The Basics of Floppy Disk Drives

In 1972, IBM developed the first floppy disk drives for its System 370 machines. These
drives used 8-inch floppy disks. Other companies, such as Wang, adapted the same basic
design for its dedicated word processing machines used in the 1970s and 1980s. The
actual disks came pre-formatted, and only worked on a given operating system or
computer. This resulted in high-cost drives and reduced the ability to use floppies as a
quick means of transporting files from one system to another.
When IBM introduced the personal computer (PC) in 1981, it came standard with a 5.25inch floppy disk drive. Floppy disks were included in PCs before hard disk drives, mostly
out of economic considerations. The cost of an early PC hard disk drive was more than
the total cost of a system today and took half of a day to prepare and install. Some very
old PCs may have a 5.25-inch drive installed. The only reason a newer machine might
need one is to maintain compatibility with an old program or data stored on such disks.
Today's 3.5-inch floppy disks (see Figure 9.1) are made of flexible plastic and coated
with a magnetic material. To protect the disk from dust and physical damage, it is
packaged in a plastic or coated paper case. The main reason for the popularity of floppy
disk drives and disks is that they provide inexpensive read/write (R/W) removable media.
The data stored on a floppy disk can be moved from one computer to another, provided
both have the same type of drive. In general, it is a good idea to protect your data by
always keeping two copies of any data file that you create (the original and a backup),
and the floppy disk is an excellent medium for backing up, storing, or distributing copies
of relatively small files, such as word processing documents.

Figure 9.1 Floppy disks

The following table describes various floppy disks and their capacities.
Disk
Size
5.25
inch
5.25
inch
5.25
inch
5.25
inch
3.5
inch
3.5
inch
3.5
inch

Capacity

Description

160 KB Single-sided, single-densitythe first model.

360 KB Double-sided, single-density.
720 KB Double-sided, double-density.
1.2 MB

Double-sided, high-density.

720 KB Double-sided, double-density.

1.44 MB Double-sided, high-densitytoday's standard.
2.88 MB

Double-sided, quad-density. This format has never really gained in

market share and is not common on today's PCs.

The only major differences between the 5.25-inch and the 3.5-inch disk drives (other than
physical size) are that the 5.25-inch drive has a slot connector and the 3.5-inch drive has a
pin connector for engaging and spinning the disk, and they use different power plugs and
voltages.
All floppy disk drives are connected to the motherboard's external data bus by a 34-lead
ribbon cable, shown in Figure 9.2. This cable has a seven-wire twist in lines 10 through
16. This ensures that when two floppy disk drives are attached, the drive-select and
motor-enable signals on those wires can be inverted to "select" which drive becomes the
active target. The remaining wires carry data and ground signals. The connector end of
the cable with the twist always goes toward the drives.

Figure 9.2 Floppy disk drive cable with a twist

Early PC BIOS logic was developed to recognize one or two floppy disk drives. In such
systems, no more than one 34-pin cable for floppy disk drives can be installed in the
computer without resorting to special hardware. When a floppy disk drive is installed on
the end connector (near the twist), the drive is logically designated as the first or primary
or A drive by the BIOS. The drive attached in the middle of the cable is always the
secondary or B drive. The BIOS will not recognize a B drive unless an A drive is
physically installed.
The number 1 red wire must be connected to the number 1 pin on the drive. If this is not
correctly installed, the drive will not work (although no permanent damage can be done
by installing the connector backward).
TIP

If you install a new drive and notice that the indicator light comes on and
stays on, the cable is most likely backward.
The power connection for a floppy disk drive, shown in Figure 9.3, is either the large,
Molex-type connector on the 5.25-inch drive (see Lesson 1 of Chapter 5, " Power
Supplies," for details) or the smaller mini connector on the 3.5-inch drive. Older power
supplies may only have the Molex connections, and you will need an adapter to attach a
3.5-inch drive. Newer power supplies, and all power supplies for the ATX-style cases,
should have both Molex and the two-strand connection for providing a 5-volt power
connection to the 3.5-inch drive.
Figure 9.3 Floppy disk drive cable connections
After you physically install a floppy disk drive, you need only use the BIOS Setup
program to adjust the proper CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)
settings for the type and position (first or second), and the installation will be complete.
In CMOS setup, select the drive (A or B) and enter the correct capacity.
NOTE

Very old CMOS chips won't have settings for 1.44-MB or 2.88-MB 3.5inch floppy disk drives because they were developed before these drives
were introduced. Today the 5.25-inch drives are obsolete, and the CMOS
of the future might not have settings for them. Several third-party utilities
will allow the CMOS to accept the necessary values to support these
drives.

Keeping a Floppy Disk Drive Running

Although floppy disk drives are usually rugged and dependable, they do take a lot of
abuse and sometimes they fail. Some failures are simply caused by improper use, some
by overuse combined with a lack of cleaning, and some-times the mechanism just stops
working.
Floppy disk drives are one of the most fragile parts of a computer system. They are
highly susceptible to failure because their internal components are directly exposed to the
outside world. Often, there is only a small door or slot that separates the R/W heads from
dust, grime, and cigarette smoke. Floppy disk drives are often the victims of inverted
disks, paper clips, and other foreign objects that can cause mechanical damage.
The good news is that floppy disk drives are inexpensive and easy to replace. The only
preventive maintenance required is to keep the floppy disk drive clean! Excellent
cleaning kits are available in most computer and discount stores. To achieve the best
performance from a floppy disk drive in a high-use or industrial environment, schedule
monthly cleaning.

