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External 5.25" Floppy Drives?

Posted by Cliff on from the nostalgic-for-old-media dept.

R2.0 writes "Are there any external 5.25" FD's out there? My wife and I have a number of old 5.25" floppies with all sorts of interesting stuff from school - she had a Kaypro, and Lehigh had just gotten hundreds of Zenith PC's. In the interest of archival record keeping (Ok, I'm a packrat), I'd like to get this stuff off the old floppies and onto my HD, and then maybe onto CD-R. Problem: I'm out of 5.25" bays in my Dell, so I can't just put in one of those handy combo 3.5"/5.25" drives. And I can't just pop the CD player out, pop in an old drive, and do everything in one batch - I need to be able to do this a couple of disks at a time, between changing diapers, etc. Can anyone suggest an external solution to my problem? Parallel, serial, or USB; homebrewed or purchased." Ah, the endless problem of preserving data from old media. Due to the lack of use that 5.25" drives have had in the past 10 years, this might be a very hard-to-find item. Is anyone making 5.25" drives anymore?

52 comments

  1. I've got one... by JMZero · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've got an external "386" device (I paid like 1000 dollars for it) that I'd sell. It connects via the parallel port, or ethernet with the right drivers. As a bonus, it has 40 MEGABYTES of its own "hard disk" space and is a combo 3 1/2, 5 1/4, CD Drive.

    -Dave

    --
    Let's not stir that bag of worms...
    1. Re:I've got one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I paid like 1000 dollars for it

      I hope you didn't buy that recently.
      A funny and imformative post (all in one) none the less!

  2. Where to buy 5.25 floppy by erpbridge · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Got to Pricewatch, and do a search for Floppy Drives 5.25. I see about 5 places offering drives for about $5-10 US.

    1. Re:Where to buy 5.25 floppy by Phork · · Score: 3, Informative

      but that doesn't answer the question. He is looking for an external drive, those are internal drives.

      --
      -- free as in swatantryam - not soujanyam.
    2. Re:Where to buy 5.25 floppy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Due to the lack of use that 5.25" drives have had in the past 10 years, this might be a very hard-to-find item. Is anyone making 5.25" drives anymore?

      I'd say that it does answer Cliff's question at the end of the article. Also, all he really needs to do is run a floppy ribbon and power out the back of his case to make the drive external. That, or find a box, and put a 5.25 drive in it (having an external box with no drive to put in it is kinda useless.)

  3. I did the same thing... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ...a few years back. I just stuck an old 5.25" drive in my machine and tried to do it all at once over a few weeks. I never did quite finish and now I'm in the same boat as you. However, I do have some old PC's sitting around.

    I pulled a working 386 out of the trash at work about a year ago. I'm thinking I could use the floppy drive on there and dump everything to the 100-some-old MB IDE harddrive and just plug that in to my regular machine to copy them all off... or pop an old network card into it, but that's probably too much work. I've also got pcAnywhere and that funky yellow parallel cable that came with it.

    The advantage I have is that I have quite a bit of old hardware sitting around. If you can't find a new drive, go to a computer consignment shop and pick one up. Or possibly even get an old '386 machine (or so) for less than $100 bucks.

    I don't know what the current availability of 5-1/4" drives is, but it's not too hard to get ahold of old computers these days. It seems almost everyone's got an old clunker in the closet or basement that you could borrow.

    Good luck!

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    1. Re:I did the same thing... by NevarMore · · Score: 1

      Good luck to you. Several associates and myself have all had problems using old HD's, even IDE, in newer PCs. The ones that stand out are 386 salvage, a Maxtor 345MB and a hefty 40mb seagate. The BIOS seems to find them ok but windows and at least one flavor of linux had a fit when we got to the OS load.

      Damn I wish i got that seagate to work, it was only 40MB but it was still good (worked on the 286 it was pulled out of) and was built like a brick shithouse.

