a: drive read errors

[mgodinez]

Dear Greater I.T. Intellect,

I have a troubled client (Windows XP Pro/SP1, PIII 500Mhz, 256Mb RAM, C: 7GB, D: 7GB, A: standard teac Floppy, Plextor CD Burner, Intel board model???) that is having read problems w/ the a: drive.

With any floppy introduced to the a: drive after startup, xp indicates that the floppy is unformatted and prompts the user to format it. Even though the floppy is formatted and has pertinent data. I've formatted test floppies on the winxp pro client itself, and after startup/reboot, xp tries to format the floppy again w/ the same aforementioned message(s). I'm in domain admin. mode while troubleshooting.

Also, once the a: drive data is recognized, xp lists the content of this data in explorer, regardless of what floppy is in the a: drive. i.e. swapping out floppies does not work.

Any ideas on this anomaly?

Much obliged in adv.

mgodinez

 

[linney]

It does sound like the floppy drive has just died and needs replacing.

Does the device manager show the floppy drive as working properly ?
If not it has troubleshooting and driver options.
Try going into the Device Manager and remove the floppy drive controller there. Reboot and let the system detect/reinstall the controller.

266402 - Contents of the Disk Drive Are Not Displayed on the Computer Screen

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266402&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

 

[JockMullin]

Hi, mgodinez

I agree with linney, almost for sure the drive is gonzo.

The fact the changeline is not working (doesn't detect diskette swaps) is a sure indication there is something wrong with the drive. You could check to make sure the connectors are OK, but I doubt that is the problem.

A new drive will cost abt USD 15, so it isn't worth fretting over - just swap it.

Best regards
Jock

 

[CaptainMorgan]

Ditto to the other two remarks!

I've come across many floppies that for whatever reason just do not and will not recognize a floppy disk that I know has data on it. Trying another, as you have, doesn't improve the situation. I know they're getting less expensive but there seems to be more and more of them that are dying quickly and for no apparent reason.

Talk about your throw away society!

 

[firewolfrl]

I had that problem when I had the i/o voltage set too high for the cpu. I had overclocked.
bringing the i/o voltage to the correct specs fixed the problem.
I can do mine for the cpu in the bios. some boards allow that. some boards its jumpers only.
check the specs and see what you can do. you might try lowering it below spec and see if that fixes the problem. some floppy drives are flaky about the i/o voltage they get. it causes a timing issue on those drives and how fast they spin the disk.

 

[mgodinez]

All,

Thank you all for your replies. This board rocks!

Swappin' out the floppy did the trick. I've never seen a bad floppy drive exhibit this behavior, usually it just won't read at all. But I'll log this in the back of my noggin' for future troubleshootin' measures. Thanks again!!!

mgodinez
seattle, wa.

partly cloudy