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  • #2170681

    Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

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    by locrian_lyric ·

    I have a customer who’s equipment got destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. All of his software was on 5.25 floppy disks, is there any equipment I can hook up to a 5.25 to make it work with a new (windows 8) computer? I know that once I can get the software setup, I can run DOSbox to run the software, but how do I get around the hardware issue?

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    • #2431302

      Clarifications

      by locrian_lyric ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      Clarifications

    • #2431301
      Avatar photo

      Not knowing what the replacement hardware consists of,

      by Wizard57M-TR ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      makes it a bit difficult, but I’ll make a suggestion. You might be able to find a PCI to ISA
      converter card for the new motherboard, if so you could then insert an old ISA controller
      card for a 5.25 inch floppy drive and access the floppies this way. Alternatively, and this
      may be more feasible, find an older PC, could probably find a freebie somewhere, that
      either has, or you could install one in, a 5.25 in floppy drive. I keep a couple of these
      upstairs in my tech-graveyard, hehe, just for these types of emergencies. I’ve also got
      a few ISA NIC cards that I could use to network the old beasts if needed.
      Other than that, you might be able to find some sort of connector online, maybe
      search Amazon or eBay?? However, I’m not sure on this since the technologies are
      so far removed from each other. You might also look into the feasibility of copying the
      data on those 5.25 in floppies to another media format.
      Does the replacement equipment have an IDE controller? If it does, you could be able
      to buy an IDE cable for a 5.25 in floppy drive and use the drive in a spare drive bay.
      That’s all the ideas I have at the moment…good luck!

    • #2431299

      Parallel Port

      by thechas ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      The last 5.25″ external drive I saw connected up to a parallel port.

      I would need to dig, but I think I still have an IBM PS/2 external 5.25″ drive in the box.

      I also have an old 386 system that should boot up that does have a 5.25″ drive in it.

      ebay is the only place I found any drives for sale. All the controllers I saw were ISA bus though.

      Best bet would be to check with computer recycling and resale companies in your area.

      Chas

      • #2431295
        Avatar photo

        Reponse To Answer

        by Wizard57M-TR ·

        In reply to Parallel Port

        My old IBM PS2 is a Model5500, 386 based, but the diskette drive is 3.5 in
        not 5.25. The issue with the IBM PS2 gear is it is all “MCA”, MicroChannel
        Architecture, and not really compatible with “AT” based machines.
        Somewhere in my graveyard is a couple of 386 chips, another SX CPU and 387 FPU!

      • #2431272

        Reponse To Answer

        by thechas ·

        In reply to Parallel Port

        Wizard57,
        What I have in the box is an EXTERNAL 5.25″ Floppy drive for a PS/2.
        Not a PS/2 system.

        I think it is a parallel port connection, but I would need to dig out the box and verify.

        I bought it as surplus over 10 years ago.

        Chas

    • #2431277

      Caution: IDE != floppy

      by r_widell ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      re. the suggestion by wizard57m-cnet:
      IDE cables have 40 pin connectors whereas IIRC floppies have 34 pins. They are not equivalent.

      While I concur with TheChas that external 5.25″ drives (that I remember) all connected via the parallel port, that probably won’t help with a new machine that doesn’t have such a port. Moreover, it would require a special driver which will likely only run under MS-DOS.

      I seem to recall some PCI add-in cards (sold by SIIG IIRC) which had IDE and floppy ports. You may be able to find one on eBay. You won’t have a true “external” floppy drive, but you can temporarily leave the case open and run the cables out the side.

      I also have serious concerns as to whether Win8 even knows how to talk to a floppy drive (I haven’t tried it). You may need to run some Linux LiveCD to get the hardware to work.

      ron

      • #2431276
        Avatar photo

        Reponse To Answer

        by Wizard57M-TR ·

        In reply to Caution: IDE != floppy

        Which is why I said IDE for floppy and not hard drive. The other problem
        which I too overlooked is the power supply cable. Depending on the
        model, the PSU in the new equipment might not even have a power
        connector for any floppy drive. So there is another obstacle. Might
        be able to find an adapter, haven’t checked myself, which is why I keep
        a couple of functioning older systems on hand. Then if needed I can
        use a NIC card and connect it to the network.