  4. "External" drive by psergiu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    - Get an internal 5" drive
    - get a really long floppy cable (up to 0.75m is ok) (ar extend/build one yourself - 34 wires)
    - get 2 molex power connectors (one male on female) and 4 wires and build an "power extender"
    - remove an ISA/PCI cover plate
    - pull the floppy and power cable trough there
    - connect to the drive outside the case
    - use duct dape as you see fit.
    - do not use near strong EM fields.

    --
    1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
    1. Re:"External" drive by StandardDeviant · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I used styrofoam and duct tape to mount an extra HD on a machine once. Worked pretty good (of course, it was an oooollllddd and veeerrry slooooow HD so I doubt it heated up much). If you need a 5.25" floppy, the guys over at compgeeks.com have them for $5.

      --

      News for Geeks in Austin, TX
  5. external by AnalogBoy · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Just get a really, really long ribbon cable, and a really, really long power cable, and sit a drive outside the PeeCee. Take the case off to make it easier on you, if this is temporary. (just point a big fan at the computer).

    While we're at it, I want an altair.

    Do they make linux for the altair, yet? :)

  6. USB 3.5 external floppy conversion by Ledge · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With a 5.25 floppy drive, this, a screwdriver, and some duct tape to make the resulting product more attractive, you could have one. If you happened to have one of those old IBM floppy drives that were both a 5.25 and a 3.5 in one, you'd have something worth keeping.

    --
    If it ain't a Model M, it's a piece of crap.
  7. Doh! by Bamfarooni · · Score: 1

    I just threw away an external SCSI 5.25" floppy drive. I picked it up for the enclosure ($10) at a local computer graveyard. Had you posted a month ago, I'd have sent you a xmas present.

    -- Bamfarooni

  8. Get a Dual unit or just take your CD-ROM out... by jsimon12 · · Score: 1

    Get a dual 3.5/5.25 unit (assuming your floppy is wastefully mounted in a 5.25 bay). Or it sounds like you have a stack of 5.25's, just remove your CD-ROM/DVD for a night or two and copy them all over. Or if you feel you really need to have this 5.25 all the time, either get yourself a long floppy cable to replace your existing floppy cable and a couple of power cable extenders and just run the floppy external. Or find a SCSI floppy, but that might be too hard since I don't think you have any SCSI adapters. Or just get a real computer, you know one without a namebrand on the outside.

    As for the question of whether 5.25's are still made, I am sure Teac or somebody still pops out a few 5.25's and if they don't I am sure there are millions upon millions that are disused and availble for a pittance.

    FLAME BAIT
    I have to say this, has the viewing audience of Slashdot gone so mainstream that it is to this level where "Ask Slashdot" posts are about very very basic hardware and software questions? Whats next? "Where is the Any key" Or "I don't have any memory left in my computer"? "How do I delete files"? "Why does my Windows keep crashing?". FLAME BAIT

    1. Re:Get a Dual unit or just take your CD-ROM out... by Steve+B · · Score: 1
      Get a dual 3.5/5.25 unit (assuming your floppy is wastefully mounted in a 5.25 bay).


      Why on earth would you make such an unlikely assumption? The only time I've ever seen a 3.5 mounted in a 5.25 bay is in one of those combo plates that have USB and/or FireWire front ports in the extra space. It doesn't make sense to swap out such a unit for a dual 3.5/5.25 either permanently (you'd lose the front ports) or temporarily (in that case, just mount an old 5.25 until the disks are read and forget the 3.5/5.25 "dual" feature).

      --
      /. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
  9. Don't this sound familiar...... by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We still have several control units on the mainframe that read their microcode off of a 5.25" disk that's held in each unit. I remember not too long ago we ran around the campus like mad trying to find a PC with a drive in it because we thought we had a bad microcode disk. Turns out, we didn't but we even resorted to "trying" to boot a old IBM PC (NO stinking AT in back of it....this was an original 8086 based PC). Needless to say, that OLD machine would not even power up. What are we still doing with that OLD machine? It's in our Network/PC Services Manager's office in his museum consisting of that PC, a old IBM proprinter and I even think the ex director of the Data Center gave him a piece of original magnetic core memory from our first IBM 360 mainframe! Pretty amazing eh?

