Reading floppy disks

I was cleaning downstairs and found a whole stack of old 3.5 floppy disks from my college days. I want to transfer these to my USB or even burn to disc. I got a USB floppy reader from my local computer shop. It says the drive works with windows, but i thought anyways to use it on my MacBook Pro, to see if it works. I put the floppy discs in, and it seems that my computer is not reading them. I can hear the USB doing something, but nothing is showing up on my desktop. Does Snow Leopard read floppy discs? Or my laptop even? Or is the stuff on these floppy disks lost forever?
Help! tanks
Jay

Before recycling the last Mac I had with a floppy drive in it four or five years ago, I used it to see whether there was still anything of interest, historical or otherwise, on the 80 or so ancient floppy discs I still had, many of them dating back to 1986 or 1987. Amazingly, I was still able to read the root directories of all but three of them. Not much was on them that I cared to save, so I didn't actually try to open or copy very many of the files, and if I had, I'm sure the success rate would have been lower. But in what I did, I had better than 95% success. I was amazed at how well those puppies had held up after all that time. I was also amazed that I had ever had the patience to sit and wait while they were read and written — gawd, are they slow!!

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Solution towards floppy disk access problems

Some computer cases have metal front plates which must be bent/removed so that one may install floppy disk drive. When one bends the metal front plate, make sure the metal front plate is bent far enough so that it CANNOT contact the floppy disk's drive.
More specifically, if one takes a look at the bottom of floppy disk drive, one may notice a circular disk which must be able to spin freely in order for the floppy disk drive to function. Now, will with some computer cases, there may be a considerable distance between the case's metal front plate and the "true front" of the computer case.
When this is true, and if the computer's "metal front plate" is not bend far enough, the metal front plate may contact the "drive" located at the bottom of the floppy disk drive, stopping it from spinning. As a result, one cannot boot to floppy, and, when one boots to Windows and places a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive, the floppy disk drive access lite stays lit and Windows Explorer prompts one to insert a floppy disk; both of which give the impression that the floppy disk drive is not functioning.
And depending upon tempuratures, etc., this may occur sometimes, but not others. And installing a new floppy disk drive, using new ribbon cable, etc. may, or may not, help; that is, except in the instance when installing new one should "happen" to bend the front metal plate a bit more than previously. But if only slightly, the problem may return again with time.
So, if one has an issue reading floppy disks, make sure any metal front plates are bent far out of the way.
Regards,
stevestechresource

I second that pterhune
I would say that this article describes handling of cheap cases as Q-tec, I know there are others as well, but some of Q-tec's cases have really cheap metal. It bends if you look hard at it

How do I get my MacBook Air w OS X Yosemite to read 2.5" floppy disks from my 512?

Legacy people help!!!! I have a Mac Book Air with OS X Yosemite and an external floppy disc drive but I can't get the MacBook to read any of my old disks--not even the program disks! How do I get it to read these disks (They were originated on a Mac 512 MANY years ago.) Trying to get my new computer to read my old disks very important data in Word 3.0 (Have original program disk)

You mean 3.5" floppy disks.
The problem is that the floppy drive in a Macintosh 512K was for 400K disks (a special Macintosh format).
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP187
A Macintosh 512Ke could use 800K.
http://support.apple.com/kb/sp188
An external USB floppy drive is not capable of handling 400K, nor 800K. There are also software limitations with modern computers.
Do you still have the Macintosh 512K? Do you have access to another Macintosh computer with a built-in floppy drive (if yes, please post back with the model and operating system)?
Jan

Impossible to read/format floppy disks

Hi,
My config is :
MSI 865PE Neo2 PFISR
P4 2.8 GHz HT enabled
Corsair Twinx 2*256 Mo Cas2
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro no OC
Hitachi 7k250 160 Go SATA
Enermax Noisetaker 370 W
AMIBIOS 3.4
Windows XP + SP1 + all latest updates (no SP2)
I've just assembled my PC. However, each time I insert a floppy disk, Windows says that the disk is not formatted (which is false). When I click on Yes to format it, I have, after some time, a message saying that Windows cannot format it (and another one saying that the disk cannot be formatted).
When I select the option "create a boot disk" to format it, I receive a message signaling an unexpected I/O error.
- I've bought a new floppy drive because I had some doubts about the old one : no change.
- I checked with another IDE : no change.
- I reversed the IDE : no change.
The device manager says that there is no problem on the Floppy disk drive.
The disks are not protectedagainst writing.
What could be the origin of the problem ?
I have not flashed the BIOS as I can't use the floppy disk drive.
Thanks for your help !
Sathor

