Is it possible to connect two floppies to the fd controller?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Norman Swartz
  • Start date Start date
N

Norman Swartz

I have hundreds upon hundreds of floppy disks, both 3.5" and 5.25". On all
the previous motherboards I have used (dating back to 1983, including a ECS
motherboard that I purchased just two years ago), the floppy disk
controller supported two floppy drives. But on the ASUS A7N8X-VM/400, I
seem to be able to get only one floppy drive to work on the floppy disk
controller. Has ASUS disabled the two-floppy capability of its floppy disk
controller? (I have tried using the standard cable [with a twist between
the two drive-connectors].)
 
I would say basically YES.
Have a look on the BIOS and you will find A and B floppy definitions.
Find suitable cable with two connectors and plug it.
 
Norman said:
floppy disk controller supported two floppy drives. But on the ASUS
A7N8X-VM/400, I seem to be able to get only one floppy drive to work
on the floppy disk controller. Has ASUS disabled the two-floppy
capability of its floppy disk controller? (I have tried using the
standard cable [with a twist between the two drive-connectors].)
Click to expand...


Hi!


I have bought for one euro, the official original asus floppy cable.
Held, in depressive black and blue, with neat stripes for pulling. But
only two connectors :-( - One 3.5" Drive.
This was thrown away from the dealer, I guess the PC-Sets they sell are
without floppy already.

I think floppies are not so bad. 5.25" Inch Disks can last a very long
time. Longer than some CD-R I own.




Best Regards,

Daniel Mandic
 
Norman said:
I have hundreds upon hundreds of floppy disks, both 3.5" and 5.25". On all
the previous motherboards I have used (dating back to 1983, including a ECS
motherboard that I purchased just two years ago), the floppy disk
controller supported two floppy drives. But on the ASUS A7N8X-VM/400, I
seem to be able to get only one floppy drive to work on the floppy disk
controller. Has ASUS disabled the two-floppy capability of its floppy disk
controller?
Click to expand...

That is purely a BIOS issue and apparently far from uncommon on current
boards. Can anyone name a current board that actually supports two
floppy drives? I don't have access to new hardware very frequently...

Stephan
 
Stephan Grossklass said:
That is purely a BIOS issue and apparently far from uncommon on current
boards. Can anyone name a current board that actually supports two
floppy drives? I don't have access to new hardware very frequently...

Stephan
Click to expand...

Your Super I/O chip doesn't seem to multiply define any of
the floppy I/O signals. Some Super I/O chips have two hardware
interfaces sharing a pin, and that kind of sharing can prevent
the second floppy control signals from working. On PDF page 38,
your floppy interface looks like it could have the necessary signals.
In this case, as Stephan suggests, Asus is trying to make
all the BIOS have the same feature set - namely, only
one working floppy disk. Whether this limitation could be
bypassed as the OS level (say, by using Linux), is anyone's
guess.

http://www.iteusa.com/product_info/PC/Brief-IT8712_2.asp
http://www.iteusa.com/product_info/file/pc/IT8712F_V0.8.2.pdf

Paul
 
Norman said:
I have hundreds upon hundreds of floppy disks, both 3.5" and 5.25". On all
the previous motherboards I have used (dating back to 1983, including a ECS
motherboard that I purchased just two years ago), the floppy disk
controller supported two floppy drives. But on the ASUS A7N8X-VM/400, I
seem to be able to get only one floppy drive to work on the floppy disk
controller. Has ASUS disabled the two-floppy capability of its floppy disk
controller? (I have tried using the standard cable [with a twist between
the two drive-connectors].)
Click to expand...

Many (if not most) motherboards being made these days don't support
multiple floppy drives on the Super I/O chip..
 
Back
Top