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You may find, one day, that the Floppy Drive in your PSR is acting up or not working at all. It's time for a replacement. But, you don't necessarily have to send your keyboard away for this service. If you have ever taken a computer apart or anything mechanical, you can do this job. It really isn't difficult for the marginally mechanically inclined.

If you have doubts, another alternative is to get anyone who works on computers or other electronic gear to do the job for you. Print out the instructions provided here and give them to your computer repairperson if you are nervous about the job.

Yamaha says it takes four minutes to do the job in the service manual. Yeah, right! I must be slowing down, as I would say 15 minutes is still more likely. Be advised THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY, if it is still in effect.

Tools Required

You need a Phillips or crosshead screwdriver -- preferably a #2 with at least a 4" handle. A magnetized screwdriver for pulling the screws out of the deep pockets on the keyboard is also useful, but take care to keep it away from the circuit boards inside.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1. Be sure the keyboard is unplugged from everything!!!!

Step 2. Lay the keyboard face down on a table covered with a nice soft blanket to protect the keyboard, (See Fig.1). The table top space should be twice the size of the keyboard because when you remove the bottom, it will still be attached to the top by electrical cables. You could do this job on the floor in your den or on your bed - not to worry it is a clean job - no grease. Please don't handle the keyboard by the keys when moving it - pick it up by the ends.

fig 1 - remving bottom screws on the keyboard

Step 3. See Fig. 1 - Remove the two (2) screws on the cover to the floppy drive, (Red Arrows). Then remove the sixteen (16) screws around the outside of the board, (Yellow Arrows) and the two (2) long screws in about the middle of the bottom, (Green Arrows). Be sure to note the different length screws and which go in which holes (See the chart at bottom of Fig.1).

Step 4. The bottom of the keyboard can now be lifted off of the top part and just fold it over and lay it beside the top, (See Fig.2). The fold will be along the rear edge where the cables connect to both top and bottom parts.

fig 2 - keyboard with bottom removed

STOP HERE A MOMENT: Take some time to look at and observe the remarkable design and high quality of your Yamaha keyboard. Please don't touch the speaker cones as they are easily damaged. Moving on then.

Step 5. (See Fig. 3 and Fig. 4), Pay attention to the routing of the electrical cables in order to put them back as found. You may find it is easier to unplug the cables while the floppy drive is still fastened to the keyboard. Peel the tape holding the cables to the drive away carefully so you can reuse the tape, (Yellow Tipped Arrow, Fig. 3).

fig 3 peeling back tape from floppy drive cables

Before you unplug the cables from the drive, take notice of the position of the red colored part of each cable, (See item 1 and 2 in Fig. 4). The cables are fairly tight in their sockets, but they will pull straight off with a steady pull. Don't pull on the wires, but pull on the end plugs.

fig 4 - unplogging floppy cables

Step 6. Remove the four (4) screws holding the drive to the bottom of the keyboard, (Red Arrows Fig. 3). Lift the drive out of the keyboard.

Step 7. Remove the four (4) screws holding the mounting rails to the side of the floppy drive, (Red Arrow Fig. 5), two screws on each side of drive.

fig5 - removing screws holding mounting rails

Step 8. I recommend removing the black tape from the old drive and placing it on the new drive in the same position and manner. The drive has a tendency to move quite a bit when it is in the process of reading and writing - this tape helps quiet the drive. This is also part of the reason for the rubber bushings in the side mounting rails.

Step 9. Time to put everything back in place - Mount the side rails first - there is a left and a right rail. See fig. 5 for the left rail mounting. The bushings go to the back of the drive. Don't over tighten the screws - just snug please.

Step 10. I find it better to plug the electrical cables back into the drive before installing the drive back into the keyboard -- easier to see proper alignment of sockets. Check Fig. 4 again for proper orientation of red cable markings.

Step 11. Mount the drive using the four (4) heavy screws -- NOT TOO TIGHT PLEASE. These screws are going into plastic and can strip out and it also will defeat the purpose of the rubber bushings if too tight. Put the cables back with the tape, (Fig. 3).

Step 12. Take note of the tape like material around the outside edge of the bottom. This tape has its own adhesive backing and needs no more, just press it back in place with your fingers. No glue here please, especially NO SUPER GLUE - you do want to be able to get this keyboard back apart again if need be. The purpose of this tape is to prevent the top and bottom from rubbing together and squeaking when you play the keyboard. You know how the dashboard of your car squeaks and snaps when it is cold in the winter. If you have difficulty keeping the tape in place long enough to get the keyboard back together, try placing a few pieces of masking tape or Scotch tape as shown in Fig. 6. You can tear off the exposed part of the tape after everything is back together.

fig 6 using masking tape to hold edge material on case.

Step 13. When you pick up the bottom to place it back into the top of the keyboard, the bottom outside edges go inside of the top outside edges and be careful of the connecting cables. Put all of the screws back in place as shown in Fig.1. Remember - not too tight on these screws - this is a keyboard, not your automobile and these screws are all going into plastic. (Ok - so it's technically VINYL or is it something else?).

This is really not very difficult - just take your time and put things back as you found them.

Replacement Disk Drive

You may be interested to know what drives are used by Yamaha in these keyboards. The parts manual lists the following:

ALPS DF354H for PSR-1100/PSR-2100
Mitsubishi D359M3D for PSR-2100

The floppy drive depicted in the figures for this article is an ALPS drive. These drives are inexpensive and available at most computer outlets and on the net.

 

This page updated on March 22, 2019 .