Floppy Drive Problems

Brian The Dog on 15/10/2009 at 17:20

Dear fellow TTLG'ers,

I have been asked to install Windows XP onto a friend's PC, and he is buying (http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=Rx8nzOLI1SS2gRrH) this motherboard. Since hard drives have gone over to SATA now, we will need to load the SATA drivers into Windows when starting the installation process, but this requires a floppy drive, something that this motherboard does not have. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916196/en-us) Microsoft's website says that only some USB floppy drives are recognised, and (typically) mine isn't one on the list. So there are several options that I can see:

1) Use nLite to slipstream the SATA drivers onto a copy of the Windows XP CD. Will work this time, but seeing as how often I get roped into installing Windows on friend's PCs, I am looking for a hardware solution.
2) Get a floppy drive controller that connects via the PCI slots - I can just remove it after installing Windows.
3) Find somewhere that sells IDE floppy drives.
4) Find somewhere that sells USB floppy drives that are on that list from Microsoft.

I know in the short term I could do option (1), but I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get the hardware for options 2-4? I live in the UK, but if they ship internationally it shouldn't be a problem.

Many thanks!

theBlackman on 15/10/2009 at 18:33

Try UBCW4WIN. Build an install disc with the drivers needed in the bootdisc.

(http://www.ubcd4win.com/downloads.htm)

Here is the download page. Check the home page for any information you think you might need.

You make a start disc for Windows that will do an auto install for you, or will let you boot and diagnose nearly any Windows system.

Al_B on 15/10/2009 at 18:59

The UBCD is a great utility but if you're going to go down that route then you may as well just slipstream the drivers anyway - and I've found that building the UBCD can take quite a long time.

I've not done it myself but at the back of my mind I thought you could use the (http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?swItem=MTX-UNITY-I23839) HP Drive Key Boot Utility to format a spare USB memory stick as a floppy drive which could then be recognised by the XP install.

heywood on 15/10/2009 at 20:29

Unless the XP install disk you're using already has SP3, you're better off slipstreaming. You can slipstream the drivers, SP3, IE7, and other updates making the whole install go much faster.

TBE on 16/10/2009 at 00:55

I fix a lot of computers. A lot of them require reinstallation of XP. So I bought a USB floppy drive from Best Buy for like $25. Yeah, it's not cost effective for one computer reinstall, but if you spend all day trying to slipstream drivers, that's more than $25 of your time saved. It's not bad to make your own slipstream drivers, but doing it for other people can become a bear. I say either buy a USB floppy drive, or pull a working floppy drive from another computer. They haven't changed in about 15 years. 1.44 MB disks are still the norm. Most of them hook up easily enough, and you can just leave it dangling instead of mounting it permanently.

I bought (http://www.amazon.com/Dynex-External-Floppy-DX-EF101-1-44MB/dp/B0006TF7C6) this model here. It's not on the list of supported floppy drives from Microsoft, but I can tell you I've used it to install F6 drivers in Windows XP Home, XP Pro, and XP Media Center Edition 2005. It was recognized by all.

Watch the cable on some floppy drives from companies like Dell have proprietary IDE style connectors, and aren't compatible with some motherboards. You'll see blocked holes on the cable, and it won't plug into your new aftermarket motherboard.

theBlackman on 16/10/2009 at 08:02

I built a slipstreamed UBCD without too much trouble, and I am a real novice when you boil it down.

But the suggestion to add a Floppy is a good one if the carcass has room for it.

Brian The Dog on 16/10/2009 at 08:08

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I did a quick search on Amazon for the model TBE mentioned, and nothing came up, and the US Amazon doesn't like shipping to the UK, unfortunately. I'll keep an eye out for it though.

Someone on Ebay is selling one of the floppy drives compatable though, so I may get that, as it is £10ish.

I do have a 3.5" internal floppy that I can move between PCs when installing Windows, but the problem is that motherboards now are starting to be shipped without even an internal floppy connector, so there's nowhere to plug them into on the motherboard.

I guess I'll slipstream the one I'm building next weekend, and then see if I can get that USB floppy from IBM.

Edit - Just got (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IBM-USB-EXTERNAL-FLOPPY-DRIVE-FOR-LAPTOPS-DESKTOPS_W0QQitemZ380163267235QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_FloppyDiskDrives_SM?hash=item58837f1aa3) this one from Ebay for £9, it's the right serial number so it should do the trick. Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

Nameless Voice on 19/10/2009 at 00:23

As far as I understand it, if you slipstream the right SATA drivers with nLite, they should work for pretty much all major SATA controllers - they're not a "one motherboard only" solution. Also, it lets you integrate your custom Windows theme. :cool:

Brian The Dog on 1/11/2009 at 23:17

Minor necromancy, but this may be useful to people:

I installed Windows XP and tried my old USB floppy drive to install the SATA drivers in Windows' setup, just to see what would happen. To my surprise, it all worked! I only recently figured out why though.

In more modern BIOS's, there is a setting called "Enable Legacy USB". For operating systems that do not see the USB devices properly, the BIOS emulates the following to be the "internal" equivalent:
- keyboard (to PS/2)
- mouse (to PS/2)
- floppy (to internal floppy)
- cd-rom (to IDE)
(http://www.ocforums.com/archive/index.php/t-242655.html) Source (this list is for HP computers, but I guess it should be similar for other manufacturers)

Essentially this means that if this setting is available and enabled in the BIOS, then any USB floppy will be seen in the Windows start-up as an internal floppy, and should be OK to install SATA/RAID drivers etc.

Edit - just checked on my Asus M2N-SLI (which has the nForce2 chipset), and only USB keyboard and mouse are emulated - presumably because it has IDE and floppy ports anyway. So it would seem to be motherboard specific (I'd guess they would add device support when they remove that physical connector from the motherboard).