Floppy drive Problems : No access!

[Guest_imported]

My floppy drive which was working ok( except for the occasional problem due i think to dust) this morning until i tryed cleaning it due to a dust problem. Now i'm unable to access the drive. I have changed the drive to another drive which i know is working, also i have changed the cable and pluged it in properly i.e red line to pin one.But still the same problem. I have noticed that with both drives the light remains turned ON continously even when no attempt to access the drive is made. Please tell me what is going on!

NB error message when attepting access:

a:\ is not accessible
The device is not ready
Retry Cancle

 

[cdogg]

When the light stays on like that after you power on the pc, it's a sign that the floppy cable is either defective or needs to be flipped the other way...

~cdogg

 

[edfair]

Or the cable is plugged in such a way that drive select is powered or the floppy controller has gone bad.
Some floppies and some M/Bs don't have guides for the headers and it is possible to reverse the connections or to insert the header off one pin either horizontal or vertical.
Best bet is to pull the floppy and identify the pin 1 location and use a marking pen to give a good indication that you can see in the reduced light of a stuffed box. Generally the pin marking is on the board but can be hard to locate. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.