    To anwer your question, I think it would be best to setup a direct cable connect with an older machine to do this. Do newer ATX boards even support 5.25" floppy drives?? This way you can setup a script or something to read all of the disks (2 or more if you have that many drives) onto the hard drive then send em over to the newer machine with the CDR. I have a similar issue in that I got some disks I used when I built my 8085A trainer. It has all of the ROM code on them as well as my Senior Project code (although that code would be useless since I don't even have the hardware for the project anymore...I still have the 8085A). These disks were written on a HP 9000 system and I don't even think a PC could read them. Oh well. I don't intend on blitzing the code in the rom and I think if I ask, I could get access to their new rom burning stuff they have now (I bet it's on normal PC's now....). It would be nice to build a little rom burner for my PC and use the ole 8085A to control a Christmas Light display.

    --

    Gorkman

    1. Re:Don't this sound familiar...... by DeadMeat+(TM) · · Score: 3, Informative
      Do newer ATX boards even support 5.25" floppy drives??
      Yes. It all depends on the floppy cable; you need one with a large connector, and most PCs/motherboards ship with cables that only have the smaller connectors for 3.5" drives. But if you can dig up a cable with the right connectors (or get one at Radio Shack) then it should work.

      The biggest problem you might have is that a lot of 5.25" drives either are fixed as the first floppy drive, or have jumper settings that are long-lost. So you hook up your 5.25" as the first floppy and 3.5" as the second, and then swap them in the BIOS.

      Incidentally, I recently built a 1.2 GHz Athlon box with a 5.25" drive by special request of the customer. It does work, and yes, even Windows 98 and 2000 support it. (Dunno about XP, but I'd presume so since it works with Windows 2000.)

      (This is a little OT, since the orignal poster asked about external drives, but he can always do this and just sit the drive outside of the case somewhere, assuming this isn't supposed to be a permanent solution. Or he could just buy a bigger case.)

    2. Re:Don't this sound familiar...... by penguinboy · · Score: 2

      Turns out, we didn't but we even resorted to "trying" to boot a old IBM PC (NO stinking AT in back of it....this was an original 8086 based PC)

      Nope - 8088. At 4.77 Mhz.

    3. Re:Don't this sound familiar...... by pyite · · Score: 1

      Well jumpers arent even that much of a problem... Figure you might have a block of six pins with one jumper. 6 choose 2 is what, 6! / 4!2! = 720 / 24 * 2 = 720 / 48 = 15 possibilities. And we musn't forget that only linear combinations are possible so that brings our total down. Then again... if its a block of ten pins then we might have problems: 10 choose 2... 10! / 8!2! = 45 possibilites. Still not bad.

      --

      "Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman

    4. Re:Don't this sound familiar...... by ThePixel · · Score: 1

      Nope - 8088. At 4.77 Mhz.

      There was also an 8086 before the 8088. the 8086 also ran at 4.77 MHz. the 8088 came in 4.77 an 10 MHz versions.

      --
      People see the world as they are, not as it is.
    5. Re:Don't this sound familiar...... by penguinboy · · Score: 2

      Right. But IBM used the 8088 in their original PC (Model 5150).

    6. Re:Don't this sound familiar...... by Yottabyte84 · · Score: 1

      I've never seen a two row dip that had you put in jumpers any way other then perpendicular. And you usualy need only two jumpers at the most.

  10. Is the data still there? by Molina+the+Bofh · · Score: 4, Informative

    There are good chances your data has been corrupted and your quest is merelly a waste of time. Magnetic media will only last a few years. There's no way to tell the exact life expectancy of the media, as it depends, among others, on the conditions if was stored. Here's how to store. Temperature should be below 70F and humidity below 70% if you wanted to preserve data for a long time. According to this, the floppy disks should last from 5 to 10 years.

