problems installing a floppy drive

Question

I'm trying to install a 3.5' floppy drive and can't get it to work.  My mom ordered a computer without one and now decides she'd like to have one afterall.  She has a Dimension 8250 desktop and when I open it up it has the cable (the one with the twist) and the small, floppy drive specific power cable.  I plug both of them in right-side up (they only fit one way) and power on the computer but nothing changes.  There is no floppy drive in 'My Computer' and the light doesn't light up on the drive.  I've tried reconnecting it multiple times with no success.  I've tried flipping over the power cable and plugging it in the other way but that didn't work either.  The data cable won't plug in with the red stripe facing the other direction so I couldn't try this.  Does anyone know what I might be missing? Thanks for your help!

fliptophead · Answer

I went into the BIOS setup and one of the first lines was to install a 3.5' drive.  I selected that, specified the right size drive (i think it was the only option), saved and exited.  I rebooted and found no changes.  I'm fresh new to XP (been on 2k) so I know little about how this OS works.

fliptophead · Answer

Ooh!  I hadn't thought of that.  I don't know how to do that in XP but I'll figure it out and post what happens.  Thanks!

ceri sheeran · Answer

Hi, Have you checked in BIOS to enable the floppy drive. Ceri

fliptophead · Answer

This didn't work.  Any other suggestions?

NVRambo · Answer

Make sure the diskette options are 'enabled' in BIOS under 'integrated devices'.  Windows isn't going to see the drive until BIOS recognizes it. Also, do a cold boot of the system and watch the drive LEDs on the front of the system.  You should see the floppy LED illuminate when polled/initialized by the system.

fliptophead · Answer

I have the BIOS enabling the floppy drive under 'integrated devices'.  That's the only place I saw to select it as such.  But the drive doesn't light up when I boot up the computer.  I've checked the power supply connection several times and have made sure it's connected correctly according to the pictures in the instructional manual that came with the drive.  It also doesn't fit if I turn it upside down.  I'm assuming this is where part of my problem is but I wasn't sure if the power would even go to it if it wasn't correctly set up in the BIOS.  I'm still not sure what more to do.

ineedhelp2 · Answer

Did you solve this problem? I am having the exact same problem, and I am having no luck. If you have a solution, I would really really appreciate it. THANKS!

CompHobbyist · Answer

Sometimes the cable is designed incorrectly.  I've seen cables that have the polarization tab on the wrong side.  What really matters is that the red edge of the cable is at the side with pin #1.  If you look at the circuit board next to the connector, you should see the numbers 1 and 2.  If there are no numbers, check the bottom of the circuit board.  Some are also marked using a square solder joint instead of round at pin #1, and some have a triangle pointing to pin #1.  The red edge of the cable should go to that side of the connector.  Also, make sure that you have the drive plugged into the connector AFTER the twist, some BIOSes aren't set up for two drives.  Set the floppy mode to '3.5' 1.44MB' in the BIOS.  Also make sure that the floppy controller is enabled in the BIOS, it's usually under 'advanced peripheral options' I think.

ineedhelp2 · Answer

Thanks for your help! I haven't tried it yet. I am new to XP and I am not sure how to make sure the floppy controller is enabled in the BIOS. Any advice?

CompHobbyist · Answer

The BIOS is OS-independent.  You don't need to know anything about the OS to use the BIOS setup, it's built into the computer.  What you do is reboot, then press a key when it's checking the RAM or when it says 'press ? to enter setup'.  Usually the key to press is either Delete, F1, F2, or Esc.  The computer will say something like 'entering BIOS setup', and then will go to a screenful of info and settings.  Many of these settings are very important and can mess your system up if you set them wrong, you want to go to a page called something like 'advanced peripheral settings' or something like that.  Set the floppy drive A: type to '3.5' 1.44MB floppy' and set the 'enable floppy controller?' to 'yes' or 'auto'.  Then navigate back to the main screen and hit the key to 'exit and save settings'.  The system will reboot and the drive should be detected when you enter Windows.

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