| RESTORATION Radio Shack 26-3129 Color Computer Mini Disk Drive and Controller Program Pak |
Those older first run Color Computer disk drives just ain't what they use to be. Actually, they weren't all that to begin
with. Luckily, after a mediocre start, Radio Shack got off their butts and built some decent drives around 1983.
Starting with the 26-3129 (apparently later renamed the FD-500), Radio Shack disk drives (mini disks) became at
least "mostly" reliable. As a result, those vintage drives often still work when you stumble upon one.
But what if it doesn't?
Then it's time to get out the old phillips and your handy dandy Dremel rotary tool and get busy!
(Because just as "There's always room for Jell-O (tm)," "There's no project that can't use a Dremel tool!" I bet you
could build anything with a Dremel tool. Maybe not a sandwich. But almost anything.)
What follows is my attempt to restore a rather decrepit 26-3129 Color Computer Mini Disk and companion controller
program pak back to working condition. This was the very first disk drive I ever owned. I must have gotten it
sometime in 1984, when I was 14, but the early serial number might indicate it was 1983. I've slept since then. The
poor fellow spent 18 years or so in and out of boxes in my father's garage. Ouch.
I had pretty much forgotten about this drive. Then one day my father asks me to come over to help him get some
stuff out of the attic. When I get there, several boxes had fallen on the trap door and fold out stairs and were sitting
on top of the whole contraption.
So my father says, "I'm going to yank the door down and you catch those boxes."
And I, quite reasonably I feel, say, "Um, er, are the heavy?"
"Don't know," he says and pulls the cord.
Out tumble the boxes and yes, they were heavy. So there I am, batting boxes away Jackie Chan style before they
crush my melon, while my father laughs his ass off and gasps "Catch 'em! Catch 'em!." (Dad is a retired Army Sgt.
Major and has an, um, odd sense of humor.) And one of the boxes busts open and out comes this CoCo disk drive,
which promptly smashes into the concrete floor of the garage. Lovely.
This guy was in bad shape. Dust, dirt, discoloration, big bash onto concrete from about 20 feet, and lord knows what
else over the years. So, let's haul it into the evil lab and, even though we have no clue what we're doing, take it apart
and muck about with it! Here we go . . .
with. Luckily, after a mediocre start, Radio Shack got off their butts and built some decent drives around 1983.
Starting with the 26-3129 (apparently later renamed the FD-500), Radio Shack disk drives (mini disks) became at
least "mostly" reliable. As a result, those vintage drives often still work when you stumble upon one.
But what if it doesn't?
Then it's time to get out the old phillips and your handy dandy Dremel rotary tool and get busy!
(Because just as "There's always room for Jell-O (tm)," "There's no project that can't use a Dremel tool!" I bet you
could build anything with a Dremel tool. Maybe not a sandwich. But almost anything.)
What follows is my attempt to restore a rather decrepit 26-3129 Color Computer Mini Disk and companion controller
program pak back to working condition. This was the very first disk drive I ever owned. I must have gotten it
sometime in 1984, when I was 14, but the early serial number might indicate it was 1983. I've slept since then. The
poor fellow spent 18 years or so in and out of boxes in my father's garage. Ouch.
I had pretty much forgotten about this drive. Then one day my father asks me to come over to help him get some
stuff out of the attic. When I get there, several boxes had fallen on the trap door and fold out stairs and were sitting
on top of the whole contraption.
So my father says, "I'm going to yank the door down and you catch those boxes."
And I, quite reasonably I feel, say, "Um, er, are the heavy?"
"Don't know," he says and pulls the cord.
Out tumble the boxes and yes, they were heavy. So there I am, batting boxes away Jackie Chan style before they
crush my melon, while my father laughs his ass off and gasps "Catch 'em! Catch 'em!." (Dad is a retired Army Sgt.
Major and has an, um, odd sense of humor.) And one of the boxes busts open and out comes this CoCo disk drive,
which promptly smashes into the concrete floor of the garage. Lovely.
This guy was in bad shape. Dust, dirt, discoloration, big bash onto concrete from about 20 feet, and lord knows what
else over the years. So, let's haul it into the evil lab and, even though we have no clue what we're doing, take it apart
and muck about with it! Here we go . . .
| Click the pictures to enlarge in a new window. |
Cobwebs in the controller. Sounds like a new Broadway musical. This poor guy is in a
sad state, but the board looks fairly clean and the chips are all still seated properly.
