Floppy Drive Error Message

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jane W.
  • Start date Start date
J

Jane W.

XP Pro will no longer format my floppy disks. When I insert one into drive a
I get this message:

"Windows was unable to complete the format".

Other prople are having the same problem according to my Google searches.
When I follow the threads there is no solution at the end. Any ideas?
Thanks.
 
Jane said:
XP Pro will no longer format my floppy disks. When I insert one into drive a
I get this message:

"Windows was unable to complete the format".

Other prople are having the same problem according to my Google searches.
When I follow the threads there is no solution at the end. Any ideas?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Either the disks are bad or the drive is bad. If you've tried various
disks from different boxes, then that rules out the disks. Floppy drives
don't last forever and cost almost nothing to replace.


Malke
 
Jane W. said:
I should have mentioned that both the drive & disks are brand new.
Click to expand...

Even though the drive is new, it may well have a fault. I suggest you take
it back. The vendor may well test it in his machine for you (and may even
insist).
 
Jane said:
I should have mentioned that both the drive & disks are brand new.
Click to expand...

If the drive is brand new, recheck the wiring. If the data cable is
reversed, the drive light will stay on.

Picture of connecting the floppy cable.
http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/floppy_cable_connection_2.jpg

It is more difficult to put the power cable (pins marked in red)
the wrong way, which is really fortunate. Too bad more attention
wasn't paid to making the floppy data cable scheme more
foolproof.

http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/floppy_drive_rear_2_cr.jpg
http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/floppy.jpg

Paul
 
Paul said:
If the drive is brand new, recheck the wiring. If the data cable is
reversed, the drive light will stay on.

Picture of connecting the floppy cable.
http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/floppy_cable_connection_2.jpg

It is more difficult to put the power cable (pins marked in red)
the wrong way, which is really fortunate. Too bad more attention
wasn't paid to making the floppy data cable scheme more
foolproof.
Click to expand...

The attention was paid, but like PATA connectors the manufacturers prefered
to save a penny or two by leaving the polarising features off.
 
Jane W. said:
I should have mentioned that both the drive & disks are brand new.
Click to expand...

If the drive is new...then perhaps it was not set right in the bios.
Check there to be sure it's set to (presumably) 1.44
 
...

The attention was paid, but like PATA connectors the manufacturers
prefered to save a penny or two by leaving the polarising features
off.
Click to expand...

Actually I've ran into several floppy drives where they not only cut
out the notch in the connector shroud for the polarizing plug on the
cable's connector, but they cut out a notch on BOTH sides of the
receiving connector's shroud on the floppy drive which effectively
depolarizes the receiving connector. Whether you used a polarized or
non-polarized cable, it could be inserted in either direction. They
didn't save any money while depolarizing the connector (I doubt 2 cuts
is cheaper than one but I wouldn't be surprised that it is no more
expensive). So even if you had a polarized floppy cable, the a-holes
that made the floppy drive made it impossible to ensure the cable was
plugged in only one way. I doubt it has anything to do with saving a
hundredth of a cent in the manufacturing costs versus just stupid
design (they probably had an excuse but it wasn't for the benefit of
the common end-user or jobber building their own host). They made it
a universal fit (for both polarized and non-polarized cables) by
depolarizing their connector. It is then the jobber's duty to ensure
pin 1 matches up on both ends of the cable.
 
in message
XP Pro will no longer format my floppy disks. When I insert one into
drive a
I get this message:

"Windows was unable to complete the format".

Other prople are having the same problem according to my Google
searches.
When I follow the threads there is no solution at the end. Any
ideas?
Click to expand...


What is the drive type configured for the floppy in the BIOS?

You say "no longer format". Well, that implies it was working before.
So what did you change between when it worked and when it stopped
working?
 
I'm not sure. I use the floppy drive infrequently and probably had not used
it for about 1-3 months from the time it last worked. When I first
discovered the old floppy drive no longer worked I bought a new Samsung
thinking that would fix the problem. When it didn't I bought a new box of
Imation floppys. As I mentioned in a previous post, now both the drive &
disks are brand new.
 
Jane W. said:
I'm not sure. I use the floppy drive infrequently and probably had not used it for about 1-3 months from the time it last
worked. When I first discovered the old floppy drive no longer worked I bought a new Samsung thinking that would fix the
problem. When it didn't I bought a new box of Imation floppys. As I mentioned in a previous post, now both the drive & disks
are brand new.
Click to expand...


Do you hear a "krrr" sound of the floppy drive when you access it,
or after reboot?

--PA
 
No I don't. Hardware all acts normally. I am beginning to think this is
somehow related to SP4 but don't have the foggiest idea how.
 
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