Floppy Drive - Drivers missing

[Seum]

Hello Experts

I acquired a USB floppy disk drive recently and am having trouble with
the driver. Win 7 and Win Xp drivers are missing. Does any of you
experts know where I might find one?

Someone recently introduced me to a great web site for drivers. Does
anyone know that website?

TIA

 

[Nil]

I acquired a USB floppy disk drive recently and am having trouble
with the driver. Win 7 and Win Xp drivers are missing. Does any of
you experts know where I might find one?

Drivers, if needed, would come from the manufacturer of the floppy
drive.

You don't give enough to provide a thoughtful answer, just wild
guesses.

What happens when you plug it in? How do you know "drivers are
missing?" What is the status in Device Manager? Any errors in the
Event Viewer? What brand of drive? What motherboard? Does the system
see it on bootup, prior to Windows starting (watch the POST messages
scroll by.)

Here's one person's solution to a similar problem. I have no idea
whether it applies to your situation or if it really works at all,
or if it's safe:

http://www.techgeekandmore.com/2009...ive-to-work-with-windows-vista-and-windows-7/

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Hello Experts

I acquired a USB floppy disk drive recently and am having trouble with
the driver. Win 7 and Win Xp drivers are missing. Does any of you
experts know where I might find one?

Someone recently introduced me to a great web site for drivers. Does
anyone know that website?

TIA

Does it give some indication that it _needs_ a driver? When we plug a
USB floppy into our (XP) machine, nothing happens (well, I think we
briefly get a new hardware found popup), but suddenly explorer (Win + E)
has an A: drive. (I'd have expected the same to be true of 7.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If mankind minus one were of one opinion, then mankind is no more justified in
silencing the one than the one - if he had the power - would be justified in
silencing mankind. -John Stuart Mill, philosopher and economist (1806-1873)

 

[Seum]

Drivers, if needed, would come from the manufacturer of the floppy
drive.

You don't give enough to provide a thoughtful answer, just wild
guesses.

What happens when you plug it in? How do you know "drivers are
missing?" What is the status in Device Manager? Any errors in the
Event Viewer? What brand of drive? What motherboard? Does the system
see it on bootup, prior to Windows starting (watch the POST messages
scroll by.)

Here's one person's solution to a similar problem. I have no idea
whether it applies to your situation or if it really works at all,
or if it's safe:

http://www.techgeekandmore.com/2009...ive-to-work-with-windows-vista-and-windows-7/

OK Nil, here it is.

It happened by accident. I bought a brand new floppy disk drive, dirt
cheap, no brand, and from EBay. When I tried to get it going I
discovered missing drivers - none after Win2K. It is very well built,
had a USB plug, and cost very little, so my loss isn't huge.

A miniature floppy was provided with it and that's where I discovered
the max driver was for the Win2K OS.

My Win2K box is down now but I hope to be able to use the disk drive
after it is up and running.

 

[VanguardLH]

I acquired a USB floppy disk drive recently and am having trouble with
the driver. Win 7 and Win Xp drivers are missing. Does any of you
experts know where I might find one?

When you plug in the USB device, do you hear the dah-ding sound
representing "new USB device discovered" event? If the USB device is
recognized (something you didn't mention), what do you see or what
happens when you select the device in Windows Explorer?

Just WHEN are you trying to use the USB floppy drive? If you intend to
use it before the OS has actually loaded to provide the USB support for
removable storage media, like using it when prompted to hit F6 at the
start of setup to later add more mass storage devices that need drivers,
you may not yet have the USB support needed. For Windows XP, you can
add USB drives (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916196).

You could fake out your friends with this fake USB floppy drive (which
is actually still a USB flash drive):

(yuck yuck yuck)

Was there a reason you chose to keep secret the make and model of the
external USB-attached floppy drive? When you "acquired" the drive, why
did you also not not "acquire" the software disc that came with it?

If you think you need a driver, the obvious source would be the device
manufacturer's own web site since they wrote the driver, if there is
one. Can't help you with navigating their site since you never
identified the make and model of the USB floppy drive. Some of the
discs you obtain for a particular manufacturer look to cover many makes
of device. The Nippon USB-DL-Flppy download at their driver page
(http://www.nipponlabs.com/support.html) covers Teac, IBM, Mitsumi,
eBest, Sunday, NEC, and YE models. The CD that comes with the Nippon
device, labelled "USB Portable Diskette Drive - CD-ROM for Driver" looks
like the same one shown for the Sabrent device. ByteCC looks to burn
their own to include their manual.

