Using a Floppy Disk Drive via USB?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ย. 2018
- Hi vintage tech enthusiasts!
In this video I show an adapter card that I found to connect all the 3.5" Floppy Disk Drives to a modern PC via USB!
I really didn't know it was possible before a few months ago, or... Well... I've seen a video from LGR who showed a controller card from KryoFlux, but this card was more for diagnostics, maintenance and advanced operations than just for moving files back-and-forth from Floppy disks and general use, other than being way more expensive!
I've found this card for around 9 EUR on AliExpress, link below: www.aliexpress.com/item/USB-C...
I wanna say THANK YOU to the following channels for inspiring me so much to get into vintage tech stuff ;)
- LGR (Lazy Game Reviews)
- The 8-Bit Guy
- Adrian's Digital Basement
- Tech Tangents - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
I HAVE BEEN WANTING THIS FOR SO LONG!!! OMG YOU ARE MY NEW HERO! SORRY FOR CAPS BUT I AM SUPER EXCITED!!!
Your reaction was the same as mine when I discovered about it haha, I'm happy you found my video useful!
I already bought one of those usb floppy drives (the small ones), and you're absolutely right. they are so unreliable! If i write a file on the disk, i cannot be sure that the drive will read it back even without removing the disk!
I'm gonna order one of these right now. Thank you.
I'm interested in this because I have a box of unused floppy disks that I want to label Death Star Plans, put a jpeg blueprint in, and just leave it in places.
Legend! Do it while they are cheap.
Where can I obtain the double-female power connector? Thank you, Chris.
My dream is to have a sleeper pc with all flagship modern parts like a 9900k and 2080ti but all with green, red, or blue pcbs, swap out all of the heatsinks and shrouds with ancient looking alternatives, remove the heat spreaders from some high speed low latency ram, and swap it with some of those crazy heat pipe ram coolers, the same style heat spreader for the m.2 nvme drives, an old fashioned sound card with a game port, 10gb nic, wireless card, and then some legacy port cards like parallel and serial, all with green, blue, or red pcbs all matching with the motherboard and gpu. Stuff it inside of a beautiful solid steel full tower case with 3.5 and 5.25 floppy drives, a Blu-ray reader, a blu-ray writer, a Zip drive, a super floppy drive, a jazz drive, and a tape drive reader all up front. I want to paint all of the blue USB ports white so they look legacy, build custom flat cables for all of the drives, mod a modern titanium rated psu to be non modular and use ketchup and mustard cables, and finish off everything by opening up modern hdds to look like those old raptor hard drives. To complete the look I would create adaptors for the display ports and hdmi ports that make them look like legacy ports with screw locks. Add a loud pc speaker, and complete the look with a model m keyboard, and a 2k high refresh rate crt monitor and some Roland speakers and mixer. Oh and don’t forget the turbo button. I would want to somehow get the turbo button working, where depending on the mode you set, it will load up different versions of windows on start up with different parts of the cpu disabled to allow it to play older games (if I could even get something like that working). I would love to see the look on someone’s face when they ask to use my computer and I direct them to that, and they think it won’t be fast enough to check their twitter feed. Little do they know it’s faster than anything they have ever used.
But I also have the dream of building my childhood dream computer from 1999-2000 and making a ricer pc out of the original hardware. Mill out custom gpu block, full motherboard block and reservoirs, motherboard armor to hide its age, custom ram water blocks, custom sleeved cables, hidden zip and 3.5 floppy drives, a slim slot loading optical drive, all inside a custom tempered glass case with thick radiators and rgb fans (even though I hate rgb). Add in adapters that let you have usb c, hdmi, wireless/bt, etc. you could have someone use that computer and it looks like it should be faster than the sleeper pc. So fun.
Another easy way to read floppy disks both 1.44mb aswell as 720k on modern systems is to get one of the floppy drives that came with the dell inspiron 8500/8600 series laptops it has a usb microb connection on the side so it can be used standalone and it supports 720k floppy disks.
this is all fine and dandy but what about the slot connectors on 5.25 inch drives? can't seem to find the solution therefor at a glance...
I think I need one for backing up all of my old floppy disks. Games, Photos and Doc.
I have an old Toshiba 3.5”/USB drive, cir 2004. It works perfectly. They quit putting floppy drives on laptops and you needed a floppy/USB to flash the BIOS. Like I said it works perfextly and I only use 1.44 disks.
Your floppy could be placed in a hard drive enclosure. They have the 5 and 12 volt power avaiable. You would have to change the IDE to your floppy controller.
I have a Floppy Disk Drive mobile (HP F2013A) and a DB36 to USB converter cable. How can I configure this device (HP F2013A) to work with this cable (DB36 to USB)?
I've done a lot of research on the internet, but I can only get information to set up printers.
Action starts at 5:00
Correction
Action starts at 12:25.
will this work with dosbox?
