floppy drive to USB adaptert?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mm
  • Start date Start date
M

mm

Do they make a cable or something that enables one to plug in his own
floppy drive to a USB port?

I've googled but so far unsuccessfuly.

I don't want a USB floppy drive, which I've found, cheap in lots of
five, just the adapter. (or 20 dollars for one***)

I have the Rosewill RCW618 SATA/IDE to detachable USB 2.0 adapter,
which works with CD/DVD drives and IDE/SATA HDDs and it's great (only
20 dollars from newegg.)

And I thought there might be the same thing for 3 1/2 and/or 5 1/4
inch floppies.

The Rosewill doesn't involve a case, and I don't need or want a case
here either. It would be for temporary use, testing floppy drives or
using them for a few minutes. It would be for various computers, so a
floppy controller card wouldn't be convenient.


Actually, it's in my blood: I'm an adapter freak, which is a lot
cheaper than being a computer freak or high-end electronics freak.


***As low as 20 including shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-EXTERNAL-3-...emZ150528873572QQcategoryZ31566QQcmdZViewItem
 
mm said:
Do they make a cable or something that enables one to plug in his own
floppy drive to a USB port?

I've googled but so far unsuccessfuly.

I don't want a USB floppy drive, which I've found, cheap in lots of
five, just the adapter. (or 20 dollars for one***)

I have the Rosewill RCW618 SATA/IDE to detachable USB 2.0 adapter,
which works with CD/DVD drives and IDE/SATA HDDs and it's great (only
20 dollars from newegg.)

And I thought there might be the same thing for 3 1/2 and/or 5 1/4
inch floppies.

The Rosewill doesn't involve a case, and I don't need or want a case
here either. It would be for temporary use, testing floppy drives or
using them for a few minutes. It would be for various computers, so a
floppy controller card wouldn't be convenient.


Actually, it's in my blood: I'm an adapter freak, which is a lot
cheaper than being a computer freak or high-end electronics freak.


***As low as 20 including shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-EXTERNAL-3-...emZ150528873572QQcategoryZ31566QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...

Ebay is not the cheapest .. try amazon for an external usb floppy drive
for example:
http://www.amazon.com/SmartDisk-Ext...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1292594830&sr=1-24
 
mm said:
Do they make a cable or something that enables one to plug in his own
floppy drive to a USB port?

I've googled but so far unsuccessfuly.

I don't want a USB floppy drive, which I've found, cheap in lots of
five, just the adapter. (or 20 dollars for one***)

I have the Rosewill RCW618 SATA/IDE to detachable USB 2.0 adapter,
which works with CD/DVD drives and IDE/SATA HDDs and it's great (only
20 dollars from newegg.)

And I thought there might be the same thing for 3 1/2 and/or 5 1/4
inch floppies.

The Rosewill doesn't involve a case, and I don't need or want a case
here either. It would be for temporary use, testing floppy drives or
using them for a few minutes. It would be for various computers, so a
floppy controller card wouldn't be convenient.


Actually, it's in my blood: I'm an adapter freak, which is a lot
cheaper than being a computer freak or high-end electronics freak.


***As low as 20 including shipping.
Click to expand...

If you want an information source to start with, you can
look at C:\WINDOWS\inf\usbstor.inf in Notepad.

Entries like this, are USB floppy devices. There are
a number of them.

%USB\VID_03EE&PID_6901.DeviceDesc%=USBSTOR_CBI

What you'd seek to do, is trace down a datasheet for a chip
like that, to see how it's designed. Depending on what you
find, would help predict whether such an adapter could
exist or not. Companies that make adapters, buy chips from
other companies - if the right chip type doesn't exist, then
nobody will make an adapter.

There are two possibilities:

1) USB chip has head driver, stepper control signals, some kind
of "raw" hardware interface. The manufacturer would buy a "raw"
drive mechanism and connect it to the USB chip. My Mitsumi USB
floppy probably works like that. I haven't opened it up, because
it isn't obvious how you take it apart. I don't want to damage
it -- I've actually been using it today and it still does stuff for me
(like allow me to carry an SSH key file from one computer to another,
so I can SSH in).

2) The USB chip has a 34 pin interface on it, which talks to the
34 pin interface of a standard floppy drive. This is the chip
you're hoping for.

The problem is, floppies are obsolete. The companies making
floppy chips, have likely flushed their stock of chips into the
toilet. So far, I haven't been able to find a datasheet. If
I could find a datasheet that matched (2) above, then there would
be hope.

Such a device could exist, but it wouldn't be a way to make the
cheapest possible products. Something that talks directly to the
motor on the floppy, is the cheapest way to go. And if that
is how they're designed, they won't sell a separate "adapter".

Paul
 
He explicitily said he doesn't want an external floppy drive - he wants a
USB adapter for his existing drive.
Click to expand...

That's true. Thank you.

I did say it, but I still appreciate the effort Jim went through.

Thank you, too, Jim. Who knows, it won't do several of the things I
wanted to do, but 17 dollars is pretty cheap and eventually I may buy
one.
 
If you want an information source to start with, you can
look at C:\WINDOWS\inf\usbstor.inf in Notepad.

Entries like this, are USB floppy devices. There are
a number of them.

%USB\VID_03EE&PID_6901.DeviceDesc%=USBSTOR_CBI

What you'd seek to do, is trace down a datasheet for a chip
like that, to see how it's designed. Depending on what you
find, would help predict whether such an adapter could
exist or not. Companies that make adapters, buy chips from
other companies - if the right chip type doesn't exist, then
nobody will make an adapter.