Hi Sticks,
Yes, I had already tried to flip the IDE connector, but that was not the cause.
However, I have solved my problem !
I checked the new floppy disk drive on my old PC (PII 350) with the old IDE connector and the new one(MSI). It worked perfectly (though not at the first try). I copied and read files.
I put back the FDD on the IDE connector (MDI) and it works !
I'm really puzzled. What was really the problem ? I have tried all combinations with my 2 FDD and 2 IDE connectors several times this past week and today it works. Well, that'll remains a mystery.
Unfortunately, all is not perfect.
I have flashed the BIOS (version 3.80) via DOS.
I have set the BIOS to have the SATA recognized. Last time, I loaded defaults values, that's why I had the version 3.31a.
From time to time, I have still the problem with CoreCenter warning me about the CPU fan speed. I have not touched the fan since the assembling, so it's rather strange.
Any ideas ?

Reading Windows Floppy disks?

I am in the process of pulling the data off of my collection of floppy disks. A lot of them are the REALLY ancient 800K kind so I am using a Mac Clasic II running System 7.0.1 to access them.
The process is going well but occassionally I/ve run across a PC formatted floppy that the Mac won't read. It just says: This disk is not a Macintosh diskette. Do you want to Initiaize it?
I don't of course.
So how do I give my Classic the ability to access these PC format diskettes?
Gary

Gary,
Have a look at the Tidbits system floppy. Apple File Exchange has to be installed separately from that disk.
If you do not have the 7.0.1 system disks, it is possible to download images from Apple.
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English -North_American/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_7.0.x/
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English -British/Macintosh/System/System_7.0.1/
Jan

I have an imac i5 and have about 50 floppy disks I would love to read. I found a Sony 2x fdd floppy that connects via usb. When I connect it, nothing happens. Amy I just out of luck?

I have an imac i5 and have about 50 floppy disks I would love to read. I found a Sony 2x fdd floppy that connects via usb. When I connect it, nothing happens. The drive does not show on my monitor. Any suggestions or my I just out of luck?

Do you have Finder Preferences set to show other disks? Nothing wil show on the Desltop until you make that change:

Is there a way to view old floppy disks running Maverick?

Is there a way to view old floppy disks when running Maverick?

While there are older usb external floppy drives available I seriously doubt there are any current drivers to support them. If it is the floppy's content you want then an older pre Intel Power PC capable of running Classic environment (or mac OS9) could utilize the external floppy drive. Also consideration has to be given to the capacity of the floppies as 400k and 800k are not read by most of the later drives which would include the usb ones.

How can I boot my PXI controller into real-time without a floppy disk?

My PXI controller is in a lab which has intense magnetic fields that could corrupt the floppy disk used to boot the PXI controller into the LabVIEW Real-Time (RT) Operating System. How can I boot the PXI controller into real-time directly from the hard drive?

If you are using LabVIEW 5.1.2 Real-Time (RT), launch Remote System Explorer and select Disks >> Create Format Hard Drive Disk. If you have LabVIEW 6 RT, launch the Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX) and select Tools >> RT PXI Disk Utilities >> Create Format Hard Drive Disk (LabVIEW RT 6 has not be released yet). Once you have created the disk, boot the PXI controller with the Format Hard Drive Disk, and this will format the PXI's hard drive and install the real-time OS boot loader. Now you can reboot the PXI without a floppy disk and configure the PXI using Remote System Explorer or MAX. Be aware that this will remove all information from the hard drive, including other operating systems.

Accessing physical floppy disk drive from Windows 8.1 host machine to Windows XP SP3 hyper-v?

