Re: [PLUG] Floppy Drive

[Chad Waters via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

So, my Amazon special USB floppy drive came today.

I think its a bust. It has a annoying high pitched mechanic whine. After a few minutes of USB resets, it finally creates a /dev/sd 
And then it complains that there no superblock. Thsee should be FAT16 or FAT32. It should just have a FAT table if I remember correctly. I tried a handful. Whats the expected failure rate of 30+ years old floppies? They were stored in a disk holders(?) in closet with reasonable temp/humidity.

[ 1268.205629] usb 1-2: new full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1268.359160] usb 1-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0644, idProduct=0000, bcdDevice= 2.00
[ 1268.359175] usb 1-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 1268.359181] usb 1-2: Product: TEACV0.0
[ 1268.359185] usb 1-2: Manufacturer: TEACV0.0
[ 1268.396923] usb-storage 1-2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 1268.397293] scsi host0: usb-storage 1-2:1.0
[ 1269.484331] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     TEAC     USB UF000x       0.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
[ 1269.485053] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
[ 1301.643222] usb 1-2: reset full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1332.362476] usb 1-2: reset full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1363.082243] usb 1-2: reset full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1393.802007] usb 1-2: reset full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1393.994084] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Read Capacity(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[ 1393.994098] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Sense not available.
[ 1424.522250] usb 1-2: reset full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1424.714081] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 0 512-byte logical blocks: (0 B/0 B)
[ 1424.714091] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 0-byte physical blocks
[ 1455.273447] usb 1-2: reset full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1455.465386] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[ 1455.465396] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[ 1485.993187] usb 1-2: reset full-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1486.185366] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Asking for cache data failed
[ 1486.185379] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 1486.209588] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk
[ 1486.378177] sd 0:0:0:0: ioctl_internal_command return code = 402
[ 1486.378188] sd 0:0:0:0: Sense Key : Data Protect [current] 
[ 1486.378194] sd 0:0:0:0: Add. Sense: Not ready to ready change, medium may have changed
[ 1487.082923] EXT4-fs (sda): unable to read superblock
[ 1491.947139] EXT4-fs (sda): unable to read superblock

In other news: the Satellite Pro boots. The battery works too! It only complains about the CMOS battery. 

It has what it looks to be a fresh install of Windows 98. I have to hand it to my dad, he had the foresight to wipe his devices. He also gave me his passwords as his dementia set in: they were extremely complex.

It has a PCMCIA 56K modem. I lived in  a very rural setting in which the copper line was horrible. I was excited if I could connect to a BBS at 9600 back then. Finding a pcmcia ethernet that win98 supports might be fun: the ping of death lives!

It has a CD drive. The floppies must be from the desktop we had prior.

This is will be given to Casey for his collection.

-Chad

On Tuesday, December 16th, 2025 at 3:22 PM, Chad Waters via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> Hey,
> 
> What's the status of floppy drive kernel modules these days? Can I just grab any USB FDD from Amazon? I found A LOT of 3.5 floppies at my Dad's house recently and want to see if there's anything worth savaging.
> 
> Really cool finds among them:
> Duke Nukem
> Starflight (5.25 floppy)
> 
> Next project: I have his first "laptop": a beast of a Toshiba Pro 430CDT (Pentium Intel Inside!). I'll try powering it up and see if I can do anything with it.
> 
> Thanks
> -Chad

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