      • #2431270

        Reponse To Answer

        by oh smeg ·

        In reply to Caution: IDE != floppy

        Ron Win 8 can read a 3.5 Floppy as my Test Rig has one in it that I loaded 8 to and it shows up in My Computer or whatever 8 calls that now. I have copied files to the drive though it was more to see what would happen than anything else and 8 could read the floppy that it made. I’m not sure about reading disc’s made on older platforms but I can see no reason why it wouldn’t. Though running the program that is on these disc’s is another story and I very much doubt that it would even come close to working.

        As a 5.25 Floppy uses the same connection I would hazard a guess that 8 would be able to read the floppy but depending on what is actually on the floppy that in itself may not be enough as the program that is attempting to be accessed may not run on 8.

        This is why it is very important to verify that whatever you have as a Backup Option actually works as it should and is restorable to new hardware in the event of a total loss of the existing hardware.

        Col

      • #2431186

        Reponse To Answer

        by info ·

        In reply to Caution: IDE != floppy

        @Wizard57: That was the point. The IDE controller isn’t what connects to the floppy drive, it’s a separate controller (that was often on the same card) and a separate type of cable.

    • #2431274

      I saw a few some years back for laptops as USB 1.0 – but I think you may be

      by deadly ernest ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      better off using an old machine with a 5.25 floppy and CD burner to copy all the programs onto CDs to fix this now and for the future.

      The USB Floppy I saw was:

      Imation USB floppy drive, model 01946

      do a google, you may find one for sale.

      I got some old gear that works and have 5.25 floppies, but I’ve not tried using the floppies for several years.

    • #2431265

      www.floppydisk.com

      by magicbbs ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      They have at the bottom of their page that there is no such animal … Aaaarrgh!!
      I’m looking for one two and I thought I try again to see if they had something.

      “Need to read 5.25 floppies?
      There is no USB drive for 5.25 inch floppy disks.
      But, we can transfer data from your floppies”

      Will keep trying. If I find one I’ll pass on the info.

    • #2431260

      Here’s a couple of links on how to build a 5.25 floppy USB device yourself

      by deadly ernest ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      remember to remove the blank space between the dot and com

      http://www.deviceside. com/fc5025.html

      http://ascii.textfiles. com/archives/2503

      good luck

    • #2431253

      use a 3rd party company to transfer them to a more practicle media

      by banny33 ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      The easiest would be to source an old pc, or send them to a company like –

      http://www.disktransfer.co.uk/floppy-disk-data-file-transfer-recovery.php
      Enquiry@apextechnology.co.uk

      A quick search on google brought these up, i have no idea how much they charge, but I would of hoped that it is minimal. As its not a complicated process is it lets be honest.

      If i ever startup my own business, I will defo add a check, to make sure i check they arent using obsolete media, so you may have saved me a headache, so thanks for asking the question.

      … Good Luck Banny

    • #2431235

      Not as easy as plug and play but probably as easy as it will get…

      by chuck.patten ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      1. Find your local Computer Surplus / Repair store
      2. Have them locate a 3.5/5.25 inch floppy drive.
      3. Purchase the dual drive and install it in a computer that is compatible (IDE interface) or buy one from them for probably $100-$250
      4. Copy all of the 5.25″ source disks to 3.5″ Disks
      5. Purchase a Dell or Toshiba 3.5″ Laptop drive (is should have a USB miniature socket on the side. If it does, it should interface to your laptop through a normal USB1 to USB2 cable just by plugging it in and allowing windows to set it up.
      cheers,
      chuck…

    • #2431224

      I have one!

      by rpaxman ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      A few years back I purchased a USB to 5.25 floppy drive. It came without a case, but I found an old Sony case that worked. The company seems to still be in business. See their web page at http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html

      I hope this helps and good luck. Robert.

