> On Thu, 27 Apr 2017, Ethan Dicks via cctalk wrote: > >> Additionally, for a testing framework to poke signals through the >> drive for debugging during the repair, what's a good platform? A >> PC running MS-DOS? The TRS-80 Model 4 itself? Besides doing >> directories, are there any good bits of software anyone can >> recommend for exercising floppy drives on a sub-system-by-subsystem >> basis? (move the heads, do a read, do a write...)
I'd still recommend Dave Dunfield's ImageDisk--it's got several good functions--test RPM, Clean heads, check alignment, etc. Runs on MS-DOS and, AFAIK, even on the 5150. I'm actually a bit surprised that nobody's done a floppy exerciser for the lowly Arduino. Easy enough--if you use the timer "capture" feature on the AVR, you can even do simple disk read testing. --Chuck
