometimes you cleaned the units 
and they would start working

again, sometimes not.  As a repair tech, I cleaned by hand, hundreds of 
these units.  In addition, some

floppy drives just plain mechanically wear out over time and use or got 
damaged by the floppy disk.


Examples of Floppy Drive self-contained Cleaners:


http://www.newegg.com/Floppy-Drive-Diskette/SubCategory/ID-131


Fast forward to 2016.  The floppy drive and floppy disks was never meant

to last this long and most are only going to fail faster and faster over 
time.


In the old days you just bought off the shelf from a computer store,

a standard floppy drive because the Data Connector and Power

Connector and Data Protocols were universal.


Example of a Standard Internal Floppy Drive: $8.49 plus shipping


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007543%20600010633


Examples of Standard External USB Floppy Drives: Range from $18.99 to 
$29.99 plus shipping.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007543%20600010635%20600010634


It may be that Yamaha, like many companies, in order to lock you into their

system and pay their higher profits, has a proprietary floppy drive so 
you can't

go to a computer shop and pay about $9 to $20 for a new floppy drive, 
instead

of about $300 which I read someone here mentioned as the cost to buy a 
floppy

drive via Yamaha Repair Service and you have to install it yourself.  If 
this is the case,

their price is not in line with the OLD technology they are selling you 
and they are

gouging customers because proprietary means they can.


I see over time, more and more people here are complaining about floppy 
drives.

So it is probably very wise indeed for everyone who is still relying on 
the floppy drive built

into their Yamaha Player Pianos to be making plans to migrate as rapidly 
as possible to

other sustainable solutions as have been mentioned by other members here.


There is no winning this floppy drive game.


Plan ahead because increased Floppy Drive and

Floppy Disk failures are coming to a theater near you. :-)


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

DNA




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