    --

    -
    Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
    1. Re:Is the data still there? by psergiu · · Score: 2

      My box of 100 5.25" floppys used in my 286 from '91 till '95 are still 100% readable and useable !

      I cannot say the same about the 3.5" ones. I never used again an 3.5" drive to flash my bios since a brand new 3.5" diskette made me 'happy' with an "BIOS CHECKSUM ERROR" post message.

      The old disks are better - the new ones SUCK ! We want our old trusty floppyes which you could rewrite dozens of times without fear of data loss !

      --
      1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
    2. Re:Is the data still there? by trash+eighty · · Score: 1

      it might be ok, i got a load of 5.25" floppies for an Apple //c yesterday, they all date from 1984-5... and so far work fine! maybe Apple DOS is more durable ;)

    3. Re:Is the data still there? by stilwebm · · Score: 1

      I imagine it also has something to do with the fact that those disks were single sided (some of the disks double sided, with a notch on it near the label, but the Apple //c original drives only read one side at a time) and could only store 140KB per side. I remember drooling over the thought of getting 800KB on a 3.5" floppy. Just think how many Dazzle Draw pictures that would store!

      Anyway, I had similar results with my //c disks a few years back, they all seemed to be in perfect reading order except for one that looked like it had something spilled on it (didn't even try that one).

  11. Have it hang out by Chacham · · Score: 5, Funny

    If its only a temporary solution you seek,

    there is no reason for it to be sleek.

    Just open the case, put the drive on the floor,

    and close it all up when you need it no more.

    --
    Have you read my journal today?
  12. easy by spacefrog · · Score: 4, Informative


    First, get a powered 5.25 drive box. So many of these were used for external SCSI CDROM drives, that they can be had for almost nothing. A quick ebay search turned up this beut, which you can "buy now" for $15.00



    Acquire your floppy drive. Once again, ebay makes this easy.



    Remove the CDROM drive and rear SCSI centronics connector from the drive box. Mount the floppy drive in place of the CDROM. Discard CDROM.



    Remove slot cover from PC. Run floppy data cable out the gaping hole and through the gaping hole in the back of the drivebox.



    Done



    Almost all 5.25" drives use a card-edge connector. No floppy cables seem to have these anymore. The easiest way to get the adapter is usually to buy a 3.5" floppy drive "mounting kit" most of which still include the little adapter.



    You will probably have cable-length issues if you want to leave your internal floppy connected at the same time. You can solve this by having a custom cable made, finding an extension cable, or buying a 5.25"/3.5" combo drive (once again, ebay has several) and just leaving the internal drive disconnected (or remove it) for now. Most of the combo drives take an IDC header (as opposed to card-edge), so you won't have to find an adapter or old floppy cable, either.



    This entire adventure will end up costing you roughly $30 and some time. If you are competent with a screwdriver, I would estimate 60 minutes from start to finish once you have all the pieces.



    Have fun.

  13. 5.25" seems more durable than 3.5" by DivideByZero · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was rummaging through a fistfull of disks, and I found that my 5.25" disks from several years earlier were in generally better shape than 3.5" disks that were newer. DD disks tend to last longer than HD disks, of course, because the spread isen't as bad.

    YMMV. IANAMF (I am not a Magnetic Field)

  14. Whatever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can't beleve this is on /. let it go...
    What a moron.

  15. PS/2 by Craig+Maloney · · Score: 2

    "Upgrade" to an IBM PS/2. They have an external floppy available with a really weird connector. :)

    Good Luck!

    1. Re:PS/2 by glens · · Score: 1

      Like I picked up at Goodwill the other day. A model 30 8088 (or was that 8086?) w/20 MB hard drive, 3-1/2 internal floppy and 640K RAM, the funky mouse, MCGA monitor, perfect model M keyboard, and the 5-1/4 external floppy, with all cables and connectors. I haven't been able to test the external floppy for want of a disk, but all other aspects pass IBM's system checks with flying colors. Museum quality, IMO. $29.99 + 5% sales tax.