There are two possibilities:

1) USB chip has head driver, stepper control signals, some kind
of "raw" hardware interface. The manufacturer would buy a "raw"
drive mechanism and connect it to the USB chip. My Mitsumi USB
floppy probably works like that. I haven't opened it up, because
it isn't obvious how you take it apart. I don't want to damage
it -- I've actually been using it today and it still does stuff for me
(like allow me to carry an SSH key file from one computer to another,
so I can SSH in).

2) The USB chip has a 34 pin interface on it, which talks to the
34 pin interface of a standard floppy drive. This is the chip
you're hoping for.

The problem is, floppies are obsolete. The companies making
floppy chips, have likely flushed their stock of chips into the
toilet.
Click to expand...

Darn. They should have sent me a few before they did that, and you
too.
So far, I haven't been able to find a datasheet. If
I could find a datasheet that matched (2) above, then there would
be hope.

Such a device could exist, but it wouldn't be a way to make the
cheapest possible products. Something that talks directly to the
motor on the floppy, is the cheapest way to go. And if that
is how they're designed, they won't sell a separate "adapter".
Click to expand...

Oh, well. I think you knew when you started writing that this would
be beyond me! :)
 
In message <[email protected]> mm
Oh, well. I think you knew when you started writing that this would
be beyond me! :)
Click to expand...

The point is that it's likely not worthwhile to build a USB controller
to manage an ancient floppy interface. It's cheaper and more practical
to build a floppy controller with a USB interface on-chip.

Honestly, just go with the $20 USB floppy drive and be done with it.
 
In message <[email protected]> mm


The point is that it's likely not worthwhile to build a USB controller
to manage an ancient floppy interface.
Click to expand...

They might have been designed and built when floppies were much used.
And still for sale, NIB or used.
It's cheaper and more practical
to build a floppy controller with a USB interface on-chip.

Honestly, just go with the $20 USB floppy drive and be done with it.
Click to expand...

I guess you didn't read my first post, but that's okay.
 
mm said:
Do they make a cable or something that enables one to plug in his own
floppy drive to a USB port?

I've googled but so far unsuccessfuly.

I don't want a USB floppy drive, which I've found, cheap in lots of
five, just the adapter. (or 20 dollars for one***)

I have the Rosewill RCW618 SATA/IDE to detachable USB 2.0 adapter,
which works with CD/DVD drives and IDE/SATA HDDs and it's great (only
20 dollars from newegg.)

And I thought there might be the same thing for 3 1/2 and/or 5 1/4
inch floppies.

The Rosewill doesn't involve a case, and I don't need or want a case
here either. It would be for temporary use, testing floppy drives or
using them for a few minutes. It would be for various computers, so a
floppy controller card wouldn't be convenient.


Actually, it's in my blood: I'm an adapter freak, which is a lot
cheaper than being a computer freak or high-end electronics freak.


***As low as 20 including shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-EXTERNAL-3-...emZ150528873572QQcategoryZ31566QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...


You like adapters?
This is an adapter!:
http://www.wiebetech.com/products/UltraDock.php
http://www.wiebetech.com/products/v4_adapters.php

The laugh is, I can't figure out if it does FDD
 
http://www.amazon.com/SmartDisk-External-Floppy-Drive-Titanium/dp/B00005QXWA/r
ef=sr_1_24?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1292594830&sr=1-24

He explicitily said he doesn't want an external floppy drive - he wants a
USB adapter for his existing drive.
Click to expand...
I can see the use for hard drives but why on gods earth for a floppy when a
usb floppy is so cheap already? Is it a specialty floppy drive that is needed
to read specific disks? If so , even if one was available , it wouldnt support
his specific use.
 
In message <[email protected]> mm
They might have been designed and built when floppies were much used.
And still for sale, NIB or used.


I guess you didn't read my first post, but that's okay.
Click to expand...

I did, but since what you want doesn't exist, my conclusion is that the
next-best-thing is the way to go.
 
In message <[email protected]> mm


I did, but since what you want doesn't exist, my conclusion is that the
next-best-thing is the way to go.
Click to expand...

I appreciate that. The driving force in my search was that I'm an
adapter freak. (I'm also an accessory freak, actually, and have to be
careful when I buy something that I don't spend more on accessories
than on the item)

And the other driving force is that I have a bunch of floppy drives
I've bought or taken out of old computers, and at least two of them
didnt' seem to work when I installed them. But I can't remember any of
the details.

And the third is that I like my SATA/IDE USB adapter so much. I don't
know how much electronics is inside that little connector-box, but I
figured it wasn't much, and that a USB adapter for floppy drives might
be simple to make. It's sort of amazing how many adapters they do
make, and how cheap some of them are.

I will regret it if these USB floppy drives don't exist anymore when I
finally want one, but they'll probably be on ebay for a few years
after that. My desires tend to run 5 or 10 years behind other
people's desires.
 
I appreciate that. The driving force in my search was that I'm an
adapter freak. (I'm also an accessory freak, actually, and have to be
careful when I buy something that I don't spend more on accessories
than on the item)

And the other driving force is that I have a bunch of floppy drives
I've bought or taken out of old computers, and at least two of them
didnt' seem to work when I installed them. But I can't remember any of
the details.

And the third is that I like my SATA/IDE USB adapter so much. I don't
know how much electronics is inside that little connector-box, but I
figured it wasn't much, and that a USB adapter for floppy drives might
be simple to make. It's sort of amazing how many adapters they do
make, and how cheap some of them are.

I will regret it if these USB floppy drives don't exist anymore when I
finally want one, but they'll probably be on ebay for a few years
after that. My desires tend to run 5 or 10 years behind other
people's desires.
Click to expand...

The two i own i picked up from a salvation army type store here in Utah called
the Deseret Industries. I picked them up for all of $2 each.
 
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