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Thread ID: 45698 2004-05-31 06:43:00 Floppy disc drive not reading floppy discs Chemical Ali (118) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
240617 2004-05-31 06:43:00 Win2000Pro
Celeron 1.3GHz CPU
256MB RAM

Floppy disc drive is recognized in "My Computer" and all controllers/device showing up okay under "Device Manager" but every time I insert a floppy disc it comes up with the message "Floppy disc not formatted, would you like to format now" (or words to that effect).
Even if I do elect to format as it requests it won't complete a format anyway.
Hve tried several floppy discs -- all with data on them -- and it won't read any of them!
Have tried:
1: Reinstalling VIA 4-in-1 drivers
2: Uninstalling and then re-installing both the floppy drive and the floppy drive controllers
3: Have even chucked in a new floppy drive
without any success.
Any chances as I'm ready to smash to flikkin thing out of sheer frustration!!
Chemical Ali (118)
240618 2004-05-31 06:57:00 Does the BIOS report the right floppy drive?
If it is set for 5.25" instead of 3.5" strange things could happen
godfather (25)
240619 2004-05-31 07:11:00 I forgot to mention in my first message that i have checked this already.
Any other suggestions?
Chemical Ali (118)
240620 2004-05-31 07:41:00 Dud ribbon cable? godfather (25)
240621 2004-05-31 07:45:00 Consider unlikely as have tried two different cables and floppy drive being detected okay in "My Computer" Chemical Ali (118)
240622 2004-05-31 08:07:00 I had same trouble.
Turns out one of my children used floppy-disk as a money box and stuffed a 50cent piece in the slot.
Have a look inside floppy. Even a piece of paper can stop it from reading disks.
Worth a crack
toddwilliams (5714)
240623 2004-05-31 09:26:00 It now has a new floppy drive in there and still not working properly so no issues with 'foreign objects' at all.
Anyone else with a solution???
Chemical Ali (118)
240624 2004-05-31 09:34:00 Maybe you should try repairing your Win2K install....possible it is corrupt. It's obviously not the drive or the disks so I'd look at Windows next. Sb0h (3744)
240625 2004-05-31 09:52:00 I had exactly the same problem with a brand new floppy and a brand new computer. I tried all the ususl things but nothing worked. I pulled out the drive and inserted one at least five years old. It worked perfectly and is still running well.
So I would say a faulty floppy drive.
Jack
JJJJJ (528)
240626 2004-05-31 11:40:00 Errors can occur for various reasons so check following basic,s first . It will only take 10 min or so and a positive mind set and you will fix the problem, perhaps not the first time but 2nd or 3rd etc .

Set PC to boot and change to access "A or floppy" drive first, save changes then restart PC with no disk in floppy .

After initial start PC should access floppy, Led light come, and some noise should be heard from the motor before it starts rest of bootup .

IF not 100%, turn PC off .
Disconnect power supply cable to floppy and check no broken pins and is pushed on corectly . Check ribbon cable at floppy as well . Then check ribbon to motherboard . It is easy to pull plug off one edge of pins when playing around inside PC box and it looks OK so unplug and check carefully . Make sure both cable ends are secure and clips firm and not unclipped . It is easy to think you have it on OK but offset slighty . If all looks OK then check voltage at power plug at floppy . If you follow power supply cable it is generally connected to a larger plug which may be connected to a hard drive . If not plug it into one to test power supply . If it is running it is unlikely your main power supply is not 100% The above items must be OK for it to have any show of working . Leds dont normally fail . The boot up sequence to this stage is very robust so unless you have a hard drive failure boot up software should not be an issue .

Floppy drive access can vary over time between one another so if you have a boot disk formated from one floppy drive it may work OK on that PC but not work on another PC old floppy . One trick is to format the floppy on your PC then files coppied onto it from another PC are more likely to be able to be copied onto your PC .

Find your dos boot floppy you created from your PC (you did make one and tested it didnt you before you needed it?) and put it in the drive .
This should boot up in to DOS as all the files the PC needs will be on it . If you dont have one make one or borrow one from another PC

Check your new floppy is a 1 . 44 and not a new unused 740 one .

Go to It
Advocar (1098)
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