Connecting vintage disk drives to modern computer

[Vailen]

Hello everyone. I am starting to learn more about how to connect vintage disk drives to a modern Windows laptop. My goal is to download any software I need onto my laptop and create bootable disk images for 3.5-inch, 5.25-inch, and 8-inch disks.

8-inch Disk Drive
For 8-inch disks, it seems the Shugart 800 or 801 is the preferred option. (I am aware of how difficult this will be to setup since these drives use both AC and DC Power, as well as require a 50-pin to 34-pin adapter.)

5.25-inch & 3.5-inch Disk Drive: Internal or External? Which brand and model?
I have found various opinions online, but I am hoping to hear from people on this forum who have more experience in setting this up. Which brand provides the best compatibility? Which variant, internal or external, provides the best chance for success?

DOS-box or use alternate OS?
I was informed that launching a DOS-box within Windows to create bootable disks will not work (not sure why). If anyone has succeeded using a Windows-based laptop please let me know. Otherwise, what about using an older laptop and loading Linux? Does Linux provide the tools I need to create bootable disks in all of the above formats?


If anyone knows of links that will provide detailed explanations on how to do this, please share. I will eventually purchase all 3 drives and will rely heavily on the feedback and recommendations by members of this forum.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Maikudou]

DOSBox does not connect to real drives to my knowledge, so it does not work.

The simplest way I used to create some bootable 3.5 disks (Greazeweasle purists, close you ears) is to grab a generic usb 3.5 floppy at a local recycler or Amazon and use WinImage (works on Win11) to write some images to it (just make sure you don't browse the drive with the modern system after, it will create a lot of hidden garbage files there)
It also works on a mac and linux/unix with a dd utility (it is basically a way to get some bytes from one place and put it in another).

The "proper" way would be to use a Greaseweazle solution. It worked out of the box with a generic aliexpress 3.5" "NOS fdd". I have a working Epson hybrid 5.25/3.5 drive, but I am still to connect it, as it need +12V power, greasewezle can't provide.

Don't know anything about 8", never seen one in person.

As for compatibility I am no expert, but I think as long as the drive is calibrated, at least "by ear" with the known "good" disk and ImageDisk it'll be good for most cases.

 

[Vailen]

I do have an IBM Thinkpad external 3.5 drive that connects via USB. I can try to experiment with that, although if I am unable to browse the disk I will not know if the image was successful.

Have you successfully written files to an external 5.25-inch disk, as well as 3.5-inch? Which Epson hybrid drive do you have?

 

[Maikudou]

I did not write on 5.25 from new system (usb can't do 12V, there is a thread here about such attempts, don't know if they were succesful) but I did do it from my older Dell Pentium 2 machine, where it was connected via proper floppy ribbon cable. I moved files to old machine via USB.
I think its SD800 on top of SD700
You can check it any older system which does not write to removable disks when not asked to. Or move write-protect tab after image write so it can't spoil it.

 

[cj7hawk]

For 5.25 and 8-inch ( if I HAD any 8 inch! ) I'd use greaseweasel.

For 3.5 I also use the cheap $10 USB FDD adapter circuits (like this one: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/203960031575 ) and just 3D print a case, as I find it works better than the cheap USB 3.5 drives you can buy for about the same - though it won't recognize 720 disks - I have to use Greaseweasel for those.

 

[tingo]

Both FluxEngine and Greaseweazle works with 8 inch, 5.25 inch and 3.5 inch floppy drives. For the 8 inch floppy drive I also use a FDADAP adapter between the drive and the FluxEngine / GreaseWeazle hardware.
Oh yeah, I use Linux as the operating system on the reader / writer machine.