Floppy drive won't read diskette

[Steven James]

When I insert a diskette into my floppy drive I get the error message ...disk is not formatted. I am using new formatted disks. I was able to format one when prompted to. I was then able to transfer files to that disk. When I go to open it or another disk I get the error message again. What's going on and how do I resolve this?

[Alfons]

Hi Steven, if you can format with it and write to it and read from it on that computer and you can't read the data on another computer, I'd have to say that your floppy is probably out of alignment. This does happen as the floppy drive gets older and can be repaired but it's cheaper to buy a new one than it is to re-align an old one. I'd recommend that you replace it.

When you get a new one, ask where Pin 1 is on the Data Connector - the Red Stripe on the side of your data cable will need to be on the pin 1 side of the drive, otherwise the light will stay on continuously & you'll probably get an Error 40 on startup. If this does happen the connector is on wrong, just turn the connector over (not the cable) & plug it back in

[HKEd]

Hi Steven...what Alfons said. I've had this problem a couple of times and the only answer was to replace the drive. It's pretty muggy here in Hong Kong and the drives actually rust in the humidity... :no:

BTW...welcome to the board.