Floppy A is found but won't read disk.

[Plasma]

So, I've never actually made my own cables. Is there a cheap and reliable place to buy the parts to do this?

You can buy universal cables that have both connector types at both positions. If you don't already have the parts, it will probably come out about the same cost as building your own.

 

[Jentralith]

Mouser.

34 pin connector:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/710-61203423021

34 wire ribbon cable:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/517-3365-34FT

I'm not sure what the name of the card edge connector is for 5.25" floppy drives, but there are adapters. Someone else here may know, but I'd imagine such a connector is long obsolete and harder to find.

The link to the 34 pin connector is the wrong type

Can't find a 34 pin connector the is 17x2

Did find this for edge connector...
34-pin Edge Card Female Connector

ebay universal cable is an option, just seems a little pricy.

 

[modem7]

ebay universal cable is an option, just seems a little pricy.

If you do go with an insulation displacement type connector, be sure to connect it fully. I remember someone here building their own cable for an external drive on an IBM XT, and discovering that a connector was not pushed on fully. I use a bench vice.

 

[GiGaBiTe]

The link to the 34 pin connector is the wrong type

Can't find a 34 pin connector the is 17x2

Did find this for edge connector...
34-pin Edge Card Female Connector

ebay universal cable is an option, just seems a little pricy.

If you read the rest of my post, I say that this is the wrong type for a 5.25" drive, which is why I suggested an adapter board, or someone else finding the right connector.

You need at least one 34 pin connector for the controller side regardless, and an additional one for any 3.5" drives.

 

[Jentralith]

Sorry, I was looking at the picture mouser had which showed a 2x7 pin connector rather then reading the description which lists it as 34 position 2 rows.

 

[ldkraemer]

You can find floppy cables on ebay, and they are reason.

Larry

 

[Jentralith]

Finally got around to buying the cable.

Plugged it in and....

The 3.5 drive works alone on both connectors and with the 5.25 in either position.

The 5.25 drive however has issues still. When plugged into the B drive position and set to 1.2Mb in the BIOS light comes on and brief spin on boot.
But when trying to read a disk it will spin, no light comes on and I get a seek error. If I set it to 360k in BIOS light comes on and brief spin on boot.
However I get no light and no spinning on trying to read a disk. Position A is the same thing.

I tried a second 5.25 floppy and got the same results. I also tried a few different floppies, again same results. I don't know if the floppy drive is a 1.2Mb drive or a 360k drive.

 

[krebizfan]

Could you provide the model numbers of the 5.25" drives? Looking up its capabilities and jumper settings is much easier with that information. I don't want to throw random guesses as to fixes.

 

[GiGaBiTe]

Probably should take the 5.25" drive out and inspect it for faults. Many of those drives are known to have capacitor issues at minimum now due to their age.

The head(s) should also be inspected for contamination and cleaned.

 

[ldkraemer]

Try this:

MB------EMPTY---=--3.5 A: in BIOS (strap to DS1 if the Drive shows DS{0..3} or strap to DS2 if the Drive shows DS{1..4})
MB-----=---3.5 A: in BIOS (strap to DS1 if the Drive shows DS{0..3} or srap to DS2 if the Drive shows DS{1..4})
MB------5.25 B: in BIOS (strap to DS1 if the Drive shows DS{0..3} or strap to DS2 if the Drive shows DS{1..4})----=----3.5 A: in BIOS(strap to DS1
if the Drive shows DS{0..3} or strap to DS2 if the Drive shows DS{1..4})
MB-----5.25(strap to ds0) INVALID as this is DS1 or B: -----=-----EMPTY

Larry

 

[Jentralith]

Got it to work finally. I had to set the 5.25 to position 2 on the jumper (DS2). Then put it last on the cable. Finally I set it to 1.2Mb.
Any other order does not seem to work for whatever reason.

But both 5.25 drives work in this setup.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

 

[ldkraemer]

Good Deal! IBM's easy setup with both Floppy Drives strapped to DS1 with conductors
10 through 16 swapped, made it so easy for everyone to get it working...................HA!
Others have spent days trying to get two drives working, especially if you run across
Drives marked DS{1..4}.

Larry