 

[Paul]

Hello Experts

I acquired a USB floppy disk drive recently and am having trouble with
the driver. Win 7 and Win Xp drivers are missing. Does any of you
experts know where I might find one?

Someone recently introduced me to a great web site for drivers. Does
anyone know that website?

TIA

Actually, I discovered something similar. I wanted to use my
Mitsumi USB floppy on the Windows 7 laptop, and there was no
driver for it. And Mitsumi has stopped making the drive, so
feels under no obligation to provide drivers. Other companies
rebadged that drive, so they may be in a similar situation.

To fix it here, that'll mean another trip to the store,
looking for another one with drivers.

The review comments on this one, include positive experiences
with Windows 7. Apparently, one person recognizes the unit
as Teac based.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16821103402

Paul

 

[Leon Manfredi]

Actually, I discovered something similar. I wanted to use my
Mitsumi USB floppy on the Windows 7 laptop, and there was no
driver for it. And Mitsumi has stopped making the drive, so
feels under no obligation to provide drivers. Other companies
rebadged that drive, so they may be in a similar situation.

To fix it here, that'll mean another trip to the store,
looking for another one with drivers.

The review comments on this one, include positive experiences
with Windows 7. Apparently, one person recognizes the unit
as Teac based.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16821103402

Paul

There is in the control panel, a feature under troubleshooting, that
may allow you to try to run a device, under previous versions of
windows....

 

[VanguardLH]

OK Nil, here it is.

It happened by accident. I bought a brand new floppy disk drive,

A floppy disk drive? Or a USB-attached enclosure containing a floppy
disk drive? The two are different devices.

This floppy drive one fits in a 3.5" external drive bay (or a 5.25"
external drive bay with an adapter):
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00VMjTBiFIlDoN/Floppy-Disk-Drive-GZ-FDD-003-.jpg

This is a USB-attached floppy drive:
http://images.maplin.co.uk/full/a59fb.jpg

dirt cheap, no brand, and from EBay.

Ask the seller to provide the driver disc. This USB-attached device has
no labelling on it whatsoever? The seller couldn't identify it for you?

When I tried to get it going I
discovered missing drivers - none after Win2K. It is very well built,
had a USB plug, and cost very little, so my loss isn't huge.

And yet we don't know what happens when you plug it into a USB port. Do
you hear the dah-ding sound for the event of finding a new USB device
when you plug it in? Do you hear the ding-dah sound when you unplug it?
When it's plugged in and if you hear the dah-ding sound, is it listed in
Windows Explorer or not? If listed, what happens when you insert a
formatted floppy with data into the drive and then open the drive in
Windows Explorer?

A miniature floppy was provided with it and that's where I discovered
the max driver was for the Win2K OS.

A "mini" floppy? You sure this is a floppy drive and not a CD drive?
The only "mini" disk that I can think of is the one for a CD (the one
shown on the left in the picture below):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...319222425!Mini_CD_vs_Normal_CD_comparison.jpg

While the capacities can differ (720KB DD, 1.44MB HD, 2.88 ED), the
physical size of the floppy disk (shell and floppy within) has to remain
the same to fit inside the floppy drive.

My Win2K box is down now but I hope to be able to use the disk drive
after it is up and running.

If the "mini" disk was a CD on which were the drivers then it may be
there are no driver available or provided by the manufacturer beyond
Windows 2000. It is likely the manufacturer assumes the user of later
versions of Windows will use the generic drivers already bundled in the
Windows installation.

What happens in Windows 7 when you simply plug in the USB floppy drive?

 

[VanguardLH]

Actually, I discovered something similar. I wanted to use my
Mitsumi USB floppy on the Windows 7 laptop, and there was no
driver for it. And Mitsumi has stopped making the drive, so
feels under no obligation to provide drivers. Other companies
rebadged that drive, so they may be in a similar situation.