    2. Re:PS/2 by Craig+Maloney · · Score: 2

      You're in luck. I think the Model 30 had a sporty 286 in it, not just an 8088. Not that it really matters, but you can feel smug in knowing you have a 286. :)

    3. Re:PS/2 by bill.sheehan · · Score: 2
      Nope. The PS/2 Mod 30 had an 8086. The Mod 50 had the '386.

      I set up a network of PS/2 Mod 30's running Arcnet and Banyan VINES. My God, I'm old!

  16. Wow, are YOU an Optimist! by Ocelot+Wreak · · Score: 1
    And what makes you think you'll be able to read the files off those old diskettes after all these years, even if you do find a 5 1/4" drive??? [But I DO hope you have success, even though your odds are not great. Please report back on your progress!]

    --
    "I figure you're here 'cause you need some whacko who's willing to stick his finger in the fan. So who are we helping?
  17. eBay rocks! by qurob · · Score: 0, Redundant

    http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem& item=1319992444

  18. There's this thing called a search engine. by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 3, Insightful

    For God's sake, USE IT!

    Google is your friend.

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  19. check ebay. by mosch · · Score: 2
    before you ask slashdot, check ebay.

    http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPIC ommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&que ry=external+5.25+drive

    1. Re:check ebay. by IntlHarvester · · Score: 2

      And what would he find? A bunch of Apple ][ parts which probably won't do what he wants.

      And one (1) IBM PS/2 part that IIRC uses the only thing remotely standardized as an external floppy connector -- A giant DB connector with something like 35 pins. Let me know if you have a PC with one of those plugs around :)

      (IBM also had/has a much smaller ThinkPad floppy connector, and you might be able to find a 5.25" drive for one of those. But good luck...)

      --
      Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
  20. Other way by kruczkowski · · Score: 2

    I think that the best solution would be to get an old 486 throw in a ISA nic and just install Linux or *BSD on it and just copy the files over.

    Besides after you done you have a PC to play with.

    --
    hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5
  21. Might have one available by hob42 · · Score: 1

    I have something that may just fit the bill, although I've never tested it. It is a relic, and it's a ribbon-cable connection, but it has a case and it's own power supply. No brand name on it, and I never could track down any reference on the net to anything like it.

    I picked it up for free, to complement my computer museum. I'd be happy to loan it out however long it's needed, for shipping costs. I'd have to take a little time to hook it up and make sure it really is a PC part and not some other 8-bit accessory, but the connector looked promising.

    Email me if you're interested.

    -jupo

  22. These guys will take care of you by iforgotmyfirstlogon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Problems with your 5 1/4" floppy? These guys can help you out!

    --
    "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love." -Turkish Proverb
  23. read some emulator faq's by carleton · · Score: 1

    1) Are you sure your PC can read the old formats? I know nothing of kaypro, but based on personal experience and Apple II emulator FAQ's, PC's can't read Apple II floppies. (Apple tweaked the reading such that a 720k Dos 3.5 floppy held 800k of Apple formatted stuffage)

    2) Do you have the OG computers? Again, based on the Apple II emulator FAQ's, it may be easier just to read the floppies on the original computer and send it out over the serial/parallel ports?

  24. My collection of 5.25" disks... by dead_penguin · · Score: 2

    After seeing this post, I decided to see what *I* still have kicking around on old floppies. The shoebox of 3.5" disks has the ususal assortment of crap-- Doom1, Windows 3.1, and some disks with drivers on them for hardware that's long extinct.

    In a deep corner of a closet I found the following gem: Leisure Suit Larry 1 and 2, both in the original boxes. Methinks it's time to dig out an old 5.25" drive from the parts box and see if I can get it up and running in a dos emulator. Alas, I may have to follow some of the advice posted elsewhere here to install the drive. Turns out that I've also run out of space on the front of my case.