Tools needed: phillips-head screw driver, a small, thin flat head screwdriver, cotton
swabs, cleaner (electronics cleaner from Radio Shack works, I use Simple Green instead),
canned air, and a pink rubber eraser (the pencil). It has to be the soft (not stiff and
brittle) pink kind, since other types of eraser can leave a residue.
For those of you keeping score at home (I'll write up more about this controller in the
Museum some day), this is the TRS-80 branded version of the Tandy FD-500.
sad state, but the board looks fairly clean and the chips are all still seated properly.
Tools needed: phillips-head screw driver, a small, thin flat head screwdriver, cotton
swabs, cleaner (electronics cleaner from Radio Shack works, I use Simple Green instead),
canned air, and a pink rubber eraser (the pencil). It has to be the soft (not stiff and
brittle) pink kind, since other types of eraser can leave a residue.
For those of you keeping score at home (I'll write up more about this controller in the
Museum some day), this is the TRS-80 branded version of the Tandy FD-500.
He's down. Medic! Medic!!! This poor drive has taken a wicked beating. There are six
screws holding the case to the base of the drive. Un-ass those. Small paper Dixie style
cups make it easy to keep track of the screws. Write where they came from on the side of
the cup. Set the top of the case aside, we'll get to that poor bastard in a bit.
screws holding the case to the base of the drive. Un-ass those. Small paper Dixie style
cups make it easy to keep track of the screws. Write where they came from on the side of
the cup. Set the top of the case aside, we'll get to that poor bastard in a bit.
Let's start with the controller. When hooked up it doesn't respond at all. The CoCo just
comes up with a blank green screen. A single screw holds the controller's case together.
It's located under the front label, so you have to break the label to get at it. Just find the
screw with your finger (you'll feel it under the label) and press the screw driver's head into
it, breaking the label. This'll leave a small round hole in the label (right about where it
says Cat No 26-3129).
On the 26-3129 controller there are two small clips up where the pak meets the cartridge
slot. Carefully pry these open with a flat-head screwdriver. Carefully. I broke one, but the
other latches and the screw holds everything together nicely.
The cobwebs are unsightly, but easy to take care of. Blast 'em! Hit them with a shot of
canned air and off they go. Any dirt or grime can be very gently cleaned off the circuit
board with a cotton swab dipped in cleaner. You don't want to damage the traces. Then
go through and press down lightly on each chip. Again, be gentle.
Use the eraser to clean the contacts on both the cable end and the end where the pak
plugs into the computer. Gently rub the eraser over the contacts until the corrosion is
gone. It's okay if they look like they have little dents in them. Just make sure each one is
shiny and clean.
Then it's time for testing. First plug it in and apply power, of course. And sure enough,
the contacts were too corroded. Once clean, good old DECB 2.1 (Disk BASIC 1.1) comes
right up. A few tests with the controller hooked up to a working drive show that it saves,
loads, and initializes a disk just fine and dandy. Hooray for our side!
Warning: Don't leave your controller plugged in like that. You might get away with it for
testing (not recommended), but it's a great way to zap everything dead as a doornail.
comes up with a blank green screen. A single screw holds the controller's case together.
It's located under the front label, so you have to break the label to get at it. Just find the
screw with your finger (you'll feel it under the label) and press the screw driver's head into
it, breaking the label. This'll leave a small round hole in the label (right about where it
says Cat No 26-3129).
On the 26-3129 controller there are two small clips up where the pak meets the cartridge
slot. Carefully pry these open with a flat-head screwdriver. Carefully. I broke one, but the
other latches and the screw holds everything together nicely.
The cobwebs are unsightly, but easy to take care of. Blast 'em! Hit them with a shot of
canned air and off they go. Any dirt or grime can be very gently cleaned off the circuit
board with a cotton swab dipped in cleaner. You don't want to damage the traces. Then
go through and press down lightly on each chip. Again, be gentle.
Use the eraser to clean the contacts on both the cable end and the end where the pak
plugs into the computer. Gently rub the eraser over the contacts until the corrosion is
gone. It's okay if they look like they have little dents in them. Just make sure each one is
shiny and clean.
Then it's time for testing. First plug it in and apply power, of course. And sure enough,
the contacts were too corroded. Once clean, good old DECB 2.1 (Disk BASIC 1.1) comes
right up. A few tests with the controller hooked up to a working drive show that it saves,
loads, and initializes a disk just fine and dandy. Hooray for our side!
Warning: Don't leave your controller plugged in like that. You might get away with it for
testing (not recommended), but it's a great way to zap everything dead as a doornail.
| The Controller |
| The Drive |
Before clicking the picture to the left, brace yourself. Sit, take a few deep breaths, and
prepare to embrace the horror.