To fix it here, that'll mean another trip to the store,
looking for another one with drivers.

The review comments on this one, include positive experiences
with Windows 7. Apparently, one person recognizes the unit
as Teac based.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16821103402

Paul

That's why I mentioned the Nippon USB-DL-Flppy download which has
drivers for several models, including the Mitsumi. It might work.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, VanguardLH <[email protected]>
writes:
[]

A floppy disk drive? Or a USB-attached enclosure containing a floppy
disk drive? The two are different devices.

I think he knows that. He's already said the thing he bought has a USB
plug.
[]

And yet we don't know what happens when you plug it into a USB port. Do
you hear the dah-ding sound for the event of finding a new USB device
when you plug it in? Do you hear the ding-dah sound when you unplug it?
When it's plugged in and if you hear the dah-ding sound, is it listed in
Windows Explorer or not? If listed, what happens when you insert a
formatted floppy with data into the drive and then open the drive in
Windows Explorer?

(Still good questions.)

A "mini" floppy? You sure this is a floppy drive and not a CD drive?
The only "mini" disk that I can think of is the one for a CD (the one
shown on the left in the picture below):

[]
My thought at first too, but he is not wrong to use that term - I just
haven't heard it for ages. Floppies did come in assorted sizes - 5.25"
and 3.5" were the commonest for PCs, but there were also 8" (ancient and
huge) and 3" (rare! and I don't know if ever for PCs); I can't remember
which got which name. (I _think_ it was mini - 5.25", micro - 3.5".)

What happens in Windows 7 when you simply plug in the USB floppy drive?

Yes, still a good question.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If mankind minus one were of one opinion, then mankind is no more justified in
silencing the one than the one - if he had the power - would be justified in
silencing mankind. -John Stuart Mill, philosopher and economist (1806-1873)

 

[VanguardLH]

VanguardLH said:


My thought at first too, but he is not wrong to use that term - I just
haven't heard it for ages. Floppies did come in assorted sizes -
5.25" and 3.5" were the commonest for PCs, but there were also 8"
(ancient and huge) and 3" (rare! and I don't know if ever for PCs); I
can't remember which got which name. (I _think_ it was mini - 5.25",
micro - 3.5".)

I recall micro being used for the 3.5" diskette format. I don't recall
mini used for the 5.25" diskette format but then I missed the pre-PC
consumer computer era (pre-1982) that had the Pelican 8" floppy drive
(e.g., Osborne, Altair).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk#Sizes.2C_performance_and_capacity
"5¼-inch (35 track) Shugart SA 400"
Note 25 indicates it was called the minifloppy.

That had a capacity of 110KB raw (87.5KB formatted). I doubt the OP has
that drive. Maybe the Smithsonian has one. By 1982 when the PC showed
up, the 5.25" 720KB/1.2MB floppy was not the minifloppy of yore. The
c.1976 minifloppy wouldn't be applicable when discussing a USB-
attached device, anyway.

I can't recall ever seeing a 5.25" USB floppy drive but that doesn't
mean someone didn't make one (http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html).
There's probably lots of goofy, one-off, or low-market computer hardware
that I haven't seen. After all, there are USB-attached turntables to
play the old vinyls for that hissy, pop-n-clicky, reduced-quality-with-
repeated-playings-due-to-wear "true fidelity" that some folks want when
reminiscing the good old days (http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html).

The OP said minifloppy but mentioned drivers on it so I figure it was a
mini-CD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniCD) since I have seen those
distributed with hardware. In fact, every CD/DVD drive that I've used
had a recess in its tray to position a mini-CD.

 

[Seum]

A floppy disk drive? Or a USB-attached enclosure containing a floppy
disk drive? The two are different devices.

VanGuardLH, you take my breath away

I thought that all USB devices stayed outside the computer box.

This floppy drive one fits in a 3.5" external drive bay (or a 5.25"
external drive bay with an adapter):
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00VMjTBiFIlDoN/Floppy-Disk-Drive-GZ-FDD-003-.jpg

Yes, my unit is somewhat similar to that one but jet black and has 4
short feet underneath. It is a 3.5"

This is a USB-attached floppy drive:
http://images.maplin.co.uk/full/a59fb.jpg

This one seems to be the same as mine, except that mine is black. No
writing on the top of mine.

