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Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

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Old 15th Sep 2012, 6:01 pm   #1
greenstar
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Default 5¼" discs again.

I have several 5¼" floppy discs I would like to transcribe, given that they are still readable. There's some family history research on them I wasn't able to transfer. I do have a couple of drives, one external, but the connector looks like the more recent floppy ribbon cable, and I doubt a driver will at all easy to set up. I'm running Ubuntu on one machine and Mac Os Tiger on another.
I don't want to keep asking favours, but if anyone could, I can at least pay postage ... if anyone wants a drive ...

Tony
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Old 15th Sep 2012, 7:00 pm   #2
mike_newcomb
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Default Re: 5 1/4 discs again.

Hi Tony,
a) do you know if they were created on an IBM PC compatible or what?

b) are they soft sectored?
This is checked by rotating the disc and looking in the small round hole in the cover.
If only one hole in the disc itself it is soft sectored (if many holes it is hard sectored)

If yes to (a) and (b) I am in Hammersmith West London and happy to have a go at converting as I have both 3.5 and 5.25 drives on my pc, or to a usb thumb drive/memory stick.

How about that - a reply to your query in less than an hour.

Regards - Mike
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Old 15th Sep 2012, 7:04 pm   #3
Dave Moll
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Default Re: 5 1/4 discs again.

Assuming that they are in standard MS-DOS format and the discs are still readable, I would be happy to copy the contents for you - either onto a more modern format or (to save postage) simply email them back to you. If they are in another format, I may still be able to do so, but quite so easily.

edit: Mike beat me to it while I was typing.
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Old 15th Sep 2012, 7:36 pm   #4
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Default Re: 5 1/4 discs again.

I have a floppy drive cable here with connectors for both 3.5 and 5.25 drives.
Like this: http://www.nullmodem.com/Floppy.htm
I would think that your computer should auto detect the drive if you connect it.
Yours for the postage if it's any use.
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Old 15th Sep 2012, 8:17 pm   #5
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Default Re: 5 1/4 discs again.

That's quicker than me. I'll have a look again at what I've got and see if it connects. If the drive is auto detected it may be easier than I thought, assuming no faults. I'll post back in a day or two - I appreciate the offers of reading the discs. I'm not entirely sure there's a floppy connector on the mobo.
They were used on a DOS machine, a 286. I think there's just one hole.
Tony
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Old 16th Sep 2012, 3:00 pm   #6
Dave Moll
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Default Re: 5¼" discs again.

You may have to go into BIOS setup to tell it about the disc drive.
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Old 16th Sep 2012, 3:28 pm   #7
Kat Manton
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Default Re: 5¼" discs again.

If you can connect the drive to a Linux system (all you should need is the cable and specifying the drive type in BIOS), my thread 'Rescuing old floppies' may be of interest.
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Old 19th Sep 2012, 4:16 pm   #8
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Default Re: 5¼" discs again.

Mmm. The problem seems to be that neither my mac or linux boxes have floppy connectors. I will try freecycle to see if I can pick up an old pc. I saw one left out for scrap a couple of weeks ago...
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Old 3rd Oct 2012, 7:29 pm   #9
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Default Re: 5¼" discs again.

Thanks to Dave for copying the discs, and all the help offered. Much appreciated. Thread can be closed!
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