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| Powerbook 1400cs Floppy module completely dead, loose spring found inside |
Posted by: victor.muc on 2026-01-28 13:09:59
Hey y’all,
I recently bought a PowerBook 1400cs in good condition that came with a floppy bay module. The PowerBook itself works perfectly, but the floppy drive module appears to be completely dead.
When I first tried to test the floppy drive, the insertion mechanism blocked the entrance and I couldn’t insert a disk properly. I opened the drive and found a loose spring inside (photo attached). I then cleaned and lubricated the mechanism and tried to find where the spring might belong, but I couldn’t find any suitable place for it. Since I wasn’t sure whether it actually belonged to the drive, I left it out and reinstalled the module.
The drive still showed no signs of life at all. There are no sounds, no motor activity, and the floppy does not get pulled in. The disk can be pushed in manually, but the inject/eject mechanism does nothing. This seems odd to me, since the insert/eject mechanism is mostly mechanical as far as I know but this would explain the loose spring.
I also inspected and cleaned all connectors, boards, and capacitors on both the floppy drive and the PowerBook itself. Everything looks clean. There is no corrosion, no leaking capacitors and nothing obviously damaged.
Yesterday I wanted to install Apple System Profiler to check whether the floppy module was being recognized, but that didn’t work since it requires System 7.6 and this machine came with System 7.5.
I then tried removing the floppy bay module while the PowerBook was running. As soon as I did that, I got the familiar alert you’d normally see when inserting an empty or unreadable 800K floppy („Initialize / Eject“). Selecting either option does nothing useful. Both result in an error and the alert immediately reappears. Even after reinserting the floppy module, the alert wouldn’t go away. Clicking “Eject” never triggered any mechanical action.
At this point I’m wondering:
- Does this loose spring likely belong to the eject or „disk detect mechanism“, and could its absence prevent the drive from functioning at all?
- Do PowerBook 1400 floppy modules have an internal fuse or a common failure that results in total inactivity?
- Or is there simply a common dead floppy drive situation for these machines?
- Any insights, internal photos of the floppy module with spring, or known failures would be greatly appreciated.
Thank y’all so much! |
Posted by: victor.muc on 2026-01-28 19:15:51
Update and case closed:
A few months ago I instinctively bought another Floppy Expansion Bay from 1995 as a spare, even though I didn’t really have a use for it at the time. Out of curiosity, I opened it up and to my surprise, it contained the exact same floppy drive model!!
I swapped that drive into the module enclosure of my PowerBook 1400, and… it works perfectly!
The vintage gods really blessed me today!
As always, I’ve attached some reference photos of the new drive. You can even see the mysterious spring! |
Posted by: victor.muc on 2026-01-28 19:18:07
The photos are all rotated for some reason, even though they look normal on my device. This upload should work now. |
Posted by: croissantking on 2026-01-29 05:30:14
@CC_333 OP has stolen your avatar! |
Posted by: CC_333 on 2026-01-29 08:04:06
@CC_333 OP has stolen your avatar! I noticed!
c |
Posted by: nathall on 2026-01-30 16:49:36
I noticed!
c
Yeah, it’s been trippin’ me out for several days now. |
Posted by: CC_333 on 2026-02-07 12:24:19
Yeah, it’s been trippin’ me out for several days now. I decided to let OP keep it, to eliminate any confusion. I'll go with a simple "C" until I decide on something else.
c |
Posted by: victor.muc on 2026-02-07 18:06:40
I decided to let OP keep it, to eliminate any confusion. I'll go with a simple "C" until I decide on something else.
c I changed mine to Blueberry Union since yours has some recognition value. Sorry for the confusion 🤠 |
Posted by: CC_333 on 2026-02-07 23:52:31
No worries! I was thinking about changing it anyway.
To what, I'm not sure.
c |
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2026-02-08 00:08:36
Man, seeing CC_333 with anything other than the iMac G3s feels a little strange! |
Posted by: MacUp72 on 2026-02-15 04:21:49
The photos are all rotated for some reason, even though they look normal on my device. This upload should work now. Interesting to see how this spring was mounted inside.. guess this is whats pushing against a disk which is getting inserted |
Posted by: victor.muc on 2026-02-16 05:06:27
Interesting to see how this spring was mounted inside.. guess this is whats pushing against a disk which is getting inserted Floppy drive mechanisms are fascinating 🙂
And yes, when inserting a disk, you can actually see it pushing the mechanism on the right forward. |
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