LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] floppies

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When I try to mount a floppy, I get the following error:

Code:

mount: block device /dev/fd0 is write-protected, mounting read-only

mount: /dev/fd0: can't read superblock

my /etc/fstab entry for floppy is:

Code:

/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 vfat,msdos rw,user,noauto 0 0

When I try to format it, I get the following:

Code:

mark@debian:~$ superformat /dev/fd0 hd

Measuring drive 0's raw capacity

format: Input/output error

mark@debian:~$

Any guesses as to why this is the case? I've tried it with several different floppies, and they've all given the same errors. The program kfloppy likewise gives similar errors when I tried to use it to format a floppy.

Hello,
Is the write protect tab on the floppy set the wrong way?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigelc (Post 4211041)

Hello,
Is the write protect tab on the floppy set the wrong way?

My first thought, too, nigelc!
What's your hardware, mark_alfred?

Hi -

I actually happen to work with a lot of DOS and Win98 boxes ... and I often see the same thing.

Sometimes the floppy drives just "give out".

Even with "good drives", I often go through two or three (or more!) diskettes before I find one that I can actually format, write to, or read from.

I've tried the floppies with the write-protect tab in both positions, and it still won't either mount or format them. The hardware is:

Code:

debian:/home/mark# lshw | more

debian.example.com        

    description: Desktop Computer

    product: OptiPlex GX1 450Mbr+

    vendor: Dell Computer Corporation

    serial: 1SA5C

    width: 32 bits

 *-core

      description: Motherboard

      product: OptiPlex GX1 450Mbr+

      vendor: Dell Computer Corporation

      physical id: 0

    *-firmware

          description: BIOS

          vendor: Dell Computer Corporation

          physical id: 0

          version: A10 (08/01/01)

          size: 64KiB

          capacity: 192KiB

          capabilities: isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect edd int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17

printer int10video agp ls120boot zipboot

    *-cpu

          description: CPU

          product: Pentium III (Katmai)

          vendor: Intel Corp.

          physical id: 400

          bus info: cpu@0

          version: 6.7.2

          slot: Microprocessor

          size: 450MHz

          capacity: 800MHz

          width: 32 bits

          clock: 100MHz

          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse up

        *-cache:0

            description: L1 cache

            physical id: 700

            size: 32KiB

            capacity: 32KiB

            capabilities: internal varies unified

        *-cache:1

            description: L2 cache

            physical id: 701

            size: 512KiB

            capacity: 512KiB

            capabilities: pipeline-burst synchronous internal varies unified

    *-memory

          description: System Memory

          physical id: 1000

          slot: System board or motherboard

          size: 512MiB

          capacity: 768MiB

        *-bank:0

            description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous

            physical id: 0

            slot: DIMM_A

            size: 256MiB

            width: 64 bits

        *-bank:1

            description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous

            physical id: 1

            slot: DIMM_B

            size: 128MiB

            width: 64 bits

        *-bank:2

            description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous

            physical id: 2

            slot: DIMM_C

            size: 128MiB

            width: 64 bits

I couldn't find a listing for the floppy device (fd0), however. So, it could be that the floppies are crap, or it could be that the drive is crap (or perhaps it's both).

Hi -

Quote:

So, it could be that the floppies are crap, or it could be that the drive is crap (or perhaps it's both).

Yup - exactly what I was trying to say :)

If you're *really* serious about reading/writing these floppies (for whatever reason), one thing I've found that's even more reliable than an old floppy/IDE is a USB floppy. Cost about $35.00; and I often use it for scenarios precisely like this (I need a floppy for DOS, and none of my hardware is working).

Another "trick" that works is reading/writing floppies between real 3.5" media and virtual 1.44MB .img files, using DOS running on VMWare.

Turns out the drive was crap. So, for $5.00 I picked a used one. This worked.

The reason I needed this was to try to upgrade my old system (BIOS issues).

I was having this problem, and this thread came up in a search I did, so perhaps this will help someone else.

The solution for my problem was that I had chosen the wrong filesystem for the mount command. So I had tried

sudo mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy

and got the "can't read superblock" message. I opened the floppy in a Windoze PC and found that the floppy's filesystem was "FAT". So this worked:

sudo mount -t vfat /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy

I found an old Mac floppy and I was able to mount it like so:

sudo mount -t hfs /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy

So I recommend trying different filesystems in the mount command.