Anyone Know where I can get a 5" usb floppy drive?

If you have a 5.25 floppy drive lying around? You can use the above product to read (only), the data. It does not write to the floppy...

Jamie..

W. eWatson Inscribed thus:

Anyone Know where I can get a 5" usb floppy drive?

Modify a 3.5" one, just be careful to get one with a normal floppy drive in it, not one of those with the push in ribbon connector or the nasty laptop floppy drive. If you get the right type its just a matter of modifying an old cable or using a 5.25" to 3.5" adaptor. I played about with one a while back. It identified the drive correctly as a 1.2Mb device and worked as expected.

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.

I don't see how this would work. One cannot get a 5" disk into a space for 3.5", or did I miss something?

e

The 'external USB floppy' consists of a case, USB interface, and floppy drive. Some such devices have a standard floppy drive

34-wire header connector and you can connect those to a 5.25" mechanism. Usually, USB drives are bus-powered and take +5V only, while the 5.25" unit will likely need +12V as well.

So, the really important part of the 3.5" USB drive is just its interface component; you'll need a 5.25" drive, a case, a data cable, and a suitable power supply, to complete the unit.

whit3rd Inscribed thus:

I assumed that the OP would realise that he would need an external power source. I just used one of the spare HDD plugs on the desktop machine.

Thats correct ! I didn't bother with a case since it was very much experimental and done just to see if it would work, which it does. The first "Laptop" USB floppy drive I examined had one of those slimline floppy drives using a thin flexible ribbon between the electronics and the drive. Which is why I gave the warning.

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.

Thanks for the input, but it appears Memorex makes one. I thought I'd give our "local" Fry's Electronic store, 50 miles from here in Sacramento, a call. They have them for $40. Next time I'm down there, I'll see what it's about. I just realized we have a used electronics store down about there too. Worth a call. They sure are getting scarce.

I'm pretty sure he is just talking about the electrical connections to the guts. It will work, but it ain't pretty.