Floppy install?

~~CitySlicker~~ · Sep 22, 2009, 03:56 AM

I have installed a new floppy drive and all looks well in the bios. However, in Vista it can not see the inserted floppy..always requiring to load a floppy in drive A.

suggestions please?

Tipstaff · Sep 22, 2009, 06:51 AM

Best advice: double check the cable, both power and data. Make sure that the red line on the cable is facing away from the power connector (it's also the one that connects to pin 1 on the connector). If the power connector is above the data connection on the floppy drive you'll have to remove the floppy drive, and look for the numbers for the pins, which should be labeled on the PCB the pins are attached to.

~~CitySlicker~~ · Sep 22, 2009, 04:33 PM

Power should be okay as the green floppy light comes on when accessing the floppy - it's just not seeing the disk

Tyrsonswood · Sep 22, 2009, 04:51 PM

Do you have it set properly in the BIOS? There's several places ii can be set in most bios setups.....

~~CitySlicker~~ · Sep 22, 2009, 05:27 PM

serveral places in the Award bios? - I am only aware of the "frontpage" (date/time etc) there it is seen as 1.44 floppy drive.

Googling a bit it seems the floppy problem is quite famous with Vista and people break their fingers to make it somehow work. My wife says it's a Vista problem

IvanV · Sep 22, 2009, 06:29 PM

I don't think that the fact that it shows up in BIOS is a proof that it is plugged in properly (or at all, although I don't doubt that you did that). Does it light up when the PC is powered on? Try setting it as the primary boot device and see if it makes a noise.

Tipstaff · Sep 22, 2009, 06:51 PM

It could be a busted cable, or a busted pin as well. Another thing to remember about the cable is that one end usually has a blocked pin (pin 5 I think), and that end is connected to the motherboard.

In any case, do you have any floppies that are bootable? Such as a DOS or Windows boot floppy? If you do then it's a perfect test to see if the drive is fine. If not, if you have access to a machine that has a floppy drive on it, you could use it to create a bootable floppy, and test that out on the system. If fit boots to it, then that'll narrow down the culprit to it being the OS, or something that is being loaded within the OS. You could also grab yourself a Ubuntu install disc, burn the image, boot from it into Linux (no need to install it), and see if the floppy drive works in there.

~~CitySlicker~~ · Sep 22, 2009, 07:43 PM

Guys,

I checked with another data cable and same problem - light comes on and "no disk error"

The floppy is a Sony MPF920 and google reads not good concerning failure rate with this device and this particular error.

I read too it might be a compatibility issue - some write works in XP, nada in Vista! The failure spectrum for this device is discouraging..

Judas · Sep 23, 2009, 11:29 AM

Does the green light remain on the entire time you use the computer.... if it does.. cable is backwards..

I've YET to see a case where either win vista or win7 doesn't work with the floppy drive..... and i've seen a pile of machines with vista both old and new..

~~CitySlicker~~ · Sep 30, 2009, 02:15 AM

Okay, it's working now - was the molex plug of the floppy power adapter cable - one pin pushed out! I was wondering why that motor never spun up! >_<

Tyrsonswood · Sep 30, 2009, 06:30 AM

Right on..... glad you got it sorted out.

Sep 22, 2009, 03:56 AM	#1
~~CitySlicker~~ Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Posts: 183 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Floppy install? I have installed a new floppy drive and all looks well in the bios. However, in Vista it can not see the inserted floppy..always requiring to load a floppy in drive A. suggestions please?

Sep 22, 2009, 06:51 AM	#2
Tipstaff DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Toronto Posts: 5,529 Rep Power: 94 System Specs	Re: Floppy install? Best advice: double check the cable, both power and data. Make sure that the red line on the cable is facing away from the power connector (it's also the one that connects to pin 1 on the connector). If the power connector is above the data connection on the floppy drive you'll have to remove the floppy drive, and look for the numbers for the pins, which should be labeled on the PCB the pins are attached to. __________________ >><<

Sep 22, 2009, 04:33 PM	#3
~~CitySlicker~~ Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Posts: 183 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Floppy install? Power should be okay as the green floppy light comes on when accessing the floppy - it's just not seeing the disk

Sep 22, 2009, 05:27 PM	#5
~~CitySlicker~~ Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Posts: 183 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Floppy install? serveral places in the Award bios? - I am only aware of the "frontpage" (date/time etc) there it is seen as 1.44 floppy drive. Googling a bit it seems the floppy problem is quite famous with Vista and people break their fingers to make it somehow work. My wife says it's a Vista problem

Sep 22, 2009, 06:29 PM	#6
IvanV DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 3,141 Rep Power: 63 System Specs	Re: Floppy install? I don't think that the fact that it shows up in BIOS is a proof that it is plugged in properly (or at all, although I don't doubt that you did that). Does it light up when the PC is powered on? Try setting it as the primary boot device and see if it makes a noise. __________________ Feed the porkers and don't touch the buttons!

Sep 22, 2009, 06:51 PM	#7
Tipstaff DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Toronto Posts: 5,529 Rep Power: 94 System Specs	Re: Floppy install? It could be a busted cable, or a busted pin as well. Another thing to remember about the cable is that one end usually has a blocked pin (pin 5 I think), and that end is connected to the motherboard. In any case, do you have any floppies that are bootable? Such as a DOS or Windows boot floppy? If you do then it's a perfect test to see if the drive is fine. If not, if you have access to a machine that has a floppy drive on it, you could use it to create a bootable floppy, and test that out on the system. If fit boots to it, then that'll narrow down the culprit to it being the OS, or something that is being loaded within the OS. You could also grab yourself a Ubuntu install disc, burn the image, boot from it into Linux (no need to install it), and see if the floppy drive works in there. __________________ >><<

Sep 22, 2009, 07:43 PM	#8
~~CitySlicker~~ Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Posts: 183 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Floppy install? Guys, I checked with another data cable and same problem - light comes on and "no disk error" The floppy is a Sony MPF920 and google reads not good concerning failure rate with this device and this particular error. I read too it might be a compatibility issue - some write works in XP, nada in Vista! The failure spectrum for this device is discouraging..

Sep 30, 2009, 02:15 AM	#10
~~CitySlicker~~ Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Posts: 183 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Floppy install? Okay, it's working now - was the molex plug of the floppy power adapter cable - one pin pushed out! I was wondering why that motor never spun up! >_< Last edited by CitySlicker; Sep 30, 2009 at 04:20 PM.