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devel / comp.os.cpm / Westwind Trantor Hard Disk for Osborne Computer

Westwind Trantor Hard Disk for Osborne Computer

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https://www.novabbs.com/devel/article-flat.php?id=2561&group=comp.os.cpm#2561

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From: john_cra...@yahoo.com (John Crane)
Subject: Westwind Trantor Hard Disk for Osborne Computer
Date: Tue, 18 May 2021 06:52:13 -0500
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by: John Crane - Tue, 18 May 2021 11:52 UTC

Can anyone point me to documentation or schematics for this?
I have one in pristine condition, until last month when a capacitor blew...

Turns out these use the problematic Astec power supplies identical to
the ones used in the Osborne 01. There is a 0.1uF 250V polymer cap that
tends to blow. In fact, I've had 2 Osborne 01 machines that blew while
in service. I replaced the cap and now they work perfectly.

The Westwind, on the other hand, will not recognize the hard disk.
However the built-in ramdisk does work.

My fear is that when the cap blew, a voltage transient may have taken
out one or more of the large Shugart VLSI chips on the disk controller
board. These chips may be difficult to source these days.

-John

Subject	Author
Westwind Trantor Hard Disk for Osborne Computer	John Crane