[rod147]

hi, i am in the process of sorting a computer out for my daughter....it has windows xp pro edition on it...i have installed a floppy disc drive but whichever way i put the cables in it is not recognised/found on system....when i turn the c. 20 pin lead one way the light remains on the floppy but when i turn it the other way the light doesn't come on at all...any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[norton850]

When the light is on all the time, the cable is on the wrong way. If the light never goes on check the power connector to the drive and use another one if available. In setup (BIOS) make sure that the driver is enabled and set to the right type (1.44). Check in Device Manager to see if the drive is listed.

 

[rod147]

i have tried all of the above but to no avail... not quite sure on bios driver though...i know how to getinto bios but what exactly am i looking for because i could see nothing that said set to right type 1.44....sorry to appear thick...help is much appreciated

 

[norton850]

Sorry about the typo. It should be drive in BIOS not "driver". Not all BIOS setups are the same. Look for something about "enable floppy drive controller". Who is your BIOS manufacturer (Award, AMI, Phoenix etc.)? We could locate where to find this setting.

 

[rod147]

i have changed the bios featuring floppy drive and enabled it....still not working....my bios manufacturer is award..any other ideas would be appreciated

 

[schellbl]

I'm not sure this will help, but I thought I would let you know anyway. I had a similar problem putting in a new floppy drive to an existing computer. I tried everything you did and nothing work. My last resort was to clear the CMOS. I did and it then started picking it up. It's worth a shot. Please let us know if you try it and whether or not it works.

BTW - that pc I'm referring to had award bios.

 

[angel]

Since schellbl shared, thought I would too. We had one system whose floppy just wouldn't work. We tried different boards, cables, drives, floppies, etc with no luck. Finally we thought to take the drive out of the cage (just set it somewhere for testing but keep it connected) and it booted to a floppy with not prob. It must have been some sort of odd short with the drive and the case.
Though unlikely to be you prob, ya just never know!

 

[rod147]

first to schellbl...... how do i clear cmos...concise details please
and secondly to angel....floppy is out of the case resting next to comp.....it would be too much time wasting to keep removing it and putting it back....thanks anyway

 

[schellbl]

On my board there are jumpers for the CMOS. Do you have the manual for the board?

 

[rod147]

yes i have got the manual...... we have some progress....i have changed the cmos setting drive A to 1.44m,3.5in...when i reboot comp with disc in it reads it and tells me its not a boot disc...when i look inn MY COMP the drive is not visible and i cannot save anything to this drive because comp doesn't know its there....we'll get there in the end hopefully....any more info will be appreciated

 

[norton850]

When you go into BIOS/setup does it now recognize that the floppy drive is present?

 

[rod147]

everything is working fine now ...thanks very much for your help......
till we meet again

 

[angel]

For all of us that are curious, can you let us know what it was?

 

[bearone2]

most cables i've used are keyed and can be used one way.

i would suspect, of the two ends of the floppy drive ribbon, one won't work and the other will.

i replaced a floppy drive sometime back and didn't pay attention to which one was connected and used the wrong end and no worky.

 

[rod147]

not quite sure how the problem was fixed...didn't change any of the cables though....in bios i changed DRIVE A to 3.5 floppy....maybe that done the trick...thanks for all your ideas