EME-150 A Speed & alignment adjustment

[Searchin2010]

Hello,
Having had an Amstrad CPC6128 growing up; I'm now back into it as a hobby.
I have recently purchased an early 6128 with an EME-150 A, FDD.
After replacing the belt cleaning the head and lubricating the rails and worm drive, it loaded discs for a few tries but now doesn't. All I'm getting is "read fail" I've tried with system discs and copies that work fine on my 664.
I think it may be require speed calibration and alignment but I can't find any you tube clips or tutorials for the EME-150 A floppy disk drive.

Does anyone have any insight they could share please? Any help appreciated.

Here is what it looks like:
https://youtube.com/shorts/yMxBOQ9V0UI?feature=share

[MoteroV4]

Hello, you can try the program "Dsktest.dsk" or better "cdt" if the drive not read. Go to option 5, wait a few seconds and it will show the RPM. Adjust the motor screw very slightly, with a flat screwdriver, to the right or left and measure again until you get 300.00 RPM +-3.0 rpm.

You cannot view this attachment.

[Searchin2010]

Hello, you can try the program "Dsktest.dsk" or better "cdt" if the drive not read. Go to option 5, wait a few seconds and it will show the RPM. Adjust the motor screw very slightly, with ...

Thanks for taking the time to help me out, MoteroV4
a couple of questions:
to run that file, will I need to get some sort of external gotek type solution? If so can you direct me to the part of this place I can find more info?
secondly, the motor in my FDD doesn't look like yours. Is the speed adjustment the screw on mine?

Ok, I haven't figured out how to attach photos yet; but you can see in the video link above. 

[eto]

Ok, I haven't figured out how to attach photos yet; but you can see in the video link above. 

Don't use "Quick Reply" when you want to attach pictures but rather the "Reply" button on the last post in a thread. 

When using Quick Reply, the attach functionality is missing. In case you hit "Quick Reply" and want to attach pictures, click on "Preview". This switches to full edit mode with attachments. 

[MoteroV4]

Hello, you can try the program "Dsktest.dsk" or better "cdt" if the drive not read. Go to option 5, wait a few seconds and it will show the RPM. Adjust the motor screw very slightly, with ...

Thanks for taking the time to help me out, MoteroV4
a couple of questions:
to run that file, will I need to get some sort of external gotek type solution? If so can you direct me to the part of this place I can find more info?
secondly, the motor in my FDD doesn't look like yours. Is the speed adjustment the screw on mine?

Ok, I haven't figured out how to attach photos yet; but you can see in the video link above. 

I couldn't see your video yesterday because it was set to private.
This model is different and regulates the motor speed with the VR201 potentiometer on the circuit board.

I don't have Gotek on CPC. Instead I put a 3.5" drive as unit B (there are tutorials) and another one on a old PC, with a native connector other than USB. That way I can write discs and make transfers on the CPC from 3.5" to 3" and vice versa. I make the 3.5" 40 tracks 180KB disc using CPCDiskXP under Windows from a .dsk image.

But maybe the quickest way to load now for you, would be to play the CDT from a PC with Winape or RVM, connect a cable from the speaker output of the PC to the Tape din connector of the CPC6128.

[Bryce]

Hello,
Having had an Amstrad CPC6128 growing up; I'm now back into it as a hobby.
I have recently purchased an early 6128 with an EME-150 A, FDD.
After replacing the belt cleaning the head and lubricating the rails and worm drive, it loaded discs for a few tries but now doesn't. All I'm getting is "read fail" I've tried with system discs and copies that work fine on my 664.
I think it may be require speed calibration and alignment but I can't find any you tube clips or tutorials for the EME-150 A floppy disk drive.

Does anyone have any insight they could share please? Any help appreciated.

Here is what it looks like:
https://youtube.com/shorts/yMxBOQ9V0UI?feature=share

Unfortunately, the EME-150A is more troublesome than all other CPC drive models. It's known to often have "wear and tear" issues with the head mechanism, that are sadly not repairable. I would suggest using your money to buy one of the other CPC drive versions, if you can find one on ebay.

Bryce.