Always an Exception
One unusual floppy disk drive solution that appeared during the time that the 3.5-inch
models gained dominance was the hybrid 3.5/5.25 drive. This married the slots for both
formats in a single housing. These installed just like a single drive, but the chances of
coming across such a drive today are pretty rare.

Errors Caused by the Floppy Disk

If a floppy disk drive doesn't work, the first thing you should suspect is the floppy disk.
To check a floppy disk, use the following procedure:
1. First, make sure the disk is not write protected. The hole on the right top corner of
a 3.5-inch disk (viewed from the front) should be closed. On a 5.25-inch disk, the
notch on one side should be visible (not covered).
2. Try another disk.
3. Try a new (formatted) disk.
4. Try someone else's diskone that is known to work on another computer (first
make sure there is no critical data on the disk).
5. If two or more disks are unreadable, the drive is suspect; try going to MS-DOS
and reading a directory using the DIR command.

CAUTION

Never test a drive by using a disk that contains important data! If the drive
is bad, it may destroy any disks placed into it.

Detecting Data Errors on a Disk

If you can read data from one disk, but not another, or if a disk is very slow reading or
writing data, the problem is the floppy disk. Throw the offending disk away. Data errors
on floppy disks generally result in an error message that ends with the words "Abort,
Retry, Fail." The system will make 10 attempts to read data from a drive before reporting
an error. If you get an error, it indicates that the disk is in pretty bad shape. Transfer the
data as best you can to another drive, and discard the old disk.
The process for repairing floppy disks is identical to the process for repairing hard disk
drives, should there be data on the disk that must be recovered (see "ScanDisk" in Lesson
2, later in this chapter).

Check the CMOS Setting

Occasionally, the CMOS settings for floppy disks cause problems with drive operations.
Any of the following errors indicates a possible CMOS setup problem:

General failure reading drive A: (or B:)

Not ready error reading drive A: (or B:)
Insert disk for drive A: (or B:) and press any key when ready

BIOS makers often use the 3.5-inch high-density disk drive as the default CMOS setting
for the A drive. With this BIOS, failure of the CMOS battery, or even accidental erasure
of the CMOS, will still allow most floppy disks to work. Always double-check the
CMOS if you are experiencing a recurrent floppy disk drive failure. It is quick, easy, and
might save you time.
TIP

It is possible for the CMOS to be corrupted by a software or hardware

conflict and yet appear to be fine. If all else fails, reset the CMOS and
reinstall the CMOS setup (check the motherboard manual for the jumper
or disconnect the battery).

Check or Change the Floppy Disk Drive Cable

Cables wear out, work themselves loose, and are sometimes improperly installed. Check
out both the data cable and the power jack as possible causes of the errant floppy disk
drive before moving on to the controller.

Change the Floppy Disk Drive Controller

Today, most floppy drive controllers are built onto the motherboard. These are quite
reliable. In the event one does fail, however, you will usually have to disable the onboard controller and add a separate controller on an expansion card or replace the
motherboard. It's actually less expensive to replace the entire motherboard than to repair
the floppy-related components.
Separate floppy disk drive controller cards are durable and highly resistant to failure. Left
alone, they generally cause no problems. However, cards that have recently been handled,
such as during a move or repairs to the computer, can be suspect. They are extremely
sensitive to shock and static discharge.
In the event of a loose data cable or power plug, the power-on self test (POST) will return
"FDD Controller Failure" or "Drive Not Ready" errors. (For more information about
POST, refer to Chapter 6, "Motherboard and ROM BIOS.") Verify all the connections
and try again. If the connections are sound, try removing and reseating the controller
(being careful of electrostatic discharge). If the same errors continue, replace the
controller. Floppy disk drives and controllers are inexpensive.
When replacing a floppy disk drive controller (see Figure 9.4), keep in mind that most of
these controllers on pre-Pentium machines (486 and older) are bundled as part of a
combination input/output (I/O) card. These cards include some (often all) of the
following: hard disk drive controllers, serial ports, parallel ports, and joystick ports. If the
new card contains any duplicate ports (they already exist elsewhere on the computer), a
potential for conflict exists.
Figure 9.4 I/O card with floppy disk controller
TIP

If you are installing a card that includes devices already installed on the
computer, be sure to disable duplicate devices on the card before adding
an I/O card. If not disabled, the duplicate components will cause conflicts,
and may keep the machine from booting successfully, or force Microsoft
Windows into safe mode. If you have a new card with improved devices,
disable or remove the older items.

Replace the Floppy Disk Drive

When replacing floppy disk drives, be sure to throw away the old drive. Floppy disk
drives are inexpensive compared to other components in the computer. Consider
purchasing them in quantity to save money. It is a good idea to have a spare floppy disk
drive and I/O card available for testing purposes.