Ask the seller to provide the driver disc. This USB-attached device has
no labelling on it whatsoever? The seller couldn't identify it for you?

That seems to be correct. I complained about it and they are still
trying to find the missing drivers, or so they tell me so.

And yet we don't know what happens when you plug it into a USB port.

There is no sound at all. Ouch, I'm brain dead. A few weeks ago I bought
a tiny 4GB plug-in stick. I had to try all the sockets and finally I
found one that worked. I forgot that :-( Just now I tried the floppy
drive in other sockets and finally found one that works! Now I'll have
to go around in the next week with my head down between my legs. Thanks
VanGuardLH for your help. Sob! :-(

Do

 

[Seum]

Does it give some indication that it _needs_ a driver? When we plug a
USB floppy into our (XP) machine, nothing happens (well, I think we
briefly get a new hardware found popup), but suddenly explorer (Win + E)
has an A: drive. (I'd have expected the same to be true of 7.)

A very brief leaflet came with the drive and it mentioned only Win 98,
Win ME and Win2K. That's when I started looking for a driver for Win 7.
The solution was to try one USB slot after the other and, if you are
lucky, you hit gold. Yiippee

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, VanguardLH <[email protected]>
writes:
[]

I recall micro being used for the 3.5" diskette format. I don't recall
mini used for the 5.25" diskette format but then I missed the pre-PC
consumer computer era (pre-1982) that had the Pelican 8" floppy drive
(e.g., Osborne, Altair).

You missed the early PC era too, if we're talking Intel-based systems
running DOS - the original "IBM PC" and compatibles. They initially came
with one or two 5.25" drives (sometimes a hard disc too). In fact the
3.5" size became popular with the non-PC-compatible types of home
computer before it really caught on with the "PC" type of machine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk#Sizes.2C_performance_and_capacity
"5¼-inch (35 track) Shugart SA 400"
Note 25 indicates it was called the minifloppy.

That had a capacity of 110KB raw (87.5KB formatted). I doubt the OP has
that drive. Maybe the Smithsonian has one. By 1982 when the PC showed
up, the 5.25" 720KB/1.2MB floppy was not the minifloppy of yore. The

But the name was still around - especially on the box the blank discs
came in, from a lot of manufacturers.

c.1976 minifloppy wouldn't be applicable when discussing a USB-
attached device, anyway.

I can't recall ever seeing a 5.25" USB floppy drive but that doesn't
mean someone didn't make one (http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html).

I don't think I've seen one either.
[]

The OP said minifloppy but mentioned drivers on it so I figure it was a
mini-CD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniCD) since I have seen those
distributed with hardware. In fact, every CD/DVD drive that I've used
had a recess in its tray to position a mini-CD.

Me too - which means I've not used a slot-fed one, many of which I
believe won't.

(It irritates me that blanks for the mini size actually cost _more_ than
those for full size - here in UK anyway. It's a handy size.)

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, Seum <[email protected]>
writes:
[]

There is no sound at all. Ouch, I'm brain dead. A few weeks ago I
bought a tiny 4GB plug-in stick. I had to try all the sockets and
finally I found one that worked. I forgot that :-( Just now I tried
the floppy drive in other sockets and finally found one that works! Now
I'll have to go around in the next week with my head down between my
legs. Thanks VanGuardLH for your help. Sob! :-(

[]
Sounds like all but one of your USB sockets are dead! Or have you had
other things - like mice and keyboards - working in them? If so, then
you probably have some low-power USB sockets. An external floppy drive
would, I suspect, use close to the limit (half an amp, so 2.5 watts) of
the power available. You're not using it via an unpowered hub, are you?
That almost certainly wouldn't work.)

If they just don't work at all, and it's a desktop machine, then they
may just not be connected. Some PC cases have more sockets than the
motherboard inside has support for - often some at the front and some at
the back, and whoever assembles the PC has to decide which ones to use.
Some motherboards may have support for lots of USB ports (8 is not
uncommon these days), but they may just not be connected up - either
because the assembler just didn't bother, or because the leads that came
with (inside) the case have a different pinout to the headers on the
board. Have a look! (Ideally you'd need the motherboard manual to
identify which headers are the USB ones, and their pinout. This _should_
be available from the mobo manufacturer's website, if you haven't got
it. The information for the leads that come with/inside the case might
be harder to find.)

