Linux Distro's still supporting 3.5" & 5.25" Floppy's

lkraemer · 04-30-2015, 07:04 AM

What are the Current (32 Bit & 64 Bit) Linux Distro's that still support
5.25" & 3.5" Floppys, without having to jump through hoops in hoping to make
it work?

I'd prefer a Debian based system, but I've had trouble on a Wheezy (6.x) install
trying to access the Floppy Drives. I always fall back to the now un-supported
Ubuntu 8.04 because everything always works.

Any information on a Debian based (or other Linux) Distro that still supports
floppy's out of the box is appreciated.

Larry

whm1974 · 04-30-2015, 07:13 AM

I have to ask, but are you doing that needs floppy drives? Do you have stacks of disks that you need to get data off?

Your best bet would be to get a USB floppy drive which use the USB mass storage driver. 5 1/4? you may be out of luck.

syg00 · 04-30-2015, 07:28 AM

When I built systems that have a floppy controller on the motherboard I always toss a (3.5') floppy in just in case. Last I tried (Fedora 16 maybe) it was a simple matter of modprobe'ing the floppy driver (which I still see in F20 BTW).
I tend to agree about anything bigger.

michaelk · 04-30-2015, 07:32 AM

The floppy module is not installed by default anymore. To elaborate on syg00's post

modprobe fd0

syg00 · 04-30-2015, 07:39 AM

And just to confirm, on an old P4 system I have the floppy works fine on Fedora 21.
Biggest job was to find floppies I hadn't tossed - would you believe a box set of the original OS/2 Warp ....

syg00 · 04-30-2015, 08:23 AM

Quote:

modprobe fd0

Not on any system I've used - "modprobe floppy"
The device node created is (probably) /dev/fd0

michaelk · 04-30-2015, 08:41 AM

Oops. I was still asleep. Yep /dev/fd0 is the device, floppy is the module..

lkraemer · 04-30-2015, 10:27 AM

Actually, I'm using a Kyroflux for Preservation of old 5.25" (3.5") CP/M Floppy's before they self destruct. I've got several
for my old Kaypro II, Ampro Little Board, and Radio Shack TRS0-80 Models 3 & 4. Likewise I'm running some Emulators (in Debian)
that can access those images, and create new Original Floppy's on an Original Floppy Drive. Therefore the need to be able
to access Real Legacy Hardware.

Larry

John VV · 04-30-2015, 03:08 PM

rhel5.11 still auto mounts a 3.5 in floppy
rhel6 and 7 you will have to MANUALLY run the "modeprobe floppy" and make a folder to mount it ( say /mnt/floppy)
then manually mount it