Conference 7.286::atarist

354.0. "Replacing a 1040ST Internal Drive" by HPSTEK::TBOWEN () Fri Dec 30 1988 10:16

    Back in the old ST notes file I complained about my internal disk
    drive eating a disk once in a while. It still was doing this when
    I jumped at a chance to pick up an NEC drive at a good price, this
    is supposed to be the same mechanism that is in my external Future
    Systems (Indus) drive. It turns out that the conversion is no problem
    as the drives are physically the same size, probably true of all
    of them. Even the mounting holes match but some minor modifications
    do have to be made so I thought I'd pass them on to anyone else
    interested in replacing their internal drives.
    
    	1. The plastic upper half of the system to be cut out so the eject
    	   button is accessible. Hey, it's only plastic and it does
    	   work easily.
    
    	2. The threaded mounting holes are just a little small for the
    	   original long screws, I'm looking for others but these might
    	   be forced in, that would be my last option.
    
    	3. The one mounting hole that dosen't get a screw (a metal post
    	   goes into it) is just a bit small also but is easily reamed
    	   out.
    
    	4. There is a plastic tab on the top of the ribbon cable connector
    	   that has to be removed so the connector can be inserted,
    	   again, very easily done.
    
    	5. The bottom shield screws are two big for the NEC but it works
    	   just fine without it. The NEC comes with a top shield and
    	   I am looking for smaller screws.
    
    The two cables just plug right in and although there were at least
    two jumpers on the logic board of the new drive, I didn't change
    them. The system booted up just fine the first time and my what
    a nice sound, no more gronking. The only noticable thing is the
    black face of the drive which dosen't match the grey of the case.