Q4OS Forum

Jerome

Member

Registered: 2016-02-26

Posts: 148

External floppy drive?

I've got some old 3.5 inch floppy discs which I want to retrieve the data from, so I'm thinking of buying a usb external floppy drive. Will this be recognized by Q4OS? I've read some reports that they're not supported on some linux systems. Thanks.

Last edited by Jerome (2017-05-06 09:05)

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,994

Re: External floppy drive?

I only have 1 system with a floppy and I won't be able to get to it until late afternoon or early evening tonight, but I will test it later and post my results for you.

Jerome

Member

Registered: 2016-02-26

Posts: 148

Re: External floppy drive?

Thanks Dai_trying, much appreciated. Since Linux is touted as suitable for older computers it's a bit surprising that some systems don't support it.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,994

Re: External floppy drive?

I'm afraid to say my attempts failed, although I could only find 1 disc for testing so cannot rule out a damaged disc. I will try to find some more discs and if I get any joy I will post here.
I have just been talking to someone that had floppy discs working with Orion 1.8.2 so it could point to my only floppy being bad. Also I have been reading on other forums that users with usb floppy devices having better results than older built in devices although I have no experience with them so can't say for sure.

Jerome

Member

Registered: 2016-02-26

Posts: 148

Re: External floppy drive?

Thanks for the feedback. I suspect that a usb external floppy would work, but the best solution might be to ask my local IT shop to transfer the data for me. If I buy the floppy drive I'll probably never need to use it again anyway.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,994

Re: External floppy drive?

I guess that would depend on how much they would charge Vs the cost to buy, if it is cheaper to buy one then at least you would have it in case you needed it again in the future, or you could use it and then sell it on again and maybe only lose a few pennies/cents/whatever currency you use

crosscourt

Member

From: Wash DC

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,228

Website

Re: External floppy drive?

Do you have a friend with a floppy drive that could transfer the data to other media like a cd?

I do that a lot for friends but havent had any issues so far with Q4os and my older and USB floppy drives.

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Q4OS Aquarius 5.x KDE   Dell Inspiron 3670, Dell Latitude 5450

Jerome

Member

Registered: 2016-02-26

Posts: 148

Re: External floppy drive?

Hi crosscourt,

No I don't know anyone who has a floppy drive. Do you mean that Q4OS recognizes your floppy drives correctly?

I'm guessing that an external usb floppy drive is just another kind of mass storage, so it should be recognized just like my kindle or camera is.

crosscourt

Member

From: Wash DC

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,228

Website

Re: External floppy drive?

Yes Q4OS does see my floppy drives. The USB drive when plugged in I get a TDE daemon screen that says floppy drive, medium type unmounted floppy and asks me what I want to do. I pop in a floppy and everything works fine.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-05-08 22:44)

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Q4OS Aquarius 5.x KDE   Dell Inspiron 3670, Dell Latitude 5450