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1986-11-10
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ALIGN
Version 1.6 for the IBM PC
5/23/84
(c) Copyright John L. Dickinson 1983, 1984
COPYING PROVISIONS
This program and documentation may be freely copied and shared
provided it is not modified in any manner and this notice is not
bypassed or removed. Please keep the ALIGN.DOC documentation file
on the same diskette with ALIGN.EXE.
If you find the ALIGN program useful, a contribution will be
appreciated. ($20 suggested.) Comments or suggestions concerning
ALIGN are welcome at any time.
John L. Dickinson
2470 N. Tierra Verde Pl.
Tucson, Arizona 85749
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The ALIGN program allows you to move a diskette drive head to
absolute track locations and operate the drive while checks and
adjustments are made. 40 track single or double-sided drives are
supported.
ALIGN is one of several tools needed to adjust and service
diskette drives. The ALIGN program does not attempt to teach you
how to do an alignment, but it isn't difficult if you have what
you need. In addition to this program, you should have:
The drive manufacturer's alignment and service procedures.
An oscilloscope (dual trace with triggered sweep).
A DYSAN double-sided analog alignment diskette for 40 track
drives, 224/2A #800180.
Extension or external diskette drive signal and power cables are
very helpful.
See the notes at the end of this document for possible sources for
these items.
An analog alignment diskette contains NO data, just special
waveforms and can't be copied. (It's really copy protected!) You
can try the program using any diskette. The ALIGN program does
not write on diskettes.
(It should also be possible to use this program to adjust 80 track
drives provided you have the proper alignment diskette. However,
some of the program commands may not be useful since they have
track addresses hard coded for the 40 track alignment diskette.)
ALIGN Version 1.6 Page 2
SYSTEM AND DISKETTE DRIVE REQUIREMENTS
ALIGN runs under IBM PC-DOS on a PC or PC/XT with at least 64K and
an 80 column display, either monochrome or color.
Since ALIGN uses standard BIOS interfaces for all I/O, it should
also work on most IBM compatibles. It does not work properly on
the PCjr.
The diskette drives to be adjusted are connected to the PC in the
usual manner. The ALIGN program works with standard IBM (Tandon)
diskette drives and should work with others that use the same
electrical interface.
USING THE ALIGN PROGRAM
Enter ALIGN after the DOS prompt and press any key to get past the
initial screen to the main command menu. Chances are, you'll be
able to use the program without reading any more of this
documentation.
Commands are entered one at a time on the command line. All
commands may be abbreviated and the first letter is sufficient for
all but one command. (INFO requires the 3 letters, INF.)
Some commands require one operand as listed on the menu. Numeric
operands, such as track number or seconds, are decimal. The first
track is track 0, not track 1.
If the diskette drive under test is running, pressing any key will
cause it to stop in about 2 seconds. This key may be the first
letter of the next command or any key such as the RETURN key. The
drive will stop by itself after 60 seconds.
If the drive is stopped and and you want to continue the previous
motion command, simply press the RETURN key. This enters a
null command which is interpreted just like a GO command.
Commonly used commands may also be entered using the program
function keys as shown on the command menu.
ALIGN Version 1.6 Page 3
ALIGN PROGRAM COMMANDS
DRIVE A..D
The DRIVE command specifies the letter of the drive under test:
A, B, C or D. The default is drive B. The DRIVE command does
not cause the drive to start. Examples:
DRIVE A (Set drive A)
D C (Set drive C)
HEAD 0..1
The HEAD command selects the lower or upper head (diskette
side). HEAD 0 is the lower head and the only head on a single-
sided drive. HEAD 1 specifies the upper head on a double-sided
drive. The HEAD command does not cause the drive to start.
Examples:
HEAD 0 (Set head 0, the lower head)
HEAD 1 (Set head 1, the upper head)
H 1 (Set head 1, the upper head)
TRACK 0..39
The TRACK command moves the head to a specified track and starts
drive motion. The drive will continue to run until a key is
pressed or for 60 seconds. (The 60 second run time may be
changed using the SECONDS command.) The track number that may be
specified is usually in the range 0 through 39, although the
upper track limit may be extended using the MAX command.
Examples:
TRACK 0 (Move to track 0 and run drive)
T 34 (Move to track 34 and run drive)
T 16 (Move to track 16 and run drive)
IN
OUT
The IN command moves the head to track 32 and then immediately
moves it "in" towards track 0 stopping on track 16. IN is
equivalent to the TRACK 32 command followed by TRACK 16.
The OUT command is similar, but moves the head first to track 0
and then "out", away from track 0 stopping on track 16. OUT is
equivalent to a TRACK 0 command followed by TRACK 16.
Both commands end up on track 16 with the drive running. Track
16 is the radial head alignment track on the Dysan 40 track
alignment diskette.
ALIGN Version 1.6 Page 4
After making a head adjustment it's a good idea to re-seek to
track 16 and check the cat's eye pattern again. Both the IN and
OUT commands cause a re-seek to track 16. The two commands
also allow checking the accuracy of seeks (and the resulting
head alignment) in both directions. If there is a difference in
the cat's eye patterns in the two directions, you may want to
re-adjust the alignment to split the difference. A difference
indicates play in the mechanism or an imprecise head stepper
motor.
GO
If the drive is stopped, the GO command simply starts the drive
at whatever track it happens to be on. A null entry does the
same thing, so you can just press the RETURN key with nothing on
the command line to start the drive.
SECONDS 3..180
Normally, each time you start the drive using ALIGN, the drive
runs for 60 seconds if not stopped by pressing any key.
This is usually enough time to make a check or adjustment and
prevents the drive from running "forever". The SECONDS command
allows you to change this 60 second limit anywhere from 3 to 180
seconds. The SECONDS command does not cause the drive to start.
Examples:
SECONDS 120 (2 minutes)
S 10
S 30
CYCLE
The CYCLE command starts the drive and cycles the head through
tracks 0 through 3 in the following order 3,2,1,0,3,2,1,0,3,2...
and so on for the purpose of checking the track 0 switch. The
drive changes tracks every few seconds so you have time to see
if the track 0 switch has switched. In between each track
(0,1,2 or 3) the CYCLE command moves the head to track