ETC Express Bad Floppy Drive?

[NickVon]

Te express 48/96 at a high school appears to have a bad floppy drive. Is this a even a thing,(My first one from 17 years ago still works?)

The console can not read, or save to disk. It prompts errors like unreadable disk, or disk not formated. (but can't format them.) Tried with all varieties of disk including old show disks and Brand new out of the package.

Is this a simple fix of opening the console and replacing the drive or is there a deeper problem. The console is old, clearly, and the deparment wants a newere one but money is not earmarked for one any time soon. The School computer techs, and my self are capable of swapping out a floppy drive, for 12$, instead of sending it out.

Thoughts?

Nick

 

[ColdFusion13]

We have an old ETC Insight that the floppy disk drive started doing that to us. We just took a floppy disk out of an old computer we have in storage and swapped it out. Not sure what changes were made between the Insight and the Express, but I would assume the same could be done.

 

[CraigV]

Make sure the floppy isn't locked. Other than that, try replacing the drive or console. (Not that it's a bad console, just that after almost a quarter century of production, any console will be outdated.)

 

[derekleffew]

Install this http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-for-ETC-Express-Lighting-Control-Console-/231089883601 and let us know how/whether it works.

 

[NickVon]

Derek, is that the same thing as http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C4PCK9S/?tag=controlbooth-20 for 32$?

they look identical, though one could be Off Brand, and the one you posted claims a certifcation from ETC? for an extra $170?

I'm sure the district has some floppy drives lying around but for 32$ to try and get a USB options would simply things down the road.

 

[derekleffew]

Derek, is that the same thing as http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C4PCK9S/?tag=controlbooth-20 for 32$?

they look identical, though one could be Off Brand, and the one you posted claims a certifcation from ETC? for an extra $170?

Care to comment @STEVETERRY @DavidNorth @starksk @HansH etc. etc. etc.?

 

[SteveB]

Derek, is that the same thing as http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C4PCK9S/?tag=controlbooth-20 for 32$?

they look identical, though one could be Off Brand, and the one you posted claims a certifcation from ETC? for an extra $170?

I'm sure the district has some floppy drives lying around but for 32$ to try and get a USB options would simply things down the road.

Where does it state it's certified by ETC ?.

 

[NickVon]

Where does it state it's certified by ETC ?.

Doh! They almost got me!... it was the "USB certified" sticker that got me.

 

[Colin]

I have "repaired" many a floppy drive, including in multiple Express consoles, with a can of compressed air. Dirty read/write heads can cause the errors you list. I just hold the drive door open and spray air just sort of all over the place in there, and it usually works...

Te express 48/96 at a high school appears to have a bad floppy drive. Is this a even a thing,(My first one from 17 years ago still works?)

The console can not read, or save to disk. It prompts errors like unreadable disk, or disk not formated. (but can't format them.) Tried with all varieties of disk including old show disks and Brand new out of the package.

Is this a simple fix of opening the console and replacing the drive or is there a deeper problem. The console is old, clearly, and the deparment wants a newere one but money is not earmarked for one any time soon. The School computer techs, and my self are capable of swapping out a floppy drive, for 12$, instead of sending it out.

Thoughts?

Nick

 

[techieman33]

Doh! They almost got me!... it was the "USB certified" sticker that got me.

I'm pretty sure that that is their goal. It would make a pretty nice profit for them.

 

[MikeJ]

Floppy drives go bad all the time. Maybe they are just dirty, but often they just break. It is common for heads to become misaligned and only read disks that have been written by that drive. Every time I need a floppy drive, I order a new one on amazon because the one I bought last year, has stopped working.

I cannot find any local retailer that still has drives or disks. Order a new drive from the interwebs, and get a USB floppy drive too for connecting to a PC. Get new disks too, they go bad just sitting on a shelf in their original shrink wrap; don't ask me why, but they do.

Just buy all new. Its still pretty cheap, and its not worth the time and hassle otherwise.

 

[RickR]

@NickVon - Note that one can not simply replace an express floppy with an off-the-shelf drive.

I understand the driver software for the floppy is hard coded into the OS. One might find an old Express to use for parts as they are becoming common as folks move to Eos family consoles. Or simply call ETC for their recommendations. You have top level tech support available for free, why not use it?

 

[starksk]

Care to comment @STEVETERRY @DavidNorth @starksk @HansH etc. etc. etc.?

ETC does not support the use of USB Floppy Drive Emulators and certainly doesn't "certify" any on the market. That being said, you own the equipment and we can't stop you from modifying it. However, if it causes an issue with the operation of your console, our first suggestion is going to be to remove that modification.

We do still support and repair Express(ion) family consoles, including replacing/repairing disk drives. If you find that yours has stopped working, please give us a call at 800-688-4116 to start a case and/or your favorite ETC dealer to arrange a repair.