Finally, Death of the 3.5 inch floppy disk
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From: John Tserkezis on 27 Apr 2010 09:38 Spehro Pefhany wrote: >> The only way to load device drivers (drive interfaces, SCSI drivers >> etc) when installing windows is via the drive at A:. And that's your >> only option. > My latest machine lacks floppy support on the motherboard (Asus P6T > WS). They suggest using a USB flash drive or USB floppy for RAID > drivers. That's nice, but USB flash drives won't ever map to A: or B:. This is done intentionally, and it makes perfect sense. But it doesn't help the fact that Windows will not look at *any* other drive than A:. So, that leaves USB interfaced FDDs, or, as already suggested, creating an alternative boot disk with the drivers included.
From: Doug McIntyre on 27 Apr 2010 12:46 John Tserkezis <jt(a)techniciansyndrome.org.invalid> writes: >Spehro Pefhany wrote: >>> The only way to load device drivers (drive interfaces, SCSI drivers >>> etc) when installing windows is via the drive at A:. And that's your >>> only option. >> My latest machine lacks floppy support on the motherboard (Asus P6T >> WS). They suggest using a USB flash drive or USB floppy for RAID >> drivers. > That's nice, but USB flash drives won't ever map to A: or B:. This is >done intentionally, and it makes perfect sense. But it doesn't help the >fact that Windows will not look at *any* other drive than A:. I have a Flash Drive that mimics part of its space as a USB Floppy that *does* map to drive A: or B:. Unfortunately it doesn't work very well with most systems. :( > So, that leaves USB interfaced FDDs, or, as already suggested, creating >an alternative boot disk with the drivers included. Of course this is all only just for WinXP (ie. that Windows release from 8 years ago), or Server 2003 from 7 years ago.. Vista & Win7/Server 2008 either release have methods to read in RAID/HBA drivers off flash or USB devices during installation while booted into WinPE. And its easy to make a new WinPE boot environment with said drivers if needed.
From: langwadt on 27 Apr 2010 12:48 On 27 Apr., 14:55, Spehro Pefhany <speffS...(a)interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote: > On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:56:18 +1000, the renowned John Tserkezis > > <j...(a)techniciansyndrome.org.invalid> wrote: > >Don McKenzie wrote: > > >> Sony announced on April 23rd that they will be discontinuing sales of > >> the classic 3.5 inch floppy disk in Japan in 2011. The news marks a > >> major end to a nearly three decade history of the disk type that the > >> company helped to pioneer. > > > Someone forgot to tell microsoft. > > > The only way to load device drivers (drive interfaces, SCSI drivers > >etc) when installing windows is via the drive at A:. And that's your > >only option. > > My latest machine lacks floppy support on the motherboard (Asus P6T > WS). They suggest using a USB flash drive or USB floppy for RAID > drivers. > a few years ago when I got a stack of dell 1U servers they all had a USB floppy drive in the box with manuals etc. -Lasse
From: Joerg on 27 Apr 2010 14:11 Don McKenzie wrote: > Jon wrote: >> "Don McKenzie" <5V(a)2.5A> wrote in message >> news:83mgi7Fu8vU1(a)mid.individual.net... >>> Hi Lewin, >>> >>> Considering Sony produced the first 3.5" floppies, and currently hold >>> 70% of the world market, and many other manufacturers have pulled the >>> plug, I would say death is very close to describing what the usage >>> will be in 2011. >>> I have stashed away 3-1/2" disks and also 5-1/4" floppies. In production the lifetime of machines is often many decades and there are numerous machines that will not be re-programmable via any other means. >>> Some people still go to drive-in cinemas, use Betamax video format, >>> rotary dial phones, and Edison wax cylinders, so these aren't dead >>> either. >>> >>> Only thing that is really dead, are people that fall off the perch. :-) >>> >>> >>> Cheers Don... >> >> >> They still charge us a 'service fee' on the phone bill if we opt for >> touch tone service. > Until recently we paid an extra tax via the phone bill to finance the Spanish-American war which AFAIK ended in 1898 ... > Just a thought. > How many kids 15 or under would know what a rotary dial is, or ever used > one? > > Then, how many kids 15 or under, have ever written, or read a file > to/from a 3.5" floppy?. > > Not a lot I would think. > I can't remember when I last used a floppy, must be many years. Would > have been to prop up a short leg on a table. :-) > > Footnote ** > I laugh when the little ones of today, have to look at the back of your > camera, after you take a picture. What did we do before they put the > screen there? > We learned how to take good photographs, in my case I took classes. Because the cost of a 24 or 36 roll of 35mm film (or 12 exposures in the 6cm by 6cm days) was rather substantial and you could not waste any of it. So we spent some time getting the lighting right, making sure everything else was just right, and so on. Often there was no chance to re-take a shot because you would not know until several days later whether the result was ok or not. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: SG1 on 27 Apr 2010 15:13
"John Tserkezis" <jt(a)techniciansyndrome.org.invalid> wrote in message news:4bd6c587$0$32019$afc38c87(a)news.optusnet.com.au... > Stuart Longland wrote: > >>> The only way to load device drivers (drive interfaces, SCSI drivers >>> etc) when installing windows is via the drive at A:. And that's your >>> only option. >>> Short of creating a magical alternate boot install CD/DVD for every new >>> model of box we get. Not looking forward to it. > >> Actually, rumour has it, this is not the case in the two latest >> revisions of their OS. I say rumour as I have not ever tried >> installing one of these latest creations -- the one Windows Vista >> machine I used had it preloaded, and I've never touched Windows 7. > > No idea about Vista, but have installed Win7 several times so far, and > yes, your only option is F6 to look at drive A:. > >> But yes, you make a valid point ... and I shall make a note to stock >> up on 3.5" floppy disks while they're easily available, as some of the >> ones I have at home are slowly decaying with age. > > Indeed. I've never had much luck with the longevity of 3.5" disks. > They simply do not last. And, owning to the fact we don't use them too > often, (we get boxs with newfanged interfaces when we're least expecting > it) we grab the first disk that's been kicking around in cabinet here. > After we go through several bad ones, we throw them out to find there > are none left. > > As I said, we can create a custom boot disk, this is very doable, but > we could have that box up and running in several minutes verses lots more. > > Contrary to popular belief we DO have more important things to do than > screw around with installs that don't like to play with the other > children. I have some disks from 1993 that are still readable. I have some from later that are gibberish, reformat did not help them come back to life. Guess it depends on the manufacturer. |