Ciao Paolo, ho acquistato l'interfaccia USB descritta ,rileva la presenza del floppy drive che gira , ma non legge ne scrive .Io uso Windows 7 Pro ,ho provato con 4 diversi drive e con tanti floppy sia da 720 che da 1,44 Mb ,nulla da fare ,gira un po' e poi chiede di formattare il disco perche'non lo trova ,faccio partire la formattazione c'e la tabella di inizio procedura da windows ,ma poi niente .Secondo te puo' dipendere dal sistema operativo?Forse con Win XP o addirittura W98 potrebbe funzionare?Grazie !
How can I run my 1994 floppies on my pc dell windows 10. The disk are a flight simulator. I also have a DOS OS/2, version 3 ready for install.
Can you make a 5.25” floppy USB drive?
PLEASE PABLO
You could also run a FTP server on your lan, and connect to any computer via a hub/switch, the filetransfer would be much faster; you can use a small laptop as file server, or spare computer with any linux flavor. I think DOS supports FTP quite well.
Thanks for the video! Just got my adapter card at Amazon (where it costs $19), and I wasn't sure which way around I was supposed to plug it in the floppy drive, so your video helped.
P.S. I found my floppy drive at a recycling point for old electronics, so when I discovered an old desktop case, dating back to maybe around 2005ish, with the floppy drive (model number JU-256A198PCR) still attached to it, I decided to... appropriate it for myself. >:D Now, I just need to get my hands on some floppy disks and on an old PC case that has slots for floppy and CD drives.
Stavo per ordinare questa schedina su Aliexpress, poi ho letto alcuni pareri negativi di gente che riferiva "periferica USB non riconosciuta" ma se mi confermi che è valida, penso che la ordinerò. Grazie per il video esplicativo.
does any 1 here know where to buy (get) a fluorescent floppy disk drive cover case (enclosure) from?? thanks...............
I wonder if the floppy disk drive will be compatible with a new 64bit operating system.
where can I find that 4 pin floppy cable?
Hi
They give it to you with the usb adapter.
Paolo M.
Wher do you get it from
For who are planning to add the floopy permanently to the tray, I would recommend swapping the usb connector to pin connectors for the pin headers on MB (the lines are the same 5V+, D+, D-, GND)
Muy bueno. Felicitaciones
Il computer lo rileva cone disco Floppy oppure come disco di memoria? Ho un software che scrive solo direttamente su floppy e vorrei usare questo adattatore collegato all'emulatore gotek per scrivere su chiavetta. Grazie!
Ciao, lo vede come drive floppy :)
@@PaoloMarcelli Grazie per la risposta! Gentilissimo ✌️ procedo
"A:\ is not accessible. The disk media is not recognized. It may not be formatted." multiple pc's and different floppies to try and get it working. Using an old sony floppy drive. Any ideas on how to get it working?
Maybe the floppy drive needs to be serviced and cleaned, Adrian's Digital Basement has a few videos on how to service Floppy Disk Drives. I'd start with a head cleaning and see if some of the moving parts are dirty/stuck or not lubricated. That of course if you haven't tested the drive on other systems and know it works, and you don't have another drive to test.
it works great i have 2 of them
Nice IBM Model M at the background
Thank you!
will this work on HP ENVY Desktop--Intel Core i7 desktop using windows 10?
Just plugged it in a Laptop running on Win 11 (ver 22H2) and seems to be working just fine. I don't have any floppies at hand, but the drive appeared on my Explorer and attempting to access the empty drive makes the drive make its read attempt noises and the activity light lit up.
Can I connect 5'25 floppy drive to this?
I think you can't because the firmware on the board doesn't allow you to select what type of drive you have connected, it expects a 1.44MB 3.5" disk drive.
is that an old IBM clicky ps2 keyboard (with no windows key) lol. I have one of these, on a side note I also have (stored away) a double-deck floppy drive, a 5 1/4 drive, and a 3 1/2 drive connected together shows up as drive A and B
Is there no modern motherboard with floppy support :(
True, and I wish they made at least some lower end with the FDD connector
if you connect 2 of those adapters with floppy's you you get A: and B: at the same time ?
Yes I suppose, it's like when you connect two USB floppy drives!
@@PaoloMarcelli thanks I am planning to put one 5.25" connected on the regular FDD controller, and the second 3.5"with this adaptor to USB header inside, because my "new" motherboard supports only one foppy 360K, 1.2M, 1.44M, 2.88M
Hi one question ...que placa usast
Hi! Could you please ask it in english? XD
Will it also work on a 3 inch floppy disk drive as well?
The drive I'm using in the video is a 2.5" and it's the only size that board works with :/
@@PaoloMarcelli did you test it to make sure? because they both use the same adapter so i would think it should work.
@@PaoloMarcelli is`t that a 3.5 inch drive?
common size was:
8 inch
5.25 inch
3.5 inch!
hello genius I'm looking for that but for 5 1/4 diskettes I want it to be Usb Do you have any idea if that exists?
Hi! I think this is compatible only with 3.5" drives :/ I'm not aware of the existance of one of those for 5.25" drives. There's the KryoFlux but it's way more expensive.