Let's start the tour on the bottom left. Here's when the mechanical mechanism that goes
up and down when you push the latch down. The whole thing moves downward and
lowers onto the disk, holding it into place and lowering the head into position. (I'm sure
there's some highly technical terminology that goes here, but I'm more of dooflicky and
thingyjobber kind of guy. Ignorant, that is.)
There's a plastic bit that presses down on a metal plate that lowers everything onto the
disk when you push down the latch. At this point, it makes the most godawful screeching
sound. Blah! But it does get everything in position.
If you go down the middle and toward the back (close up picture) you'll see the drive
read/write head. It's the black stem covered in dust with the round thingy on the end.
Underneath there is pad that sits on the bare disk. The whole mechnism moves back and
forth nicely, but it's pretty filthy.
Closer inspection shows that the circuit board and transformer are covered in dust and
grime as well. That just won't do at all.
prepare to embrace the horror.
Let's start the tour on the bottom left. Here's when the mechanical mechanism that goes
up and down when you push the latch down. The whole thing moves downward and
lowers onto the disk, holding it into place and lowering the head into position. (I'm sure
there's some highly technical terminology that goes here, but I'm more of dooflicky and
thingyjobber kind of guy. Ignorant, that is.)
There's a plastic bit that presses down on a metal plate that lowers everything onto the
disk when you push down the latch. At this point, it makes the most godawful screeching
sound. Blah! But it does get everything in position.
If you go down the middle and toward the back (close up picture) you'll see the drive
read/write head. It's the black stem covered in dust with the round thingy on the end.
Underneath there is pad that sits on the bare disk. The whole mechnism moves back and
forth nicely, but it's pretty filthy.
Closer inspection shows that the circuit board and transformer are covered in dust and
grime as well. That just won't do at all.
Not a bad looking bottom there. And who doesn't like a nice bottom, eh? The pictures are
of all the labels and markings I could find on the drive. Alas, a search on google doesn't
bring up any extra information about this drive. Clearly a Tandon drive (the company was
bought in 1988 by Western Digital), but they made a lot of drives for Radio Shack,
including the Model 1/3s and 4s and 1000s. And just about everyone else. It doesn't
look anything like the famous TM100 that came on the original IBM PC and I haven't
identified the part numbers (or any numbers) listed on the drive.
The first picture there is of the entire bottom assembly. Luckily, there isn't much
corrosion or dirt, and everything appears to be hooked up properly. Which is a good
thing because I have no idea what's what.
The second is a label on the left side of the drive housing that appears to have some sort
of technical information about the drive written on it. I won't guess.
Third picture is the step motor made by the Shinano Kenshi Co. A popular Anime show,
also, I believe. The link is provided for those that have a motor fetish. And boy, do they
have motors! I'm only here to serve.
The fourth picture is the whirly thingy that apparently turns the disk. It has a Tandon part
number on it, but again, I was unable to find a match on the web. But for those of you
that like turny things, here it is.
With luck, someone still has the Service Manual for this drive (or the FD-500) and will post
it someday. The Service Manuals usually have a handy dandy parts list that would assist
in finding modern substitutes for some of the parts, if needed. If I ever come across one,
I'll post it here, of course.
of all the labels and markings I could find on the drive. Alas, a search on google doesn't
bring up any extra information about this drive. Clearly a Tandon drive (the company was
bought in 1988 by Western Digital), but they made a lot of drives for Radio Shack,
including the Model 1/3s and 4s and 1000s. And just about everyone else. It doesn't
look anything like the famous TM100 that came on the original IBM PC and I haven't
identified the part numbers (or any numbers) listed on the drive.
The first picture there is of the entire bottom assembly. Luckily, there isn't much
corrosion or dirt, and everything appears to be hooked up properly. Which is a good
thing because I have no idea what's what.
The second is a label on the left side of the drive housing that appears to have some sort
of technical information about the drive written on it. I won't guess.
Third picture is the step motor made by the Shinano Kenshi Co. A popular Anime show,
also, I believe. The link is provided for those that have a motor fetish. And boy, do they
have motors! I'm only here to serve.
The fourth picture is the whirly thingy that apparently turns the disk. It has a Tandon part
number on it, but again, I was unable to find a match on the web. But for those of you
that like turny things, here it is.
With luck, someone still has the Service Manual for this drive (or the FD-500) and will post
it someday. The Service Manuals usually have a handy dandy parts list that would assist
in finding modern substitutes for some of the parts, if needed. If I ever come across one,
I'll post it here, of course.
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