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Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please?

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On Sunday, October 25, 2015 at 8:00:35 AM UTC+11, Courtney Blount wrote:
> This is the card I have
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> http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/Apple%20II%20Documentation%20Project/Interface%20Cards/Hard%20Disk%20Drive%20Controllers/Symbiotic%20HD%20Controller/Photos/Symbiotic%20Fast%20boot%20convertor%20Rev%202%20-%20Front.jpg
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> Courtney
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> On 2015-10-23 22:23:42 +0000, Courtney Blount said:
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> On 2015-10-22 11:56:48 +0000, Michaud François said:
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> Le jeudi 22 octobre 2015 08:49:44 UTC+2, Courtney Blount a écrit :
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> Hey guys,
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> Cant anyone help me with this please?
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> Courtney xxx
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> Hi Courtney ,
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> I got symbiotic cards with SymbFile drive attached to it , another is the Ice :
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> http://quartdepomme.fr/quartdepomme/Hardware_Apple_II_cards_%28Updated%29/Pages/Symbiotic_%26_Hard_drive_ICE_10_Mb.html 
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> The card i the Apple II is a Fast Noxy Card .
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> François
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> I believe mine is a Noxy, not a fast Noxy card.

Hi Courtney, 

that picture is a Foxy card (Fast Boot Converter) as it has no network connection and no switches. Looking at the firmware version it looks like there is a problem with communication between the green Foxy card in the Apple and the blue Konan controller as if the communication is OK the Apple II should receive status messages back from the Konan and report them back on the screen. 

To see if there is communication try... 
- powering off the Apple
- power up the drive and wait a couple of minutes so it is fully started and the drive lights have stopped flashing. You should be able to hear the drive spin up and the lights should stop flashing
- start the Apple II and if the card is in slot 5 do the PR#5 - you should see the drive access light flash a few times as it tries to boot
- if the flashes are brief then the drive is being read but the relevant data is not there, if the flashes are long then you may be having disk read errors so the drive will need reformatting - software is on the utilities disk for this
- if it is not working brief flashes are good as the drive may be useable if you have the software to install the boot software
- if there is a drive problem the drive may continuously flash an error code - please note this down and let me know what it is, the code is repeated 

If you get no flashing lights on the drive then this can be caused by...

- the firmware - a damaged EPROM, you cannot fix this so ignore for the time being and try the steps below one at a time
- carefully re-seat all the chips on the Foxy card by lifting slightly and pushing back in
- check the cable to the hard drive and make sure it is the correct way around, the marking on the cable goes to the left where the text PL2 is on the green card. On the blue Konan controller on top of the drive there is a white dot where the marked edge of the cable goes. Only half the wires are used so if you suspect the cable is damaged swap both ends around so you are using the other wires in the cable.
- with the power off carefully reseat the three largest chips in sockets on the blue Konan controller
- check that the ribbon cable between the Apple and the drive is not damaged, some cables became damaged where they enter the drive case
- the drive may not be powering up and freezing the Konan board but I will need to know more about the drive to help you here - a picture of the Konan board that is good enough to read my handwriting on the EPROM and a picture of the drive from the side will help. If none of the above help you can temporarily remove the large cable between the drive and the Konan controller to see if the drive is the issue or the controller as this will unfreeze the controller card if it is waiting for the drive

Hope this helps

Let me know how you go.

Thanks

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Thread

SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? courtney@courtneyblush.co.uk - 2015-10-10 14:45 +0000
  Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Antoine Vignau <antoine.vignau@laposte.net> - 2015-10-10 11:21 -0700
  Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Courtney Blount <email@domain.com> - 2015-10-22 07:49 +0100
    Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Michaud François <amosmail.stfr@numericable.fr> - 2015-10-22 04:56 -0700
      Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Courtney Blount <email@domain.com> - 2015-10-23 23:23 +0100
        Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Michaud François <amosmail.stfr@numericable.fr> - 2015-10-26 02:10 -0700
        Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? info@keepclosecontact.com - 2015-11-26 21:24 -0800
          Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Antony Mauget <amauget@macgui.com> - 2015-11-27 11:10 +0000
            Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? info@keepclosecontact.com - 2015-11-28 01:05 -0800
            Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Courtney Blount <email@domain.com> - 2015-12-13 07:25 +0000
              Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Antony Mauget <amauget@macgui.com> - 2015-12-20 09:02 +0000
                Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? Antony Mauget <amauget@macgui.com> - 2015-12-20 17:19 +0000
        Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? info@keepclosecontact.com - 2015-12-11 00:33 -0800
          Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? mrbrad <lostgonzo@gmail.com> - 2015-12-11 02:47 -0600
            Re: SyMBfile by Symbiotic disks or info please? info@keepclosecontact.com - 2015-12-11 02:14 -0800

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