Floppy Disk problem

[jimbuist]

Help! I just got my new CVP 307 last Wednesday and am having a problem with the disk drive. Has anyone experienced the following problem? If so, any ideas on how to resolve the issue?

I took a floppy drive that was formatted on a PC, placed it in the CVP 307 drive, saved a file, and then discovered that I could no longer read the entire disk on the Windows XP computer. I tried a few different disks, including some that have Standard Midi Files on them. All fail. Also, it doesn't even require saving a file on the CVP. Even just reading the disk causes it to no longer be readable on the Windows XP computer. The error I get on the computer is:

"The disk in drive A: is not formatted properly. Please check the disk, and reformat if necessary."

FYI, I was able to open one of the disks with the above error on a Windows 98 SE computer. Also, the CVP has no problem recognizing the disk or it's contents.

Lastly, and possibly related, I also cannot open any of the CVP recorded files on a Roland KR series piano that I play at my church even though Yamaha states that the CVP saves all files as SMF type 0 which the Roland reads with no problem.

Any ideas you may have will be GREATLY appreciated.

Jim

[Tapas]

Jim,

Here are a couple of experiments you can try.

1.
Insert a 3.5" HD floppy into the USB floppy reader of your CVP-307 and FORMAT that USB device inside your CVP-307 from the Utilities Menu.

Try saving a copy of the MFD file on this floppy. Now take this floppy out and see if your PC running Win98 or XP can read the file.

2.
Take another 3.5" HD floppy and place it in your PC running WinXP. Do a full format, but change the option from FAT32 to FAT (FAT16).

Place this floppy inside your CVP-307 and try to save a copy of your MFD file. See if you can write to this diskette. Then try to read this floppy on your Win98 and WinXP computer.

Perhaps this will shed some light.

Regards,

Tapas

[dancaputi]

Jim,

Try using RootARipper (http://www.cvpug.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=328).

The tool was developed to read PianoSoft disks from XP but it may be usefull to determine what's the problem. If the CVP is corrupting the boot sector when it writes, that would explain it. I'm just not too sure why it would do that.

FYI (Tapas) - a 1.44M floppy is too small to hold the FAT32 file system, so that's not an option.

- Dan C.

[Tapas]

You are right Dan!

What was I thinking? Ofcourse, FAT is the only option on a floppy. You get the FAT32 option if you were to format a larger capacity SmartMedia or USB pen drive. And you better format your SmartMedia to FAT16 - else your CVP would not like it.

Thanks for that tip on the RootARipper program. That is the key.

Tapas

[Midi Magic]

Hi

"Even just reading the disk causes it to no longer be readable on the Windows XP computer."

Does this still happen if you write-protect the floppy?

[jimbuist]

Tapas & Dan,

Thanks for the replies. I am now, however, having difficulty recreating the problem. The original two disks that were unreadable on the XP machine are still so, however I have used other disks and they are all ok. I also formatted a disk in the CVP and that was read with no problem by the XP computer and I did the reverse (formatted in the XP computer) which was also readable by both the XP & CVP.

FYI, one of the two original disks was definitely ok before I put it into the CVP (I opened it first on the XP computer to check). I'll get back to you with more info as I find it.

Jim

[ericho]

Hi Jim

It sounds like you got some bad disks there.
It is possible that the disks themselves are weakly magnetised and that one drive will still just be able to read them and another won't be able to do so.
Reformatting the disks will probably make them useable again on both drives, but don't trust them, after a while they'll fail again.

Kind regards

Eric

[willjohn]

Hi All:

The note under "Formatting a Flooppy Disk" on page 21 of the 307 manual says, "Floppy disks formatted on this device may not be usable as is on other devices".

I assume Yamaha makes them incompatible to discourage copying.

When I insert any of the three free "Piano Soft" floppies I downloaded from a Yamaha site into my XP drive, I get a "Disk not formatted" message.

John

[dancaputi]

John,

The "Disk not formatted" message is due to the standard copy protection on all PianoSoft disks. The Yamaha Downloader program will always format the floppy this way if (and only if) your getting a PianoSoft title. You can use RootARipper to access the files and back them up to your hard disk.

- Dan C.