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How to set up two 5.25" floppydrives properly?

hagelaars

hagelaars

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Jun 27, 2016
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The Netherlands
Hi all,

I'm trying to set up two old 5.25" floppydrives. I use a retro floppycable, one HD floppydrive and one DD floppydrive. Please see image with more details.
Bios settings are: Floppy drive A: 1,2M, 5.25" Floppy drive B: 360k, 5.25"

The drives are not working properly.. I guess it has something to do with the jumper settings. I'm sure that the hardware is ok.

Who has more experience with this? I hope someone can help.. Thanks in advance!

flop.jpg
 

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You didn't say what type of computer you are using. :)

If it's an IBM or clone with a twisted cable BOTH drives should be set to DS1.
 
Stone said:
You didn't say what type of computer you are using. :)

If it's an IBM or clone with a twisted cable BOTH drives should be set to DS1.
Click to expand...

Its a IBM based computer :) I will try this, thanks!
And the drive on the top connector is always drive 1 in the bios? (so the master drive?)

And what does the TD jumper mean?
 
hagelaars said:
Its a IBM based computer :) I will try this, thanks!
And the drive on the top connector is always drive 1 in the bios? (so the master drive?)
Click to expand...
The drive at the end of the cable is drive A:.

There is no master floppy drive. Master and slave refer to hard drives.
 
...and on the off-chance that you may have picked up a 34-conductor MFM hard drive cable, make sure that the twist on the distant end matches this (hard drive cables use a different twist):

ide-floppy-cable-twist.gif
 
Thanks guys!

The cable seems fine, though it has the twist before the 3rd (20-pin small floppy connector) seems ok?

Unfortunately, the DD drive still doesn't work. I jumperred them now both DS1, though the DD drive has an extra TD jumper set, like on the image..
 
The twist before 3rd connector is OK, as it separates two drive positions on the cable. For each drive there are two available connectors. Card edge type for 5.25" drives and IDC type connector for 3.5" drives.

I would remove the TD jumper from the drive closer to mainboard to see if it helps. Maybe it is the terminator resistor pack jumper.

EDIT: you could also do some more diagnosis. Do the drives work when only one is on the cable? Do they both react to the correct position on the cable? E.g. B: when before twist, and A: after twist.
 
Last edited:
krebizfan said:
hagelaars, could you provide some pictures of the setup you are trying to use? It might clarify things.
Click to expand...

Thanks for willing to help! I made everything clear in the picture attached with my first post. I only changed the jumpers of both drives to DS1 on archeocomp's advice.

archeocomp said:
The twist before 3rd connector is OK, as it separates two drive positions on the cable. For each drive there are two available connectors. Card edge type for 5.25" drives and IDC type connector for 3.5" drives.

I would remove the TD jumper from the drive closer to mainboard to see if it helps. Maybe it is the terminator resistor pack jumper.

EDIT: you could also do some more diagnosis. Do the drives work when only one is on the cable? Do they both react to the correct position on the cable? E.g. B: when before twist, and A: after twist.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the extra info! I will try everything when the temperature here is some lower.. The weather is tropical here.. sweat breaks out with every move inside the house.. I will keep you informed.
 
hagelaars said:
Thanks guys!

The cable seems fine, though it has the twist before the 3rd (20-pin small floppy connector) seems ok?

Unfortunately, the DD drive still doesn't work. I jumperred them now both DS1, though the DD drive has an extra TD jumper set, like on the image..
Click to expand...

The twist needs to be between the two connectors you are using to connect the floppies. A "retro" cable should 3 identical connectors. Does yours have four?
 
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