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Solve : Is it Possible to Get 5.25" Floppy Disk Drive to Function in an XP PC??

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I have numerous single- and double-sided old 5.25" floppy disks which relate to DOS-based programs I wrote many years ago, and STILL use today.  I would like to access these disks (for source code, compilers, linkers, batch files, etc.) in order to MAKE modifications to the programs.  I have determined that the drives are still available from various sources, and some even have the necessary ribbon cables included.   I have not determined, however, whether those floppy drive ribbon (or data) cables will connect to motherboards in use on XP based machines (machines which range in AGE from perhaps three to ten years old).  Before I purchase the drive, I'd like to get a definitive answer to this question. 

So - if any of you out there have long memories, or better YET, recent related experience, and can provide an answer to this question, it would be very helpful to me.  If I remember correctly, the old floppy drives had connections from the drives which resemble PCI adapter board connections, rather than pin connections.  My hope is that the older ribbon cables use the same pin connections to the motherboard as more current 3.5" floppy drives.  Maybe there's even a way to rig an EXTERNAL version of a 5.25" drive to work just long enough for me to convert the old disks to CDs.

Thanks very much.You can put both 5.25 and 5.6 drives on the same cable.

Also,  external adapter for floppy to USB  could work.It should work fine, but that doesn't really mean it will. Try to find the newest of your 5.25" floppy drives, that's about the only advice I can say for sure.Personally, I've always had problems with the 5.6" drives. Quote from: rthompson80819 on February 06, 2010, 02:37:55 PM

Personally, I've always had problems with the 5.6" drives.
The 5.25 are much better.
A Brief History of Floppy Drives.Thanks to those who have posted.  I'm not at all familiar with 5.6" drives, and I'm almost certain that my research hasn't identified any type of adapter to convert an internal 5.25" floppy drive to USB power.  If Geek-9pm has additional info or details on this, please post it here.

Thanks again.I was just giving Geek a hard time.  I'm sure he meant to  say 3.5". Quote from: veritasffg on February 06, 2010, 03:16:53 PM
Thanks to those who have posted.  I'm not at all familiar with 5.6" drives, and I'm almost certain that my research hasn't identified any type of adapter to convert an internal 5.25" floppy drive to USB power.  If Geek-9pm has additional info or details on this, please post it here.

Thanks again.

If you want to convert it to USB power, that's easy, it runs off of a standard molex or borg plug (peripheral or floppy), interfacing the floppy PATA to USB is the hard part. Your better off hooking it up internally for a temporary setup.To Dead Reckon:

You're right of course.  Molex to USB is no problem, and I should have said exactly what you said.  Nevertheless, if adapting the 5.25" floppy drive's signal cable to USB were possible, that would simplify things for my purposes.Seems this is not as unusual an issue as i would have thought.Have a look at the site i have here http://ask.metafilter.com/19449/How-to-make-an-external-525-floppy-drive
and i believe there are a number of answers that will allow you to achieve your objective. It also deals with the likely issues that you will encounter. good luck,truenorthYou will have  problems with 5.35 floppy drives. When this happens come back here and  some old buzzard can help you. The data & power interfaces for 5.25in drives are the same as for the 3.5in drive.  3.5in form factor was derived from the 5.25.  I haven't seen one in years but I'm sure it's the same.

BIOS's support all form factors.
360K, 5.25 in
1.2M, 5.25 in
720K, 3.5 in
1.44M, 3.5 in
2.88M, 3.5 in

http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/29123485/525-floppy-drive.aspx

For Computer_Commando:

If I understand you correctly, You're saying that, if I have a floppy drive (5.25"), and a cable which correctly attaches to that drive, the other end of that cable should terminate in the same pin connector which interfaces with the more-recent 3.5" drives.  This is exactly the answer I've been looking for - but I gather that you are not completely certain of this.  Is this correct?

Thanks.  And thanks also to truenorth for the excellent information he furnished.Computer Commando is correct...The 5.25 drive has a jumper to set it as the second drive.

It may also have either a resistor pack or a jumper for termination
If you don't know what this means, just ignore it.


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