Hi there!
Could someone help up me? I just wanted to ask if it's possible for a hyper-v to access a physical "floppy diskette" drive?
Here's my setup: I have a Windows 8.1 as my host and Windows XP SP3 as the virtual machine. I would need to access the contents of the physical floppy diskette drive from the Windows XP SP3 vm. This is needed, because, currently our customer is still using
floppy disk drives, to most of their in-house applications. I tried to open Drive A: inside Windows XP SP3 VM while the physical diskette from the Windows 8.1 is inserted. But then again, it cannot directly access the contents. Also, I tried to use "virtual
floppy drives" and copy the files from the diskette. But for some reason, their applications do not support it. I did check device manager in Windows XP SP3 vm, but i cannot see the "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" option inside the VM.
Please help!!! Thank you!
All the best,
MS CAMPer

HI Carey, thanks for this, But this is under System Center Virtual Machine Manager. I already saw this a while ago.
Anyway, is there a way for Windows XP VM to access a physical floppy diskette drives inserted to Windows 8.1 host machine? I dont intend to use Virtual floppy disks. Only Physical ones.
Please please. Need your help guys! :( Thank you!

I've got a system 7.1 folder that contains a disk tools.image how can i put this on a floppy disk?

I got myself a PowerBook 165 that has a moved file in the system folder thats stopping it from booting up. I downloaded a system 7 disk tools.image off the internet but the only thing is that I don't know what to do know. I got a usb floppy drive that I use sometimes for my pc stuff but sice mac os 10.8 dosn't have support for HFS I can't copy the image on to the disk. I also have a imac from 2000 that can read HFS files and write them but when ever i try and use disk utility to copy the image over to the floppy disk it always gives me an error. Can someone please help me? I really want my PowerBook to work again.

Was that on the G3 iMac, under Mac OS 9.2 or 10.4?
Is StuffIt Expander installed and active? If so, you could check whether the StuffIt Expander preferences are set to mount images (choose not to instead).
Anyway, download the Network Access Disk 7.5 file (preferably when the machine is running Mac OS 9.2). Use StuffIt Expander to decode the MacBinary (.bin). The self-expanding archive (.sea) will probably open automatically (otherwise, double-click on the .sea file). Locate a Network Access.image file inside the resulting Network Access folder.
Now, try Disk Copy 4.2 under Mac OS 9.2. Do not double-click on the image file. Instead, launch the Disk Copy (4.2) program. Choose to Load Image File, and select and open the Network Access.image. Then, click on the Make A Copy button. It may or may not be possible to create a floppy this way through a USB drive.
If Disk Copy 4.2 does not work, try Disk Copy 6.3.3 (Mount Image under the Image menu) with the Network Access.image file. The mounted image will be called Network Access. Insert a floppy in the USB drive before you choose Make a Floppy from the Utilities menu in Disk Copy 6.3.3.
If the above does not work, again mount the Network Access.image file using Disk Copy 6.3.3. Open the mounted image (Network Access). Inside is a System Folder. Open this System Folder and remove all files from the three folders Apple Menu Items, Control Panels and Extensions (throw them into the Wastebasket/Trash, do not forget to empty the Wastebasket/Trash). The size of the System Folder is now somewhat smaller. Try to drag-copy the System Folder onto an empty (freshly Mac-formatted) 1.44 MB floppy disk in the USB drive. This may or may not work.
Otherwise, you may want to test the Mac OS X dd procedure (the LowEndMac article).
Alternatively, you may want to use an old Windows PC with a built-in floppy drive (and Aladdin/StuffIt Expander and WinImage).
Jan

Floppy Disk Trouble

I can't seem to get my floppy disk to work correctly. The light seems to stay on. I've tried putting a disk in slowly, no force, and the light still stays on... I tried going to my computer and clicking on drive A and waiting till it asked to insert a floppy into drive A:, I put the floppy in, and the light still stays on... I've uninstalled the driver for the floppy and reinstalled it, light still says on. I've blown inside the floppy, light stays on. And last but not least, I've tooken the floppy out and put the cables back in. Light stays on!

the most common cause of the floppy drive light staying on, is a reversed cable. Since they are not standardized, try flipping the cable around to see if that helps.

Putting pictures on System 7.1 with floppy disk created on Windows PC

Hi all, I have a Quadra 605 on system 7.1 that I've been experimenting with, would like to get some pictures transferred onto it. I tryed using apple file exchange which is on the Quadra to read a Windows DOS formatted disk with some pictures on it. I was able to copy the files from the disk to the hard drive on the Quadra using file exchange, but when I click on the icon to try to open the picture, I get a message that it can not be opened because the application program that created it can not be found. Is there something else I need to install on the Quadra to open a JPEG image or is there another way to go about doing this? I will not be able to connect the quadra to the internet, all I have is the floppy disk drive, there is no USB port either. Also, I have an iMac on system 9.2 that I copied some pictures to a floppy using the external floppy drive on the iMac. It would open the disk on the Quadra without using file exchange, but it wouldnt open the icons either - I would get the same message that the application program that created it can not be found. Anyhow, I have the iMac on system 9.2 that I can use as well if need to be.

