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Okay I'm trying to get this computer to run, but it is eating the floppy discs I'm putting into it. I make an MS-DOS startup disk in this machine, it works fine, I restarted with it in to make sure it works, and it worked fine. I put the disk into my other machine, nothing happens, it starts up normally, I switch the drives, still nothing. So I come back to this machine and try to une the floppy, but it says 'No ID address mark was found on floppy'.

Something similar was happening with the cd rom drive in the computer as well. It didn't eat the disks though, it just wouldn't read them. I was trying to install Linux, as the ocmputer started up it would go into the program to start installing Linux, it would start up partially then it would say something like 'Searching for cd-rom' It was similar to that, and it would just freeze up right there, it did it with 2 different disks of Xandros, and with another distro called Ark Linux.

I don't know what to do, I've tried 3 different floppy drives and I can't get any of them to work. The cd rom works all the time, it was just messing up when i was trying to use it, I just hope it doesn't mess up again when I try to reinstall Windows. Any ideas as to why my floppy is eating my disks? The computer I'm trying to get running I don't know the exact specs, it is running Windows XP Professional right now, and I know it's an AMD Thunderbird 1.1Ghz CPU, don't know what kind of motherboard it is(I bought this thing for 20 bucks off one of my friends friends)

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by efmesch

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Short, practical diagnosis and next steps based on 's follow-up and 's swap suggestion.

If known-good drives and disks behave only in another PC, the problem most often sits with the motherboard floppy controller, its 34-pin header, or with power to the drive. A quick isolation sequence: check BIOS for a listed floppy type (set to "1.44MB 3.5" if present); note whether the drive LED blinks during boot or disk activity; confirm the red stripe on the ribbon is aligned with pin 1 on both drive and header; and verify the drive has a power plug attached. These checks eliminate simple mis-wiring or BIOS mis-configuration.

If the BIOS does not see a floppy or the LED never lights while a good disk is inserted, the controller or header wiring is likely faulty. Before assuming a bad motherboard: try the suspect cable and drive in the known-good machine (and vice versa) as recommended, and inspect the motherboard header for bent pins, cracked solder joints, or a burned connector. If comfortable with electronics, continuity checks (power off, unplug and discharge) across the header to the cable connector can confirm broken traces; otherwise skip to the next step.

Workarounds and repairs: a cheap PCI floppy controller or an external USB floppy will restore floppy access without replacing the motherboard. If CD-ROMs and other devices have also been flaky, a weak or failing power supply is another candidate and should be checked before buying parts. For selling the system, disclose the fault; for reinstalling an OS, use CD/DVD or USB install media to avoid reliance on the internal floppy.

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Member Avatar for vegeoku

UPDATE: Okay I have determined that all but one of the floppy's were good. I put them in my other machine and they all worked fine, I use the same cables aand the same drives in the old computer and nothing happens, So I'm guessing that the floppy header on the matherboard is bad, does anyone know what might cause this? or how to fix it?I'd like to get this machine working so I can sell it on Ebay, but at this rate, I don't think I will...

Member Avatar for efmesch

How about switching the floppy disc DRIVES between the two computers. If you have trouble reading the floppies on the machine that until now has been reading them, you'll know that the problem is with the drive and not the MB. If you still encounter problems on the same machine and the other machine continues to read without trouble, than you know that the floppy drive is not the problem. Before getting deeply involved with the MB, I would suggest switching the cables too and try them out--it's an awful lot easier to check out a cable (and the connections) than to have to mess with the MB.

Member Avatar for efmesch

It looks like I fell on my nose with this reply--I just realized that the date on your post is from over two years ago. Oh Well....
By now you must have come up with a solution.

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