Available but expensive:
shop.deviceside.com/prod/FC5025
And read-only
Where do I get the adapter..?
Please read the description...
if you think that the IBM model M is a good keyboard then you should try the model F, the model M is actually the cost reduced version of the model F which has a full metal zinc housing and capcitive buckling springs instead of the membrane used on the model M
The one I have is one of the early Model M's from 1986, but I have no doubt the Model F would be far superior. I hope I'll have the opportunity to try one in the future, this model M had been donated to me by my best friend's father, and Model F prices are insane here, so... yeah...
hi, what about 5,25" disk drives??? can i do this with these?
Hi! I think this is compatible only with 3.5" drives :/
@@PaoloMarcelli oh well, does some sort of adapter exist that would make it work or do i resort to a kyroflux external floppy controller?
@@joshi_6887 I'm pretty sure even if you use a different cable that can adapt to 5.25" drives, they won't be read anyway because the firmware is only for 3.5" HD
Paolo Marcelli oh well, guess I’m going for a kyroflux!
@@joshi_6887 I'm not 100% sure it can be used as a normal drive interface, as I know it's a board used to make images for backups, read about it online before buying it :)
hi, that just work on "modern" floppydrive that use power on the side like in this video, dont try it on the those who dont have the power connection, that wont work, i just converted old ibm modell 30 - 286 ide connection that use power rail in ide cabel and change it to new floppy that have power connection on the side. just put it for u so u know about it.
Do you know if it possible read floppy 720 KB?
No !
@@michaelgro3132 and instead you are wrong my dear, inform yourself better!!
@@francescocarandina3982 You could read 720K floppy disks? I can only read 1.44MB floppy disks with this USB to 34P Adapter
this card works with usb 3.0 connection because it absorbs more than 500ma a floppy driver
why they do not update the firmware so 5.25 to work here
I don't know, but I'd love it
@@PaoloMarcelli so we cant play ultima 4 & play it head to head online😉. jkg. The 5 1/4 was so reliable holding data, but small. Never like the 3.s, but need it for a program that only can be installed with a floppy from files off cd saved. will not unlock it any other way. So I keep a trash can full of old cables, floppy drives. Glad they made this adaptor, thx for video. Knew one day someone make something. Not sure why 3.s dont hold data like the 5's. Seem like a way better protected disk. Seems like disks are going to be rare also. Double density to me was only on 5's, for writing to both sides. 3's didnt think both sides available. Unfortunately, I sold my commodore functioning that had disk doctor and few other disecting cleaning disk scan functions for 5"s. Even had some functions of chip/computer scanning. Someone would have to knowledge how to extract of coarse. Just didnt see need to keep it anymore. Around 200 floppys worth. I cant remember exactly since stroke, but their was a way to adapt a newer cable. Thinking 2 less pins, printer cable. Ill look on my older computers see if I can have son figure it out. Rarely around, so gonna take time. Could be just power cable. I just kept all the old stuff, what all you guys having problems with? lol uh oh, 128 miiight have all the 64's, id have made copies. rut row.. dammit ur video distracted me, how i get here. Ill check it out. oh ya ultima 4. lol
The connector type you see on the back is called an "IDE" for the data. The four pin connector for power is called a "molex". IDE / Molex was the typical connector ribbon type for CD , HDD, floppy drives through the 90's. The ribbons generally were very flat and wide compared to SATA.
I think the IDE connector is only for optical drives, hard drives and some high capacity floppies such as the Zip (40pin IDE). The 34pin cable connector though I don't think it's called IDE, as far as I remember...
@@PaoloMarcelli yep, you're right! I had thought they were the same but they're not. Also it's not molex for power like I thought it's a "Berg" connector. Thx for the info.
How much for that keyboard?
I got it for free, it was property of my best friend's dad and he gave it to me :) that keyboard has an extreme value to me for this reason other than it's one of the best keyboards ever made :) IBM Enhanced Keyboard 1986
LUL
È disponibile il video in italiano?
Ciao!
Purtroppo no, perché i video che faccio in inglese raggiungono un pubblico mediamente più ampio.
Generalmente però ho soltanto mostrato come utilizzare un'unità FDD in un PC recente con l'adattatore da FDD a USB :)
Puoi acquistarlo da qui se può interessarti: it.aliexpress.com/item/USB-Cable-to-34pin-Floppy-Interface-Adapter-PCB-Converter-Board-driver-board/32868879944.html
Paolo M.
@@PaoloMarcelli Certo, mi interessa eccome. Ti ringrazio tanto per avermi risposto. Con la scusa volevo dirti che mi piacciono molto i video che fai, continua così. Un grosso saluto e un grosso in bocca al lupo ;)
Rispondo sempre :)
Grazie mille!
@@PaoloMarcelli Ciao. Sai se, per Caso, funziona anche con un Raspberry Pi ? Grazie! :-)
Took to long to get to the punch line, I left
Waiting for him to talk about putting his garden in, this spring.
5:14 to get going? You can do better.
A very boring tutorial. You don't go straight to the point. Good points though