An appropriate 68k version of the shareware program GraphicConverter could be one possibility.
http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/207/download-old-versions.html
An older web browser could be another. Try to open the file from within the application (via the Open dialogue); do not just double-click on it.
However, if not already available, one problem would be to transfer a program to the Quadra 605 if the file size is over 1.4 MB.
Some compression utilities can segment larger files for transfers on multiple floppies, but that would require compatibility on both sides.
Another way could be to use a null-modem cable between a DB-9M serial port of a Windows PC and the MiniDIN-8F Modem Port of the Quadra. The null-modem link can be created by connecting a PC-style DB-9F to DB-25F null-modem cable together with a normal Macintosh DB-25M to MiniDIN-8M hardware handshake modem cable. Normal communications software can be used on both computers (for example, the communications section of ClarisWorks on the Mac, and HyperTerminal on the PC). Do keep a Mac program file downloaded onto a PC in its encoded/compressed state (that is, hqx, bin or sit) until on a Macintosh computer.
Jan

KT4AV floppy disk not working

Hi,
I've tried several floppy disks (all of which work in other computers), and also flashed the bios to the latest version, and cleared the cmos.
What I'm still getting is this: I put a floppy disk into the diskdrive (in Windows, in DOS it seems to work... ), and get the following error: 'the disk is not formatted, whould you like to format it now?'. The disk works in other computers (tested).
I already tried the things mentioned above, and also replaced the FDD cable, and turned both the sides around (checked all possible combinations there). ...
Still, the same problem .
Has anyone had this before?
Or has anyone an idea how to solve this problem?
Thanks in advance,
Jeroen ter Heerdt

As I didn't yet get further replies...
Please help me!
I've got a new PC (see specs below), but the floppy diskdrive won't work. I tried several floppy's (that all work in another pc) and also another floppy diskdrive (that works in another pc to). I replaced the cable, and tried all possible combinations of connections.
I've also update the motherboard to the latest BIOS.
In DOS the floppy diskdrive works correctly. What can be wrong?
I've tested it in Windows XP, Windows 98 and Windows 2000, but nothing works.
Can anyone give me a clue? Should I return the motherboard?
Thanks for your reply.

External Floppy Disk Drivers

Hi all, Can anyone tell me if I buy and external floppy disk drive - compatible
with Mac... will it transfer photos to my Mac if the floppy were created on
a Windows computer?
-or-
If I put the floppy disk photos on a CD-R using a Windows computer... will
the photos on the CD transfer to /or/ be readable by my Mac computer?
-or-
Am I just wasting my time with this and I should just throw the windows created floppy disks away. I no longer own a windows computer (it died)
and all I have is my new iBook. But, I would really like to figure out how
to trasfer the photos created on my deceased Windows computer and
stored on floppy disks over to my Mac computer. I have tried one (supposedly) Mac compatible external floopy disk drive... when I loaded
the (Windows created) floppy disk, my Mac was not able to view the
photos.
Thanks in advance for your help with this! ~~ HoundDogg
iBook G4 // PowerBook6,7 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

You will probably be able to use an external floppy drive to transfer the photos to the Mac, and you can do this with a CD-R. Some floppy disk formats are not supported on all platforms, and 800KB Mac floppies cannot be used in an USB floppy drive.
(15164)

The Floppy Disk Drive

I tried to insert my floppy disk into the super drive on the right hand side of my iMac G5 but it didden't mount?

SuperDrive on a Mac G5 is for hard media such as CDs and DVD. Floppy discs denote an older style of recording media, which typicaly held no more than a megabyte of information, as opposed to a CD/700mb or a DVD/4.7gb. In any event, if you are having an issue with a CD or a DVD not showing up on the desktop when inserted, the first thing to do is to check (will be in your dock) System Preferences>CD/DVD. Use the menus there to select what applications media will open with. Also, go to Finder>File>Preferences (top of the screen menubar) and check the box which will allow media to appear on the desktop.

Reading floppy disks

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