 

[Seum]

That's why I mentioned the Nippon USB-DL-Flppy download which has
drivers for several models, including the Mitsumi. It might work.

The solution of the problem is to try all the USB sockets, until you
find one that works Then, Yippee!! No drivers needed - presumably
Win 7 has them.

 

[Paul]

The solution of the problem is to try all the USB sockets, until you
find one that works Then, Yippee!! No drivers needed - presumably
Win 7 has them.

If Win7 has the drivers, then you'd find a match for the VEN/DEV
or VID/PID in the INF files on the computer.

For fun, have a look in Windows/inf/setupapi.dev.log and
see if the details of the floppy install are near the end of the
file. I only discovered the existence of that file, within
the last couple of days.

Paul

 

[VanguardLH]

If Win7 has the drivers, then you'd find a match for the VEN/DEV
or VID/PID in the INF files on the computer.

For fun, have a look in Windows/inf/setupapi.dev.log and
see if the details of the floppy install are near the end of the
file. I only discovered the existence of that file, within
the last couple of days.

Paul

Actually I've found that sometimes the recorded USB devices (those
plugged into the USB ports in the past and recorded in the registry)
might have to be cleared. The devices are recorded in the registry for
recognition later when they get plugged in again, especially into a
different port.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USBSTOR

If you get the device working, you can get the USB device's VEN/VID
value from Device Manager under the Details tab for the device. Since
some USB devices emulate, say CD/DVD drives, you have to look for the
device under a device category other than the USB category. I think the
the Dev Mgr under Details for the device, you have to select different
detail types in the drop-down list to find the identifier for it, like
selecting HardwareID or Enumerator. This lets you know which Enum entry
in the registry is for the device. If you can't get the device working,
tech support for the product will have to tell you.

When a USB device refused to be recognized at any USB port, and often
after using a USB utility to see that the OS couldn't recognize the
device because it wasn't sending a standard preface to identify itself,
I had to not only uninstall its software but clear out all its Enum
entries under whatever category they appeared under the Enum key (might
be more than just under the USB[STOR] category). Then installing the
software and plugging the device suddenly made it discoverable again.
Something got stored as the device's old enumeration values that
wouldn't work after its software or hardware had changed. This caching
of USB device indentification often leads to problems in Windows, and
having to bounce between ports is an indicator of bad, invalid, or
outdated enumeration data in the registry.

 

[Seum]

Hello Paul

In my Win 7, there is no setupapi.dev.log

Actually I've found that sometimes the recorded USB devices (those
plugged into the USB ports in the past and recorded in the registry)
might have to be cleared. The devices are recorded in the registry for
recognition later when they get plugged in again, especially into a
different port.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USBSTOR

If you get the device working, you can get the USB device's VEN/VID
value from Device Manager under the Details tab for the device. Since
some USB devices emulate, say CD/DVD drives, you have to look for the
device under a device category other than the USB category. I think the
the Dev Mgr under Details for the device, you have to select different
detail types in the drop-down list to find the identifier for it, like
selecting HardwareID or Enumerator. This lets you know which Enum entry
in the registry is for the device. If you can't get the device working,
tech support for the product will have to tell you.

When a USB device refused to be recognized at any USB port, and often
after using a USB utility to see that the OS couldn't recognize the
device because it wasn't sending a standard preface to identify itself,
I had to not only uninstall its software but clear out all its Enum
entries under whatever category they appeared under the Enum key (might
be more than just under the USB[STOR] category). Then installing the
software and plugging the device suddenly made it discoverable again.
Something got stored as the device's old enumeration values that
wouldn't work after its software or hardware had changed. This caching
of USB device indentification often leads to problems in Windows, and
having to bounce between ports is an indicator of bad, invalid, or
outdated enumeration data in the registry.

Very interesting Paul. Thanks!

 

[Seum]

If Win7 has the drivers, then you'd find a match for the VEN/DEV
or VID/PID in the INF files on the computer.

I missed this one. In the Win 7, Windows/inf there is nothing that
begins with the letter V.