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Working 5.25" floppy drive

H

Haemogoblin

Experienced Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
233
Location
Sheffield, England
Need to get my hands on one of these, so i can get files off my main computer and on to 5.25" disk. I'm in Sheffield, United Kingdom.


Many thanks
James
 
I'm not in the UK, so shipping would cost far more than the drive is worth, but I just wanted to point out that there are two basic types of drives - DS/DD and DS/HD (360K and 1.2mb). The high density drives have a hard time writing usable DD disks, so if you're looking to write floppies for an XT or a TRS-80, you really need to find a DD drive. But, if you're working with something like a PC-AT, which has 1.2 meg drives, you'll need the high density drive.

-Ian
 
Well i dont know how much posting across the pond would cost..$20?
Ive been looking online and people on Ebay, seem to have some unique theories on the value of an old floppy drive. Needless to say, they aren't speaking the same language as my wallet lol

The machine i'll be using the floppies on, will likely be a Sharp PC-7200, there's a good chance i'll been needing to fit a new drive to the machine as well, as i understand the current one is a bit suspect.
 
Sigh... You still haven't told us which type you're looking for, 48TPI DD or 96TPI HD (assuming you're not looking for 96TPI QD, 100TPI QD, single side, full height, 3/8 height, MCA interface, 26-pin interface, etc. etc ;-) )

Got a make/model of the drive you want to replace?
 
The Sharp PC-7200 is a luggable which has a 5,25" high density floppy drive, according to an article in InfoWorld 1988. Whether that floppy drive is replacable with a standard PC floppy drive is another matter, but at least it seems it is the 1.2 MB variety you want to the fullest write and use floppy disks on the vintage computer.

I agree some eBay sellers have ridiculous pricing, but I tend to see several UK sellers with low priced floppy drives so once you know what you are looking for, it should be possible to get one locally.
 
Carlsson- thanks for posting that info. As i dont have the machine, I'm afraid details are a bit on the sparce side lol
It's a fellow member of the board, who's generously sorting me out with a fixer upper ;-) He said the hard drive is shot and if i recall correctly, the floppy drive will read but not write. He suggested it might just need cleaning or simply replacing.

5.25" floppy drives are a grey area in my computer education lol So it's going to be fun learning and sorting out the machine.

I've looked on ebay and can't see many affordable drives in the UK. Whats a good price? £5-£10?
 
Haemogoblin said:
Carlsson- thanks for posting that info. As i dont have the machine, I'm afraid details are a bit on the sparce side lol
It's a fellow member of the board, who's generously sorting me out with a fixer upper ;-) He said the hard drive is shot and if i recall correctly, the floppy drive will read but not write. He suggested it might just need cleaning or simply replacing.

5.25" floppy drives are a grey area in my computer education lol So it's going to be fun learning and sorting out the machine.

I've looked on ebay and can't see many affordable drives in the UK. Whats a good price? £5-£10?
Click to expand...

5-10 pounds (where's the damn pound symbol on my keyboard?) max in my opinion.
I think you need to wait until you get the machine though.
If it's a 1.2 MB it's probably half height (did they make full height 1.2 MB?).
Does it have a beige faceplate or a grey one?
I've got three of them with beige faceplates sitting here doing nothing (all read/write tested for 30 mins and showing no errors).
If you want to pay for a box and the postage from the US, you can have one.
PM me with your address and I'll figure out the postage cost.
 
Ok well i'm going out on a limb here and going to say it's half height. As i've seen photo's of the drive in the PC7200 and it's not as tall as say the floppy drives for the BBC micro's. I found this side shot
sharp-pc7200.jpg
 
This one might be a 360K drive: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/120701088977

This is a parallel one. I don't know what they look like on the inside.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/130500388686

This one ended a week ago, but was the kind of drive you might need.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/200586136938

So yes, unless you take up on Lorne's or someone else's offer, you would eventually find what you are looking for without spending too much money. As always, it depends how quickly you need it.

By the way, it could be added that Old-Computers.com list the previous model, the Sharp PC-7000 as having two 360K drives and the PC-7100 replacing one floppy drive with a hard drive. While it is perfectly possible that Sharp upgraded to a 1.2MB drive with the PC-7200, you should check that before ordering something.
 
Well i've dropped Lorne a pm..Hopefully if the drive in the sharp simply needs a clean, i will just need a floppy drive for the main pc, so i can get my apps across :)

Cheers for the help guys, been really appreciated!

James
 
Or add the British keyboard in windows and when you have it selected press the shift+3..i have a dutch laptop that uses an american keyboard layout, i would switch between U.S and UK when i needed to.
 
Haemogoblin said:
Well i've dropped Lorne a pm..Hopefully if the drive in the sharp simply needs a clean, i will just need a floppy drive for the main pc, so i can get my apps across :)

Cheers for the help guys, been really appreciated!

James
Click to expand...

If USPS is losing money every year, it's sure not on the international mailing portion.
9" x 6" x 6" box weighing 4 lbs = $ 31.30 for first class (the cheapest). Unbelievable !
Haemogoblin is going to need to find one on Ebay.uk
 
Stone said:
I think you can use an alt code to get the £ symbol. Try alt 0163 from the numeric keypad. Worked for me.
Click to expand...

Huh? What OS is that? In Linux I get "FC;3~" and in BSD I get ";3F;3C;3~" if I use Alt-163. I don't actually think it is the OS as much as your chosen shell and character code. However in DOS (using the command.com shell and codepage 437) the correct ASCII sign comes up if I use Alt-156.

What I use in KDE is the "compose key" which is set to RightAlt. Whatever it is set for, simply holding it down while typing capital L followed by - (minus) gives the correct symbol of £.
 
Just a quick reply from the limited info you provided -

Check recycling centers - many older computers with that type of drive at least in the USA are being scrapped - if the recylcling center allows, you may be able to just take out these drives from the recycled computers and possibly find one that still works and meets your requirements.

There are other options noted on this site - just do a search - but may not be what you need - we need much more technical info from you - it can get complex - but you came to a great site for such info.

Search on "deviceside" and PLR Electronics for some options - I posted on these so you can search on GADFRAN

I believe Teac half height drives are still available for less than $100 in USA, but do not know of other countries, export issues, etc.

Good luck and keep us informed so we can all benefit from your work.

Frank
 
Haemogoblin said:
Ok well i'm going out on a limb here and going to say it's half height. As i've seen photo's of the drive in the PC7200 and it's not as tall as say the floppy drives for the BBC micro's. I found this side shot
sharp-pc7200.jpg
Click to expand...
That drive looks pretty narrow, more like a 3/8 height than a 1/2.
Can you or your friend measure the height? A normal half-height drive is 1 5/8" high, while a 3/8 height is only 1 1/4" (and much harder to find ;-) )
 
Betcha it's an inch (25.4 mm) high drive. Teac FD155GF was the best-known one, although I suspect there are others. Good luck in finding one--they're pretty scarce.
 
GADFRAN said:
Just a quick reply from the limited info you provided -

Check recycling centers - many older computers with that type of drive at least in the USA are being scrapped - if the recylcling center allows, you may be able to just take out these drives from the recycled computers and possibly find one that still works and meets your requirements.

Frank
Click to expand...

Agreed - check the electronics recycling centers - smile and be polite (or show up at lunch time and buy them a pint) and they'll probbaly give you a couple for nothing.

@ Gadfran:
Ebay item # 260582548213
$ 15 + about $ 50 shipping, but that's for a brand new one. Probably worth it too because as ChuckG says, you never hear of people asking how to repair a Teac drive (unlike a Tandon).
 
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