5.25" floppy drive-to-USB?

[Opa Opa]

3.5" external floppy USB drives seem to be cheap and abundant. Is there a similar option for a 5.25" floppy drive?

The only "help" I've come across are posts from various forums from 2006.
Can I get some more updated assistance? I cannot find any place that offers a solution.

[Hobie-wan]

3.5 was still hanging on when USB came on the scene. 5.25 were long gone by then. I wouldn't really expect there to be any commercial options.

[Ziggy]

I haven't seen any 5.25" USB FDD.

Doesn't the 5.25 and 3.5" FDD use the same FDD controller? Perhaps you can get a FDD PCI card or something and just use a regular old 5.25" FDD.

[Hobie-wan]

The controller is the same, the cable plug is different. But yeah, with an add in controller card it should be easy enough to add one in.

[Ziggy]

Oh yeah, I know the cable is different. But they actually make a cable that has both connectors on it. I have one in my Win98 PC, it took a little trial and error but I got both the 3.5 and 5.25" drives to work together.


Also, I was just thinking... Why would you need a 5.25" drive via USB? Obviously to run it on a newer machine, but wouldn't you have compatibility issues with the software?

[fastbilly1]

Ive got a couple friends who built them for projects in college, but there is no commercial option. What are you up to opa?

[BoneSnapDeez]

If you're looking to hook a 5.25" drive to a modern PC for DOSBox/retro gaming purposes I anticipate you'd run into numerous hardware/software issues.

Maybe your solution is just to find an old ass computer? I've had luck snagging some old PCs with 5.25" drives on craigslist.

[Opa Opa]

What are you up to opa?

I've run across an old ICBM at a yard sale and the launch program is on a 5.25" floppy. I want a more convenient option and don't want to bother with hunting down a working C-64.

Yeah, getting a 5.25" drive working via USB is looking like more trouble than it's worth. I think getting an old PC set up will be better in the long run.

[Ziggy]

^ Yeah, it always is. Even if you got a USB or PCI adapter, it would probably take a little tinkering to get it to work right. And it might be a headache to get working with DOSbox.

An old PC is much easier, and hella cheap. There's tons of old office computers available on eBay, if you don't already have one hanging around. And if you're main computer is a desktop with a PS/2 keyboard then a KVM switch will be a space saver since you wont have to have an entire computer rig (second monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc). I say PS/2 keyboard because using a USB keyboard with an old PC might not work. Maybe you could get one working once you load Windows, but I'm pretty sure the BIOS wouldn't allow the use of one.

[Hatta]

Keep in mind that newer old PCs may not have 360K floppy support in the BIOS. You want a PIII at the latest. Also, 1.2MB 5.25" drives can read, but not write 360K floppies. Or rather, they can write a 360K disk but the disk will be unreadable in a real 360K floppy drive.

You could also buy a KryoFlux.