9
The disk controller has been designed to load the head and turn on the drive
motors only when necessary. When the computer requests data from the disk the
motors will activate and the correct head will load. After the information has been
retrieved the head will un-load, and after approximately 20-30 seconds, the motors
will turn off. During this off state it is normal for the DRIVE 0 LED to be
activated.
Just like cassette tapes, diskettes are made of magnetic materials and can be
erased by stray magnetic fields. Also, it is an excellent idea to back-up all
important disks on a spare diskette. The following precautions should be followed
concerning diskettes:
1.
Return the diskette to its storage envelope whenever it is removed from a
drive.
2.
Keep diskettes away from magnetic fields and from ferromagnetic materials
which might become magnetized. Strung magnetic fields can distort recorded
data on the disk.
3.
Replace storage envelopes when they become worn, cracked or distorted.
Envelopes are designed to protect the disk.
4.
Do not write on the plastic jacket with a lead pencil or ball-point pen. Use
a felt tip pen.
5.
Heat and contamination from a carelessly dropped ash can damage the disk.
6.
Do not expose diskette to heat or sunlight.
7.
Do not touch or attempt to clean the disk surface. Abrasions may cause loss
of stored data.
The MF-68 uses the ENABLE line from I/0 position 5 as a control line. Care
should be exercised when using I/0 slot 5 for other devices. A parallel printer
interface will work correctly on slot 5 with DOS.
