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#277736 - 12/16/09 08:10 PM disk drive dilemma
ykc Offline
Member

Registered: 12/12/04
Posts: 73
Loc: Denver, CO USA
Believe it or not, I am still using a keyboard with a disk drive - my trusty Technics KN2000. I have two of 'em, plus a 3000. What can I say...they work for me. Here is my dilemma. I recently cannibalized the disk drive from my rather banged up older KN 2000 and used it to replace the damaged disk drive in an otherwise pristine unit. However, the drive no longer recognizes the data on my set up disks. I get a message indiating that the disk was created "for another unit". They loaded and played perfectly in both drives prior to the switch. Why wont they do so now??? Does exchanging a drive affect the way it reads data on the disks???

Thoughts?

Help?

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#277737 - 12/17/09 12:48 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
abacus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 5345
Loc: English Riviera, UK
Hi Ykc
You will be better posting this on the Technics forum http://www.synthzone.com/cgi-bin/forumdi...=100&LastLogin=
Hope this helps

Bill
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#277738 - 12/17/09 06:16 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
Anthony Johnson Offline
Member

Registered: 02/03/02
Posts: 347
Loc: Sheffield Yorkshire England
I don't really remember a lot about Technics older keyboards but one trick which often worked in a case like this was to stick some Sellotape over the hole on the floppy (not the write protect hole - the other one) before inserting it. This is because there used to be 2 kinds of disks - Double Density & High Density disks - it may be expecting to read the older type.

I appreciate that the drive worked in the other keyboard so, in theory, it should work now but, in this wonderful world of changing technology, anything can happen so give it a try.
Tony

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#277739 - 12/17/09 06:48 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
ykc Offline
Member

Registered: 12/12/04
Posts: 73
Loc: Denver, CO USA
Thanks for that piece of advice. I will try it and let you know!

YKC

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#277740 - 12/18/09 02:10 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
trident Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/22/04
Posts: 1457
Loc: Athens, Greece
Bear in mind that Doyble Density and High Density drives use different voltages in the read/write heads. Actually (if my memory doesn't fail me) HD disks use a lower voltage than used in the DD disks.

This may lead in various problems in the future, if you cover the hole that permits the drive to recognise HD or DD, it may use the wrong voltage while writing or formating, thus rendering the disk unusable in other or even in the same drive.

Check if you already did that, (feeding an HD disk in an DD drive or vice versa) and theroblems ytou are experiencing are what I described above.

Better try to find a new or used disk drive of the same type and check if the wiring is the same or it is proprietary.

Since you already took the trouble to open up the keyb and install a different drive, this would be no major problem.


[This message has been edited by trident (edited 12-18-2009).]

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#277741 - 12/18/09 09:20 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
Bernie9 Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/02
Posts: 5507
Loc: Port Charlotte,FL,USA
I went through this with a KN500. After an extensive examination by a major electronics company, it was reported that the Technics drives are very propriatory and to forget any substitutions.
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#277742 - 12/19/09 01:58 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Quote:
Originally posted by ykc:
Does exchanging a drive affect the way it reads data on the disks???


Well you must realize that the Disk Operating System ( DOS ) is in the ROM of the keyboard. So unless the drives use an identical DOS then it is unlikely that plugging in a drive from another model will work. That would seem to be the issue here especially when the operating system is reporting the drive is intended "for another unit" which we know is very much the case. Obviously when the DOS interrogates the drive the ID returned is not what it is expecting.

Unfortunately I don't think this drive swap is going to work for you.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 12-19-2009).]

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#277743 - 12/19/09 07:37 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
Tony Hughes Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/30/06
Posts: 3944
YKC,

Why don’t you take some pictures of the old drive put them on this site and see if someone can come up with a similar drive, I don't believe that this drive was made specifically for that KB, floppy drive are 10cents a dozen and even in their prime were only 20cents. Someone out there has got one, if you hurry, PC did stop using them about 3M light years back!!

Cheers
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#277744 - 12/19/09 07:53 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
Bernie9 Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/02
Posts: 5507
Loc: Port Charlotte,FL,USA
The firm I went to manufactures clones and tried dozens. Refer to what Nigel said. It is in the instructions that foiled them every time. They had mine for a month trying to come up with something for the after market.
_________________________
pa4X 76 ,SX900, Audya 76,Yamaha S970 , vArranger, Hammond SK1, Ketron SD40, Centerpoint Space Station, Bose compact

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#277745 - 12/19/09 08:07 AM Re: disk drive dilemma
Gunnar Jonny Online   content
Senior Member

Registered: 04/01/01
Posts: 4333
Loc: Norway
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Cheers 🥂
GJ
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but by how many you brought with you." (Wil Rose)

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