Dell Dimension XPS R500 (i440BX PIII system): does it support 2nd floppy drive? \ VOGONS

Dell Dimension XPS R500 (i440BX PIII system): does it support 2nd floppy drive?

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First post, by keenmaster486

Posted on 2020-01-04, 07:22

keenmaster486 Offline

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Title says it all.

I want to have both 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 inch floppy drives in this computer.

I added the 5 1/4 drive, and made it drive #1, with the 3 1/2 inch drive as the "B:" drive (on the cable).

But in the BIOS there is only a setting for the first drive! So I set it to 1.2 MB 5 1/4 inch drive. And lo and behold, it works perfectly.

BUT the system does not even recognize the B: drive at all.

So does this motherboard not even support dual floppy drives? Was that even a thing? I always figured it either supported two drives or none at all.

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Reply 1 of 6, by Horun

Posted on 2020-01-05, 02:49

Horun Offline

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Sorry but Yes some manufactures removed BIOS support for a second floppy drive based on the motherboard the particular BIOS was to be used in. The Intel 440BX used the 82371 South Bridge which does support two floppies if the BIOS and support circuitry is there to allow it. If it were a Asus, GigaByte or any other retail 440BX board it would support two floppies.
added: are you sure you don't have a r400 ? tried finding the specs on a r500 and all I got is laptops

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 2 of 6, by Horun

Posted on 2020-01-05, 07:32

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just got done playing with a Compaq BX board, not the same butmay be similar and shows how diff OEM back then adultered the BIOS standards. The floppy is connected straight to board, not on the end of cable with a twist like most boards. If I add a second floppy it is added at the end cable and end of the twist like a normal A drive. Then To change the drive type in BIOS used the left-right arrows to set the new floppy drive B to 1.2mb from 1.44 (default),. Not sure if this makes sense but may help. It is possible your board supports two floppies but may take some work to get it right.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 3 of 6, by chinny22

Posted on 2020-01-06, 12:56

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Yeh I've got both the Gateway and dell versions of this board and neither support 2 floppies. I'd be interested if the Intel branded board even supports 2 drives, seems like a strange thing to specifically drop as the OEM cases the motherboards these came from had space for more than 1 drive.

Reply 4 of 6, by keenmaster486

Posted on 2020-01-06, 16:42

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Horun: yes, you're right, it's an R4o0. My mistake!

Well, it seems that maybe this is simply not supported. There is no option in the BIOS for it. Darn!

Maybe if I add a second floppy controller on 16 bit ISA??

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Reply 5 of 6, by Horun

Posted on 2020-01-07, 03:57

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Adding a second controller might work but only if it has it's own BIOS afaik. Tried that with a different board once that had a floppy controller issue and did not succeed, used a standard ISA IDE+floppy card (with IDE disabled). You should try it as you may have better luck !

chinny22 wrote on 2020-01-06, 12:56:

I'd be interested if the Intel branded board even supports 2 drives

I have a Intel MU440EX Slot 1 (440Ex + 82371EB) just checked it and only one floppy shows in BIOS. Not an Intel BX but close enough to guess Intel dropped the 2nd floppy on BX too.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 6 of 6, by Grem Five

Posted on 2021-06-11, 04:06

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chinny22 wrote on 2020-01-06, 12:56:
I'd be interested if the Intel branded board even supports 2 drives

I have an Intel BX board that supports dual floppies but it is a T440BX board that is listed as a server board.

The Intel SE440BX boards I have (Dell/Micron) both have a SMSC FDC37M707 Super I/O controller and according to the spec sheet that controller only supports a single floppy drive.
The Intel T440BX board I have has a National 87309 Super I/O controller and according to its spec sheet it supports multiple floppy drives.

The older Intel AL440LX board I have has a National PC97307 Super I/O controller and according to its spec sheet it supports multiple floppy drives.

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