VOGONS


First post, by Thallanor

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Hello,

I am pulling my hair out with an old Packard Bell not reading floppy disks correctly. I've owned this PC since new but it has been in storage for about 20-25 years. It's based off of their PB430/440/440T motherboard. (http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/pb/mb/430.htm)

What is happening is that it refuses to boot or otherwise read any floppy disks from the 3.5" HD FDD. If there is no disk, it recognizes that. But the moment you put a disk in and try again or press R for retry, it just spins, and after a few moments, stops, but the system is frozen at DOS.

I've tried two other cables and two other drives (all of which works in another computer) and the problem persists. I've tried disabling the onboard FDC in the BIOS and have installed an ISA FDC, and the results are exactly the same. No disk, it sees that. Put a disk in, and it just spins for a few seconds and hangs the system.

I'm really starting to run out of options. I suppose I could technically run without a FDD but it'd be a pain. Simple drivers would mean pulling the SSD (once that arrives in a couple days) and attaching it by USB to my computer to copy things over. For bigger things, sure. But for simple things like mouse drivers or similar, what a pain. Plus, it's just frustrating not being able to figure something like this out that should be relatively simple.

If anyone has any further suggestions, I'm all ears. I'd try another FDC if I had one, but don't. And my finances are tightening up so I can't really spare the money for another one.

Anyway, thanks in advance!

Reply 1 of 2, by cyclone3d

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1. Try reseating the CPU
2. Try reseating the RAM
3. Try reseating the power supply cables
4. Try a different floppy cable
5. Try reseating all add-in cards

It could also be the power supply is going out. The capacitors are very unlickely to be good after sitting for 20-25 years.

Could also be capacitors on the motherboard.

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Reply 2 of 2, by Thallanor

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cyclone3d wrote:
1. Try reseating the CPU 2. Try reseating the RAM 3. Try reseating the power supply cables 4. Try a different floppy cable 5. Tr […]
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1. Try reseating the CPU
2. Try reseating the RAM
3. Try reseating the power supply cables
4. Try a different floppy cable
5. Try reseating all add-in cards

It could also be the power supply is going out. The capacitors are very unlickely to be good after sitting for 20-25 years.

Could also be capacitors on the motherboard.

The capacitors _look_ okay, though obviously that isn't a scientific assessment. 😀 I can definitely test the other things later today to test. I have a couple spare PSUs that I can give a whirl. I've tried different cables already. The cards were all reseated as I pulled them (after the problem) to dust and then put them back in. So I'll see what I can find. Thanks for the suggestions. 😀