    Thanks, Slashdot, you've found me a great way to kill time for the evening!

    --

    It's only software!
    1. Re:My collection of 5.25" disks... by GiMP · · Score: 2

      Actually, these will play in linux. The first two leisure suit larry games, and possibly the 3rd.. were interpreted.

      This interpreter for Xwindows will play those classic games (and more)o your unix platform of choice. http://freesci.linuxgames.com/

  25. Commentary. by saintlupus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    FLAME BAIT
    I have to say this, has the viewing audience of Slashdot gone so mainstream that it is to this level where "Ask Slashdot" posts are about very very basic hardware and software questions? Whats next? "Where is the Any key" Or "I don't have any memory left in my computer"? "How do I delete files"? "Why does my Windows keep crashing?". FLAME BAIT

    No, though I suppose it has gotten so "mainstream" that you can't be bothered to read the fucking question. To wit, he writes:

    Problem: I'm out of 5.25" bays in my Dell, so I can't just put in one of those handy combo 3.5"/5.25" drives.

    To which you respond:

    Get a dual 3.5/5.25 unit

    Amazing. Not even an article to link to, the whole thing is right here, and yet you _still_ manage to both not read it properly and then bitch about how stupid people are becoming here on Slashdot.

    Hey, have you met my good friend the kettle? Y'all the same color, you see.

    --saint

    1. Re:Commentary. by jsimon12 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Read the entire statement concerning the combo unit, I qualify it by saying it will only work if Dell mounted a 3.5 in a 5.25. Ahhhhh I have to call hypocrite on you for not reading my full response.

    2. Re:Commentary. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please don't post to Slashdot again. Ever.

    3. Re:Commentary. by jsimon12 · · Score: 1

      Look who is posting anonymously, nimrod

  26. Run the ribbon cable out of the case by Jimithing+DMB · · Score: 1

    Back in the day I had a PCjr (my first computer). When I got it (used) it had an external floppy drive (2nd drive, original drive in the computer) both 360k 5.25". The PCjr floppy controller only supported one drive because it was a supposedly lower-cost version than the PC controller. So the whole kit consisted of (1)a replacement floppy controller, (2)a replacement ribbon cable that ran from the card to the existing internal drive and then out of the case to the back of the (3) external drive case. The external drive case contained a rather large transformer along with I think some diods (extremely basic 120VAC to +12,Earth,Earth,+5 voltages). Also mounted on the circuit board inside of this external case was a ribbon cable that connected to the drive mounted inside the case. The connector for the ribbon cable coming out of the PC to this thing was simply the edge of this board sticking out of the external case a slight bit (with an appropriate hole in the case).

    Anyway, the bottom line is that you can very simply get a longer floppy cable, run it outside the computer case somehow. This kit accomplished this by basically filing down part of the case to leave a slit for the ribbon cable to fit through. You'll probably need to figure out a more creative way.

    Of course you will need to supply power to the drive. Depending on how you can run cables out of the case, well, just run a power cable outside of it too. Or for a more professional solution actually buy an external 5.25" drive case with power supply. I am sure they exist although many of them probably have a SCSI setup. You ought to be able to find a plain one though.

    But lets assume you don't want to do that. If you can get your hands on any parallel port floppy drive then it /should/ be usable as a generic parallel port to floppy adapter. I.e. even if it currently has a 2.88MB 3.5" drive it should work with a 5.25" drive except for the fact that the cable connectors are different (though the signals are the same).

    Oh, one other thing, you mention that some of these disks were not from PCs. Hope you know how to read the filesystem on them. However some disks you just plain won't be able to read because the drive is different (i.e. Apple).

  27. Wayback Machine by Jordan+Block · · Score: 1

    Just set your wayback machine to, oh, say 6 years ago, and you'll be able to get one.