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Roadkill
10-20-2002, 5:54 PM
Having problems with Floppy Drive, screen sez FLOPPY DISK(S) FAIL. Looked this up and found this definition.

Cannot find or initialize the floppy drive controller or the drive. Make sure the controller is installed correctly.

My question is: what / where is the " controller " that I'm supposed to check for proper installation?
blackwatch
10-20-2002, 5:57 PM
on the mobo...where you plug the floppy cable into (depending on the board). its not too uncommon that the board shipped with a bad controller. it has happened to me...its few and far between. have you swapped floppy drives and cables? that would be a more likely scenario.
Roadkill
10-20-2002, 6:19 PM
Thanks for the response. I'll try that.
madfish
10-20-2002, 6:35 PM
ermm not to be a jerk or anything, but have you checked for bent pins? on some Fdd conectors on the back of the Fdd you can insert the cable off centered by a pin or two and it will still feel and looked plugged in right. bends those pins everytime and you end up with the error you got also
blackwatch
10-20-2002, 6:52 PM
yeah that too :D
Roadkill
10-20-2002, 7:48 PM
Checked pins both on floppy and on mobo, no bent pins. There is however one pin missing on the floppy drive. Is this normal?

BTW, when I turn the machine on, the floppy lite turns on, the unit vibrates, the lite turns off, then the error message shows up on the screen.

This floppy came out of another machine and it worked in it.
blackwatch
10-20-2002, 9:11 PM
bad cable?
madfish
10-20-2002, 9:13 PM
ahhhh that coulkd be it, I've pulled Fdds from compaqs and dells and such and have them not want to work in a generic machine. I burned up a wiring harrness befor after plugging in a compaq fdd, seems like the voltage or the way it was wired was backwards.
I don't save fdds from brand name machines anymore, usally I find they willn't work outside of there priportitory box. just my experence with them.
your milage may and will vary :D
Roadkill
10-20-2002, 10:03 PM
Good point Mad, I ordered a couple of floppys from Newegg, I'll stick one of those in, and get a new cable to go with it. But I think the problem is in the bios settings. Checking around in there I found the floppy listed as a 5 1/4 in Windows and as a 3 1/2 in the bios, and listed as drive B in Windows, drive A in bios. Switched them around and got the thing to boot without the error message. Now Windows lists it as a 5 1/4 in. removable drive ( in My Computer ). Clicking on this icon jams the computer. I'm shutting it down and going to bed now, I'll deal with it later.
Roadkill
10-27-2002, 1:29 PM
Problem solved! It was the cable. Both the old cable and the new cable were bad. Tried another new cable and it works. Thanks for the help folks!