    • #2431221

      I have one, but it’s old-school

      by leonba ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      I have an old computer that can read 5.25″ disks (it sits in a corner of the office unused, but it’s always there if I should need to read some of those again). If you can’t find what you’re looking for and still need what’s on those, shoot me an email. I can get the data off those for you and send the disks back and email you the data. lordpeyre (at) yahoo.com

    • #2431215

      Do you have access to a PC that has a floppy header on the mainboard?

      by nicknielsen ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      Locate a replacement drive (eBay has a few: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=m570.l3201&_nkw=5-1%2F4%22+drive&_sacat=0). Take the drive and the data cable to the PC with a floppy header, connect the data cable between the drive and the header, use one of the Molex connectors for power, and you’re in business.

      The drive may not be useable, but you should be able to clean up the cable.

    • #2431183

      Optical method

      by steve__jobs ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      If you strip off the shell and hold the disk at just the right angle, you’ll be able to call out the 1’s and 0’s.

    • #2427393

      Adding a 5.25″ floppy to a newer computer

      by dave503 ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      1) If you have a 3.5″ non-usb drive on your computer, it may be possible to add a Teac dual drive (FD 505) that is readily available on eBay at a very modest price. The caveats: many of the current BIOS do not support 5.25″ drives at all, and some only support a single floppy (3.5″ OR 5.25″, but not both at the same time). The FD 505 uses jumpers to configure it as a single 3.5, a single 5.25, or both drives. If this doesn’t work for you, you can put out about $60 for an outboard floppy controller card from http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html that will work, even under Win8 (but you’ll have to get power from your computer or an external supply for the actual drive). The actual card plugs in to a USB 2.0 port and is port powered.

    • #2427343

      I know of NO way

      by mjd420nova ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      I have an old IBM AT running a home automation/energy monitor system. It has the 5.25. dual DS/DD and a 5.25 1.2 MB floppy. This was the top media density until IBM started the PS2 line and the 3.5 diskette 1.44 MB media. and was accompanied with the new 80386/387 chipsets. Dos was up to 4.01 until the inclusion of the coprocessor on the same substrate as the processor and needed DOS 5.0.

    • #2427296

      It’s software you want, not data?

      by silverfinger ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      I am not sure why you would go through all this trouble for software. There is nothing currently out there to replace what they were using? What are they trying to replace? If the disks had data I could understand.

    • #2427293

      Reading 5.25-inch floppies

      by n2add ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      1. I purchased a 5.25-inch floppy on eBay and installed it in an old computer and proceeded to copy my 5.25-inch disks. About 20% of the disks could not be read properly. I also did the same thing with my 3.5-inch disks. Everything I could copy is now on a CD.

      2. I tried one of those dual drives but I could never get it to work properly. I tried various combinations of the jumpers but no luck.

      3. Some computers that do have a floppy connector on the motherboard will only recognize 3.5-inch drives.

    • #2427288

      OLD 5′ FLOPPY

      by powerserver13 ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      I HAVE ONE TOO, YOU CAN HAVE, CAME OUT OF AN OLD “SYMPHONY” COMPUTER 80836/?? THE WHOLE COMPUTER WORKS GREAT, JUST NEED ANOTHER COM1 PLUG FOR A KEYBOARD.????

    • #2427092

      5 1/2 floppy drive

      by inkwell ·

      In reply to Is there any such thing as a 5.25 external USB floppy drive?

      I have an old Tandy 5 1/4 parallel port drive.
      I took the drive out of the case, and cabled it to my Athlon 2400 XP-S3 box.
      I backed up 40 5 1/4 floppy disks to one folder and fit them all with room to spare on a 4 gb usb drive. If you haven’t had any resolution and want to send them to me in Canada, I’ll do it for you, I just get a kick over how old tech seems to come to the rescue. I’d need the return postage & that’s all.

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