some other

These were proprietary to specific models of 90s laptops.

There's some limited data available for pinouts, but generally, these were handled by the model-specific bios roms in those systems, and generally acted like a normal diskette drive.

wierd_w wrote on 2026-03-09, 19:19:

These were proprietary to specific models of 90s laptops.

There's some limited data available for pinouts, but generally, these were handled by the model-specific bios roms in those systems, and generally acted like a normal diskette drive.

It is connected to the regular rear lpt port, it is some strange lpt to floppy converter (it work in every pc) or simply use the same lpt connector with pin remapped by the bios?

AlessandroB wrote on 2026-03-09, 19:32:

wierd_w wrote on 2026-03-09, 19:19:

These were proprietary to specific models of 90s laptops.

There's some limited data available for pinouts, but generally, these were handled by the model-specific bios roms in those systems, and generally acted like a normal diskette drive.

It is connected to the regular rear lpt port, it is some strange lpt to floppy converter (it work in every pc) or simply use the same lpt connector with pin remapped by the bios?

Yes. I know. They existed.

https://www.reddit.com/r/retrobattlestations/ … _lpt_to_floppy/

For example. Sharp was not the only one. There are several such "LPT Floppy!" solutions out there.

If it were me, I'd look for FCCIDs on these drives, to get a manufacturer. Then start from there.

I've discovered a few things... there are two types of connections for internal 3.5" floppy drives (from the 486 era until they were discontinued, let's say): 34-pin, which is the classic, wide, gray cable we've always used, and 26-pin. The 26-pin version is usually used in slim drives mounted inside laptops. I also noticed that there are at least two widths of this 26-pin flat cable because I have a spare, but unfortunately it's wider than the one used in this floppy drive on my Extensa. I think that by searching on eBay for a slim floppy drive with the 26-pin connection on the right side, I can repair this external floppy drive.

AlessandroB wrote on 2026-03-09, 19:32:

... It is connected to the regular rear lpt port, it is some strange lpt to floppy converter (it work in every pc) or simply use the same lpt connector with pin remapped by the bios?

The PCs LPT port is basically a general parallel interface.

There are 8 bidirectional* data lines, 4 extra output lines and 5 extra input lines. You can interface to non-printer devices through these lines much like you would on an 8-bit data bus. Over the years I've built lots of devices that connected via LPT port, such as my:

- QDRE (Quick and Dirty Rom Emulator)

- PC logic analyser

- Various other interfaces and debugging hardware.

* In some(very early) LPT implementations the data lines were output only, and most non-printer devices won't work on these. Fortulately from fairly early on it has had bidirectional capability.

LPT floppy drives are basically just a drive with an integrated "floppy controller" interfaces through this "bus".