5"1/4 USB floppy drives?

[ldelsarte]

Dear All,

3.5" floppy drives that connect via USB to a modern PC are very common and I have some. However, it is impossible to find a 5"1/4 USB floppy drive. I guess there must be a good reason, which I don't know. However, I would really like to find one to take "raw" images of floppy disks, right there, on my Windows 10 computer. I haven't had a PC with these floppy drives for a long time (or I have old PCs in the basement somewhere and loose 3.5" & 5"1/4 drives).

So, if anyone has an idea, a suggestion, how to find this kind of 5"1/4 floppy drive in USB for modern PC.

Thanks in advance.

Edited May 16, 2021 by ldelsarte
mispelt word

[gilsaluki]

Many years ago I seem to recall the 5.25 USB external drives were available.  But, they may all have gone the way of all older tech (and the dinosaurs).  I think I last saw them here  https://www.floppydisk.com/

[TGB1718]

I think you will find older 5 1/4 floppy drives use a lot more current and possibly +5V and +12V which

USB can't supply.

 

A solution could be an Atari 1050 and use it with 10502PC which connects the 1050 to your PC's serial port.

 

Not sure if any of the current 8bit emulators can then connect to it, I'm sure someone here would know.

 

[1200XL M.U.L.E.]

I have also looked around for USB 5.25" floppy drive a while ago and found this.

 

FC5025 USB 5.25" Floppy Controller - Device Side Data

 

You can supposedly use it to read floppies.

 

I would also love to have "real" 5.25" drive, even externally powered, with USB connector that can read and write.

[bfollowell]

59 minutes ago, gilsaluki said:

Many years ago I seem to recall the 5.25 USB external drives were available.  But, they may all have gone the way of all older tech (and the dinosaurs).  I think I last saw them here  https://www.floppydisk.com/

According to the aforementioned floppydisk.com

 

Want an External USB Drives for 5.25 inch disks
Sorry, no such drive exists. 

 

Edited May 16, 2021 by bfollowell

[tmp]

get greaseweazle (or kryoflux but that's more expensive)

[bfollowell]

1 hour ago, tmp said:

get greaseweazle (or kryoflux but that's more expensive)

 

I agree. Even if there were any USB 5.25" drives, I seriously doubt you'd be able to get any raw data dumps from them. Kryoflux though, is a controller board, even more advanced than the original onboard floppy controllers that motherboards used to have. With it, you can take flux dumps, or real raw data dumps from whatever drive you connect to it, 3.5" or 5.25", and it connects via USB.

 

[carlsson]

See also this thread that had some activity recently. Not only Atari users are looking for the devices that don't exist.

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/250051-how-come-there-arent-any-525-external-usb-floppy-drives/

[bfollowell]

7 minutes ago, carlsson said:

See also this thread that had some activity recently. Not only Atari users are looking for the devices that don't exist.

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/250051-how-come-there-arent-any-525-external-usb-floppy-drives/

 

Yeah, and the Kryoflux is route is expensive. The Kryoflux iteslf is expensive. I lucked out and bought mine off of ebay from someone that had planned to archive a bunch of old disks, then never got around to using it, then finally sold it after collecting dust for a year or two. I got it for $115 and thought it was a steal. I had a good, compatible 3.5" floppy that I've used with it, but I still need to buy a decent 5.25" drive and those can run $60-$100 for a decent, compatible drive.

 

I definitely think Kryoflux is the best option out there for long-term archiving purposes, but not for just the occasional floppy read/write. If you just have a few disks you want to get the files off of, or want to archive as an image, you're probably better off finding someone with a Kryoflux and the size drive you need and shipping your disks to them if they're willing to help you out.

 

[ijor]

24 minutes ago, bfollowell said:

Yeah, and the Kryoflux is route is expensive. The Kryoflux iteslf is expensive.

 

The Greaseweazle is a similar device, actually using more modern hardware. There are a few different options available to purchase. But it is completely open source. The smallest version, if you build it yourself, costs close to nothing.

[carlsson]

I'm still curious what the Greaseweazle community may come up with regarding support and software. It is by far the cheapest but also most DIY of all solutions, and I understand if it never will have the same specs/capacity that a $100++ solution has. Often it is unclear what use cases and ideas each person has when they're asking for a device that doesn't readily exist and which isn't financially sound to manufacture neither.

 

In some respect it is like an EPROM programmer, though those exist in many shapes. Not everyone need to buy one for programming/reading a few chips, you might be better off asking a friend or someone else to do it for you.

[ijor]

12 minutes ago, carlsson said:

I'm still curious what the Greaseweazle community may come up with regarding support and software. It is by far the cheapest but also most DIY of all solutions, and I understand if it never will have the same specs/capacity that a $100++ solution has.

I don't know where you got that idea. The Greaseweazle is even more powerful than both the Kryoflux and the SCP. The lower cost has nothing to do with lower specs. The rock bottom cost is because it leverages modern MCU hardware that has almost everything that is needed at minimal cost; and because you can build it yourself. The Kryoflux and the SCP are based on much older hardware and they are both sold for profit.

Edited May 16, 2021 by ijor

[BillC]

1 hour ago, bfollowell said:

I got it for $115 and thought it was a steal.

I just ordered a Greaseweazle F7 Lightning Plus for C$74.99, total is C$96(~US$80) including GST & shipping from Toronto. It should be arriving in just over a week.

I already have a number of 5.25" drives to test, a Chinon FZ502, a Mitsumi D503, a Mitsubishi M4853(720KB?), and a Mitsubishi M4854(1.2MB?).