[Searchin2010]

Thanks for everyone's help.
I'll take the opportunity to have a play with then as I have a CPC664 and an FD1 which still work which probably have the same model drive.
Will also start looking for a later model 6128 but that'll be tough in New Zealand.

Photo as proof I can learn:

[Searchin2010]

Further development,

I went looking for the VR201 potentiometer (What a place to get to!) and noticed the drive belt wasn't sitting down properly so I pulled the whole drive apart, cleaned the capstan and fly wheel again and reassembled.
So then it did a weird thing; I typed cat and got a "no disk" return. (R)etried and it worked. I successfully loaded Amsword followed by Gauntlet - it failed to load a couple of times, each time I (R)e-tried it and it worked.
It seems to be reading the discs some of the time, then not.

Does anyone recognise this sort of behavior?

(Photo Victory; irrelevant subject)

[MoteroV4]

So then it did a weird thing; I typed cat and got a "no disk" return. (R)etried and it worked. I successfully loaded Amsword followed by Gauntlet - it failed to load a couple of times, each time I (R)e-tried it and it worked.
It seems to be reading the discs some of the time, then not.

Does anyone recognise this sort of behavior?

I think that such behavior (sometimes it reads something), means that you could be close to having the unit operational. First you need to read and adjust RPM, then maybe also calibrate. Both with DskTest_v0.1.47b, CDT that you can load trough the tape DIN connector from PC-laptop, like I told you.
If it remains the same:
-Perhaps also adjust azimuth: releasing the small allen screw on the Stepper Motor Rotation Bolt and adjusting the angle from the back with a flat screwdriver (sorry for bad pic).
-Perhaps also adjust track 00 sensor.
But be careful, these last two operations are very complicated to achieve the perfect adjustment. 1 deg or less. But with a lot of patience and time it is possible. In the technical DDI1/FD1 Service Manual, even having an oscilloscope, it tells how to do it, but better recommends complete replacement of the unit.

[Searchin2010]

OK thanks. This Audio signal to 3.5 jack to tape is a mind-blowing idea. Very mystical.

Thanks for the pointers regarding the location and purpose of all the adjusters, MoteroV4. It's all new to me.
It's tough to find practical guidance on this model drive. I suspect because it's older than old.

I am enjoying the process.

[Bryce]

Further development,

I went looking for the VR201 potentiometer (What a place to get to!) and noticed the drive belt wasn't sitting down properly so I pulled the whole drive apart, cleaned the capstan and fly wheel again and reassembled.
So then it did a weird thing; I typed cat and got a "no disk" return. (R)etried and it worked. I successfully loaded Amsword followed by Gauntlet - it failed to load a couple of times, each time I (R)e-tried it and it worked.
It seems to be reading the discs some of the time, then not.

Does anyone recognise this sort of behavior?

(Photo Victory; irrelevant subject)

Unfortunately, that's the exact symptom you get when the head mechanism has too much wear and tear. It can read the disks on occasions and sometimes it doesn't. However, this also happens if the disk rotation speed isn't constant, so I would highly recommend that you re-visit the belt and capstan wheels. Even the tiniest bit of dirt can ruin your day.

Bryce.

[Searchin2010]

Further development,

I went looking for the VR201 potentiometer (What a place to get to!) and noticed the drive belt wasn't sitting down properly so I pulled the whole drive apart, cleaned the capstan and fly wheel again and reassembled.
So then it did a weird thing; I typed cat and got a "no disk" return. (R)etried and it worked. I successfully loaded Amsword followed by Gauntlet - it failed to load a couple of times, each time I (R)e-tried it and it worked.
It seems to be reading the discs some of the time, then not.

Does anyone recognise this sort of behavior?

(Photo Victory; irrelevant subject)

Unfortunately, that's the exact symptom you get when the head mechanism has too much wear and tear. It can read the disks on occasions and sometimes it doesn't. However, this also happens if the disk rotation speed isn't constant, so I would highly recommend that you re-visit the belt and capstan wheels. Even the tiniest bit of dirt can ruin your day.

Bryce.

Thanks Bryce, will do. 

[Searchin2010]

Update: I took an EME 155 out of an FD1. Installed it in my 6128.

Works fine. 

Will continue to try fixing the EME 150 A from the FD1 power supply & case.