Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help

23 Oct 04 - 02:11 AM (#1304546)
Subject: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: pete au

my floppy drive[dd denserty]on my qy300 is dead,& will cost me $300 [aussie $]
can i modify my sequ to , except a computer floppy drive which is worth
$16.00 ,or replace it with a ammega or a atari drive
pete au

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23 Oct 04 - 10:59 AM (#1304775)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: The Fooles Troupe

Tech: threads have traditionally been above the line - whether our anonymous GUEST 'Mudcat Thread Policeman' thinks they are BS or not... so GUEST is either very new here, or has just not been paying attention...

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23 Oct 04 - 03:47 PM (#1305000)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: GUEST,JTT

I'm not familiar with this computer. But if it's a desktop machine, floppy drives are cheap and easy to install.

1) Buy an anti-static wristband, and a floppy drive cable. Clamp the crocodile clip to a radiator to earth you.

2) Unplug the computer *and* monitor.

3) Take out all the cables plugged into the back.

4) Track the floopy drive (from the front) to the inside of the computer so you know which one it is. *Pay close attention to which way round the cable is - which side the red stripe is on; which end the twirly bit is.

5) Unplug the old cable from the floppy drive and plug in the new one (facing same way, at same end, as old cable). Do the same at the motherboard end - unplug the old cable, carefully, without putting your big sweaty paws on the motherboard, and plug in the new one.

6) Plug in the cables at the back again, including the monitor; plug in computer and monitor to the electricity and switch it on. Try out the floppy. If it works, you've mended it by replacing the cable. If it doesn't, then switch everything off again and go and buy a floppy drive (around $10). Take out the old one and put in the new one. (You've unplugged everything again, btw. And it's a good idea to take off the wristband at this stage, unless you want to take the radiator to the shop with you.)

Turn the computer on again. Sometimes you may need to run the "Find new hardware" biz in Start/Settings/Control Panels/New Hardware.

That should do it.

On the other hand, if you're talking about a laptop, I don't know the model so wouldn't know what to do.

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23 Oct 04 - 04:24 PM (#1305031)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: pavane

I guess that this is a MIDI instrument. Many older ones will only accept 720k drives, which are now impossible to obtain.
There is a company in South Africa who can recondition drives. They might be able to help
If so, let me know

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23 Oct 04 - 04:28 PM (#1305036)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: GUEST,Ed

JTT, it's not a desktop computer, it's a hardware sequencer. See here for more details.

pete au, the fact that it uses DD floppies suggests that it's (at least in technology terms) pretty old. I imagine that buying a newer machine would be cheaper (and give lots more features) than repairing this one.

Sad but true...

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23 Oct 04 - 04:34 PM (#1305039)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: GUEST,Russ

I notice that the QY300 is a sequencer, not a computer.

The key question: when the drive worked could it read floppy disks formatted for use in a personal computer?

If no, pay the $300.

If yes, and if you feel you'll be able to take it apart and get it back together, you've certainly got nothing to lose by replacing the floppy drive with one from a computer.

As for a drive for an Atari or "ammega" the same key question applies: when the drive worked could it read disks formatted for those computers?

Caveat: Replacing the drive won't work if the problem is with the drive controller rather than the drive itself.

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23 Oct 04 - 04:38 PM (#1305040)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: JohnInKansas

Someone else with the same problem posted a few months(?) ago, but apparently it was buried in a thread on another subject. At least I can't seem to bring it up with a thread search.

The prospects are rather dismal. There are a few suppliers who claim to have replacement drives, but they seem to just shuffle their feet and grin and say "aw shucks" if you actually call to try to get one. I believe the earlier guy did say that he found a reconditioned one, but don't know where.

Yamaha was pretty emphatic that there is NO WAY to adapt their stuff to any "PC" hardware. It also appears that since they had their own specially configured DD drives, they continued using them in new machines long after the rest of the world had forgotten they existed - so the DD doesn't necessarily mean the unit's obsolete... just broken.

John

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23 Oct 04 - 08:36 PM (#1305211)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: pete au

thanx folk for your replys i would buy a new floppy for my machine if i could afford it.
pete

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23 Oct 04 - 08:44 PM (#1305221)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: The Fooles Troupe

Somewhere I think I've got a couple of old 750Kb floppy drives...

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24 Oct 04 - 08:11 AM (#1305502)
Subject: RE: Tech: floppy drive on yammaha qy300 dead help
From: PennyBlack

PDF COPY OF MANUAL (Right mouse click and save as or left mouse click to display)

If you find the model number of the drive - and do a search you will most like find it has been used in other items and by other companies (including PCs)- it might be cheaper to pick-up a secondhand unit with a good drive but faulty in some other way and swap the drive.

For back-up I presume you could use midi and a PC?

A good computer firm would most likely be able to fit a DD floppy drive that will work (as the QY300 formats discs to its own standard)and a local computer fair would also be a good source (take along the old drive).

Yamaha user groups e.g. would also be able to offer some help.

good luck

PB

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