Thread

USB Floppy Drive

68kMLA Software 18 posts Sep 7, 2008 to Sep 9, 2008

#1 Sun, 7 Sep 2008 - 22:41 68kMLA

At Goodwill today I picked up a USB Floppy Drive for $4. Works perfectly with OS X 10.4, slow though. I hope it can write 800k disks.

#2 Sun, 7 Sep 2008 - 22:50 68kMLA

I hope it can write 800k disks.

It won't if it's a standard/commodity USB floppy drive.

It should be able to write PC 720k disks though.

#3 Sun, 7 Sep 2008 - 23:03 68kMLA

It's a generic floppy drive. I'm still gonna see if it works with 800k disks. If only there was some init that would allow you to format with non-variable speed. :\

#4 Sun, 7 Sep 2008 - 23:26 68kMLA

Being a generic drive, it will not read or write 800K Mac-formatted disks. It may happily convert your 800K floppy into a 720K floppy, however.

#5 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 01:30 68kMLA

Also, be warned that OS X fills up floppies with a bunch of invisible crap. I forget how much it's worth, but don't expect to fit a full capacity on it.

#6 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 01:40 68kMLA

It refuses to take disks that don't have the extra hole.

#7 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 01:56 68kMLA

Also, be warned that OS X fills up floppies with a bunch of invisible crap. I forget how much it's worth, but don't expect to fit a full capacity on it.

10.4 or later will stupidly put Spotlight data on floppy disks. Add the disk to the list of excluded items for Spotlight and it should erase the data and give you almost the whole 1.4 MB.

If you are working with any old Mac disks (such as old software installs, etc.) I recommend only using them locked or OS X will screw them up with the Spotlight data.

#8 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 02:30 68kMLA

It refuses to take disks that don't have the extra hole.

Thats funny, I personally have the same policy.

#9 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 05:44 68kMLA

Ha...Ha...Ha... I need to disable spotlight. cause I never use it!

#10 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 18:17 68kMLA

Also, be warned that OS X fills up floppies with a bunch of invisible crap. I forget how much it's worth, but don't expect to fit a full capacity on it.

For that exact reason, if you have a Mac with OS 9 and OS X, always use your disk in OS 9 for writing, and keep it locked in OS X if you want to just read/copy data off of it.

And I think this has been said already, but I've yet to find a USB drive that can handle double-density disks. [

] ]'>

#11 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 18:38 68kMLA

And I think this has been said already, but I've yet to find a USB drive that can handle double-density disks. [] ]'>

I've never encountered one, but I've also never looked for one, so I hedged. But I believe that they don't actually exist. I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

#12 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 18:47 68kMLA

And I think this has been said already, but I've yet to find a USB drive that can handle double-density disks. [] ]'>

Click to expand...

I've never encountered one, but I've also never looked for one, so I hedged. But I believe that they don't actually exist. I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

Me too! :beige:

#13 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 23:45 68kMLA

Screw floppies anyway! Zip disks are much more reliable from my experience. Oh, and one unrelated question I think I'll throw out is: Does the click of death affect the disks or the drive (pertaining to zips)?

#14 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 23:45 68kMLA

#15 Mon, 8 Sep 2008 - 23:54 68kMLA

From what I understand, if your drive has click of death, it will ruin any disks you insert. It is apparently not contagious but it does ruin the disk.

#16 Tue, 9 Sep 2008 - 00:02 68kMLA

Ah, back to CoD -- brings back unfond memories.

The best writeup I've seen (from someone without a vested interest) is by Steve Gibson (author of Spinrite): http://www.grc.com/tip/codfaq1.htm and the subsequent pages (links at bottom of that first page). Quick summary: Clicking is a symptom, not a cause; and CoD is rarely contagious, widespread worries to the contrary notwithstanding. Mr. Gibson describes the rare case in which destructive contagious behavior is possilbe.

#17 Tue, 9 Sep 2008 - 00:37 68kMLA

I found that article right after I posted that message.

I guess being careful will extend the life of any piece of technology. To tell you the truth, I feel more secure with a zip disk than with a 40MB hard drive. Now all I need to do is paint my zip drive beige, no indication on how to take the case off though

#18 Tue, 9 Sep 2008 - 00:50 68kMLA

And I think this has been said already, but I've yet to find a USB drive that can handle double-density disks. [] ]'>

Click to expand...

I've never encountered one, but I've also never looked for one, so I hedged. But I believe that they don't actually exist. I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

Click to expand...

Me too! :beige:

Me three ! :beige: woof !