Subj : Re: Hmmmm, Where is the floppy drive in XP? To : All From : G6JPG-255@255soft.uk Date : Thu Jan 31 2019 19:16:21 Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "J. P. Gilliver (John)" Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general Subject: Re: Hmmmm, Where is the floppy drive in XP? Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2017 15:57:37 +0000 Organization: 255 software Lines: 57 Message-ID: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain;charset=us-ascii;format=flowed Injection-Info: reader02.eternal-september.org; posting-host="50533736114ad7eb9758e4f30c119e08"; logging-data="31072"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+a6RnApjb63e64lS6DDBX2" User-Agent: Turnpike/6.07-M () Cancel-Lock: sha1:i3ol3OmKzrNvWZTHriBlQlsu1S0= Xref: feeder.eternal-september.org microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:134528 In message , gfretwell@aol.com writes: >On Tue, 14 Nov 2017 06:27:43 -0600, james@nospam.com wrote: > >>I'm not used to having a floppy drive on an XP machine. >>I plugged in a NEW floppy drive, which I just got in the mail. I used >>that twist cable which I mentioned. (twist on drive end), and connected >>the power cable. Everything is plugged in properly. >> >>I am not seeing the A: drive in My Computer. >> >>I am not sure where else it should show up. >> >>I confirmed this drive works by plugging it into the existing cables >>connected to the internal floppy drive and it works fine. I read, wrote >>and formatted a floppy. To clarify: your computer already had a floppy drive, and connecting the new drive in its place, works. So how are you connecting it when it _doesn't_ work, presumably with the (new?) cable-with-a-twist you mention? To the same place on the motherboard as the existing one? If the existing one has a cable with no twist, which side of the twist are you connecting? >> >>In XP, I went to control panel, hardware, and I can see the floppy >>listed. It says it's working fine. >> >>I went to the command line, and typed A: >>It says "Invalid drive specification". Even with a (formatted OK) floppy in? >> >>The only thing I can think is that maybe that cable is defective??? >> (Possibly, though I'd have thought it wouldn't show in control panel. Does it show a drive letter there [I presume you mean Device Manager]? Does it show a drive letter for C: there?) > >5 wire twist or 7 wire twist? >Do you have the power cable plugged it? I did wonder that too (-: >Did you boot the machine? >Does it spin on the boot? Good question: many BIOSes have a setting for whether it should try the floppy on boot; turning it off saves time (and arguably wear on the drive, though minimal). Though if there's something about that setting that's stopping it working, I'd have expected it to stop the existing one working, hence the question re how you're connecting the new one. Does its light flash - on boot? When you try to access it? At any other time? -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf "If just one child is saved, then we'll have created a police state for the benefit of just one child." --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1 * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013) .