Bought a USB floppy (Mitsumi-Sabrent model SBT-UFDB). Using Ubuntu 14.04LTS. Tried everything on this page: http://askubuntu.com/questions/14733...-drive-to-work. With command df only my hard drives are recognized. I have attached the output of lsusb -v to the end of this post in case that contains a clue. I have an extra HD in my box and am considering installing a different OS that might be more USB-floppy friendly. Any suggestions? If you think I might have more success with a different make and model floppy I am open to this also. I have some time left to return the Mitsumi. Thanks for any advice.


Bus 008 Device 003: ID 03ee:6901 Mitsumi SmartDisk FDD
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 1.10
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 8
idVendor 0x03ee Mitsumi
idProduct 0x6901 SmartDisk FDD
bcdDevice 2.00
iProduct 2
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 39
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 98mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 3
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 4 Floppy (UFI)
bInterfaceProtocol 0 Control/Bulk/Interrupt
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x82 EP 2 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0002 1x 2 bytes
bInterval 127


iManufacturer 1

try CentOS 5.11

floppy support is still built in

as to real floppies

i still think of 3.5's as APPLE MAC disks
that is the name i learned in the 80's
" mac disks"

Look at the output of the dmesg command when you plug in the drive. The drive appears to be recognized so a device ID should be created i.e /dev/sdb. Is a floppy disk inserted in the drive? Much of the information on the posted link is based on the legacy controller which does not apply to USB devices.

The df command only displays information on mounted file systems.

There is a disk in the drive, 1.44MB FAT16. Here is some of the the output of dmesg that appears to refer to the usb floppy:
Several references to incompatible medium, could FAT16 disks be a problem?


[ 3.755475] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access MITSUMI USB UFDD 061M 0.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
[ 3.755755] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[ 3.819412] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] 2880 512-byte logical blocks: (1.47 MB/1.40 MiB)
[ 3.851380] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[ 3.851386] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 46 02 00
[ 3.883354] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] No Caching mode page found
[ 3.883360] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 4.075186] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] No Caching mode page found
[ 4.075191] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 4.345015] random: nonblocking pool is initialized
[ 11.748444] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 11.748449] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 11.748451] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 11.748453] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 11.748454] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 11.748457] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 11.748460] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 11.748461] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 11.748463] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 11.748469] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 11.748472] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0

[ 19.421749] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 19.421755] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 19.421757] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 19.421759] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 19.421760] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 19.421763] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 19.421765] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 19.421767] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 19.421768] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 19.421775] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 19.421815] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0

[ 27.095046] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 27.095052] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 27.095054] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 27.095056] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 27.095057] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 27.095060] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 27.095062] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 27.095064] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 27.095065] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 27.095072] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 27.095075] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
[ 34.768343] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 34.768348] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 34.768350] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 34.768352] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 34.768354] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 34.768356] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 34.768359] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 34.768361] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 34.768362] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 34.768369] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 34.768372] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
[ 42.441635] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 42.441640] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 42.441642] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 42.441644] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 42.441645] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 42.441648] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 42.441651] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 42.441653] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 42.441654] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 42.441660] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 42.441664] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
[ 42.441693] ldm_validate_partition_table(): Disk read failed.
[ 50.114929] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 50.114934] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 50.114937] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 50.114939] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 50.114940] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 50.114943] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 50.114946] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 50.114948] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 50.114949] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 50.114955] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 50.114959] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
[ 51.201222] type=1400 audit(1432159594.791:62): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/cups/backend/cups-pdf" pid=2022 comm="apparmor_parser"
[ 51.201232] type=1400 audit(1432159594.791:63): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/sbin/cupsd" pid=2022 comm="apparmor_parser"
[ 51.201787] type=1400 audit(1432159594.791:64): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/sbin/cupsd" pid=2022 comm="apparmor_parser"
[ 57.852168] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 57.852174] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 57.852176] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 57.852178] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 57.852179] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 57.852182] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 57.852184] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 57.852186] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 57.852187] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 57.852194] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 57.852197] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
[ 65.525462] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 65.525468] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 65.525470] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 65.525472] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 65.525473] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 65.525476] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 65.525479] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 65.525480] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 65.525482] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 65.525488] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 65.525492] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
[ 73.198756] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled sense code
[ 73.198761] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 73.198764] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 73.198766] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 73.198767] Sense Key : Medium Error [current]
[ 73.198770] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc]
[ 73.198773] Add. Sense: Incompatible medium installed
[ 73.198775] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB:
[ 73.198776] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00
[ 73.198782] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
[ 73.198786] Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
[ 73.198804] Dev sdc: unable to read RDB block 0

Possibly a bad disk. FAT16 could be a problem since I believe FAT12 was the MS default.

Have you tried other floppies?

I have tried several floppies, all of them known to be good on my old 486 machine (Dos 6.22) and all of them FAT16.

I might try to format a floppy using linux just to see what happens. It looks like the drive can not read the disk.

I don't have linux on my 486 machine and I don't have a floppy on my linux machine. I have a bunch of files that I really, really want on the old 486.

With the USB drive.

I think any USB card requires a PCI bus, I have only ISA and EISA slots on my 486. I am beginning to think I am screwed. I could install Windows on my other HD. Will Windows98 handle a USB floppy? I can't bear to spend a dime on a newer version.

skippy1729,

Preferably get W98 Second Edition.

You will need a driver for W98 for your Sabrent floppy drive:

http://www.sabrent.com/support/knowl...php?article=17

W98 & USB:
http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/usbmsd98.php

You probably know this word for word already:

http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs...ves_howto.html

Thanks, 98SE is the one I have.

EISA - that brief-lived phenomenon takes me back. . . .

What strikes me is that if you go to Industrial PC suppliers, you may still be able to get an ISA disk card. Industrial PCs have an ISA or PCI expansion bus. They may well have one of the cards of that vintage that handled hard disks and floppies. Many of thwese have good online shops. The problem is that they might cost a bit over the odds.

As for win98 as USB, I was there at the time, with win98 and everything that was recommended to me, and nothing usb worked - not even usb-1.0.

You can use 'fdformat' package to format a floppy disk in linux. Some old, unused floppies behave like that. So best would be format the disk and install a fat16 or ext2 filesystem on it.

Either the USB floppy drive can not read your disks or could be broken. I was trying to determine if the USB drive can successfully format and read a disk.