Re: OT: Can modern PCs run 5-1/4" floppy drives?

Martin Griffith wrote:

On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:28:28 -0700, in sci.electronics.design Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Hello Folks,

Got a new desktop from Dell (Vostro). Looking at the BIOS is only lists one drive letter (A) and just has the 3-1/2" option. Does this mean it can only run one floppy drive and it must be 3-1/2"?

I wanted to put two in there, one being the lone 5-1/2" I've got so I can retire the old machine. Once in a blue moon a client wants me to redesign something from the ice age and often there is stuff on those old floppies. Which of course I then dutifully carry over onto a CD.

Also, does anyone know the Foxconn G33M02 motherboard that's in those machines? Foxconn only has the specs for the G33M which is grossly different. Beats me why. Anyhow, I wanted to run LPT and RS232 off of there (guess I can forget that one...) and figure out whether it can drive two VGA monitors. The "documentation" that Dell furnished online this time was, to say it politely, mighty disappointing. Writing to OEM suppliers has never yielded much.


google USB floppy, save a lot of problems


I had done that. They seem to be all 3-1/2". Kludging a 5-1/4" in there can be a challenge as those things can cause some impressive current surges on the +12V rail.

There is so little documentation with PCs these days. With my first IBM I got a huge stack of cloth binders in rigid pouches. Had everything in there down to the schematics. Nowadays you have to pry what little there is off a web site. Then you end up with 200 pages or so where someone drones on about how to connect to the Internet. Duh! Then comes the page with what you think is the VGA monitor info you are desparately looking for. Says "Plug'em in here", that's it. Great. Now I don't even know whether this mobo does dual-monitor.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
.

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  • Re: OT: Can modern PCs run 5-1/4" floppy drives?
    ... Got a new desktop from Dell. ... Looking at the BIOS is only lists ... one drive letter and just has the 3-1/2" option. ... does anyone know the Foxconn G33M02 motherboard that's in those ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Can modern PCs run 5-1/4" floppy drives?
    ... Got a new desktop from Dell. ... Looking at the BIOS is only lists ... one drive letter and just has the 3-1/2" option. ... does anyone know the Foxconn G33M02 motherboard that's in those ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Can modern PCs run 5-1/4" floppy drives?
    ... Got a new desktop from Dell. ... Looking at the BIOS is only lists ... one drive letter and just has the 3-1/2" option. ... does anyone know the Foxconn G33M02 motherboard that's in those ...
    (sci.electronics.design)