USB Floppy drive problem (please move to hardware)

joakim12 · 06-25-2011, 11:57 AM

Hei.

I have an old Laptop, pentium 133. It is "Compaq LTE 5300". It boot only from internal HDD and FDD. No CD-rom boot.

I want to install BasicLinux to it.
BasicLinux install goes from 2 floppies. And I have a problem writing these floppies.

This is the command to write the first floppy (output is in Estonian, no error messages):

Code:

$ sudo dd if=DISK1.IMG of=/dev/fd0
2880+0 kirjet sisse
2880+0 kirjet välja
1474560 baiti (1,5 MB) kopeeritud, 0,0226004 s, 65,2 MB/s

Code:

$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 03ee:6901 Mitsumi SmartDisk FDD

dd command doesn't seem to write anything to floppy. dd command executes in a second and when I mount the floppy and list the files, then noting is changed. Same old files are there.

If I take the floppy out of the drive and mount the /dev/fd0 to some folder, then it shows the same files, but I don't know where it takes/reads them. By the way I just got this USB FDD device. Never used it before. I use Ubuntu 11.04 to write the floppies.

Thank you

bastl · 06-25-2011, 04:35 PM

What interfaces, connectors has this notebook? What I can see it has a CD drive, floppy drive, USB, ethernet.
Do you have a second PC? - I think one with Ubuntu, USB-FDD and CD-writer?
If you have the FD mounted while formating then you have to reboot, else you can not use it (your symptoms).

If I take the notebook, you have three possibilities to install an new OS after low level formated HDD.

1.) Make a boot floppy: # dd if=/images/boot.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k
Maybe your USB-FDD can (but it seams not) but I don't think you have a 2880 drive in that notebook.

2.) Set CD drive as second or first boot device in BIOS (key F10) and use the Ubuntu-boot-CD.
easiest way! The notebook is from 1997 I guess and BIOS have had this option that time, too.

3.) Screw out the 2.5" HDD of the notebook and connect it to your PC's Motherboard with an 2.5" to 3.5" HDD adapter.
Fastest way but high risky.

jefro · 06-26-2011, 03:50 PM

I'd test the usb drive on some other system before you get too far along. Be sure you know which way the write protect goes on those floppies.

There is rewrite for win as well as dd for win if needed.

I'd try gpxe or ipxe to boot over network maybe.
I'd consider also boot.kernel.org and netboot.me if all else fails.

michaelk · 06-27-2011, 05:49 AM

/dev/fd0 device ID is for a legacy internal floppy and not for a USB drive. Look at the output of the dmesg command, it will be /dev/sdx just like any other drive. Does the internal floppy drive work?