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From: Paul 
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Subject: Re: Hmmmm, Where is the floppy drive in XP?
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 02:34:01 -0500
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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james{at}nospam.com wrote:
> On Tue, 14 Nov 2017 10:39:54 -0500, gfretwell{at}aol.com wrote:
> 
>> On Tue, 14 Nov 2017 06:27:43 -0600, james{at}nospam.com wrote:
>>
>>> I'm not used to having a floppy drive on an XP machine. 
>>> I plugged in a NEW floppy drive, which I just got in the mail. I used
>>> that twist cable which I mentioned. (twist on drive end), and connected
>>> the power cable. Everything is plugged in properly.
>>>
>>> I am not seeing the A: drive in My Computer. 
>>>
>>> I am not sure where else it should show up.
>>>
>>> I confirmed this drive works by plugging it into the existing cables
>>> connected to the internal floppy drive and it works fine. I read, wrote
>>> and formatted a floppy. 
>>>
>>> In XP, I went to control panel, hardware, and I can see the floppy
>>> listed. It says it's working fine. 
>>>
>>> I went to the command line, and typed A:
>>> It says "Invalid drive specification".
>>>
>>> The only thing I can think is that maybe that cable is defective??? 
>>>
>> 5 wire twist or 7 wire twist?
> 
> SEVEN
> (why do they make two different types?)
> The one which works on my Win98 puter is also SEVEN.
> 
>> Do you have the power cable plugged it? 
> 
> Yes
> 
>> Did you boot the machine? 
> 
> Yes, several times
> 
>> Does it spin on the boot?
> 
> No
> 
> Just for the heck of it, I booted a linux flash drive. I dont see A: or
> B: in there either.
> 
> However, I am now wondering if it could be possible that something in
> the bios needs to be changed? I know I have it set to boot from a flash
> drive FIRST, then the HDD, and lastly the CD player. But since this
> computer has never had a floppy drive, maybe there is some bios setting
> to change????? 
> I would have looked already, but I cant remember what key to hit to get
> into the bios. Its a homemade computer so looking that up may be tricky.
> I think I need to start putting labels on every computer saying what key
> needs to be pressed to go to the bios.
> 

There is a guide here on the floppy cable design.
The floppy drives are all (virtually) jumpered as B drives.
The connector "after the twist" (your config) makes
that defacto B drive, an A-drive. So the one on the
end is A.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/fdd/confCable-c.html

Now, what if your drive was so old, it actually had
a jumper ? Then the problem might be that your drive
simply isn't being selected at the moment.

The twisted part, consists of four active signals.
Two for each drive. The twist swaps the signals, so
that one connector can have an A personality and the
other a B personality. (Just like a CS Cable Select method.)

The scheme described, works without problem if
all the drives are internally jumpered as B.
My spare drive here, there isn't any jumper position
on it, just the data cable and four pin power.
And there's nothing in the labeling to suggest
B-jumpering (which becomes A for the connector
after the twist).

That doesn't explain though, why you have
one equipment configuration that works. Which
suggests a BIOS problem.

I don't think your machine isn't that old, because it
does have one IDE and two SATA.

"ALIVE6100 VSTA [S754 AMD]"

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_GALLERY.aspx?DetailID=847&Cate
goryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=24&LanID=0

     IT8715F

The manual "ALIVE6100%20_VSTA1.0B.pdf" has
this - a single setting to disable the FDC.
Enabled is the default. If you can see it
in Device Manager, then that's probably proof
enough this is set to Enabled.

    Onboard FDC Controller (Enabled)

    This option enables the onboard floppy disk drive controller.

To get into the BIOS:

    Press  to enter SETUP

which makes it the same as an Asus ? It should
put that prompt on the first visible screen.

The manual is from the year 2008, yet there is no mention
of popup boot. The line below "Press ..." should
identify the popup boot key (which gives a one-time boot
menu for starting the system).

A picture I can find of a Phoenix BIOS, doesn't show
a popup boot key choice. Just the  one.

HTH,
    Paul
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