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The 3.5" drives had no practical disadvantages as compared to 5.25" drives, so the 5.25" units really declined in popularity and were EOL'd in most cases long b
by brk 6y ago
The 3.5" drives had no practical disadvantages as compared to 5.25" drives, so the 5.25" units really declined in popularity and were EOL'd in most cases long before 3.5" drives disappeared. IIRC the interfaces and pinouts were different too.
I would imagine that for many people, they moved any valuable data on 5.25" disks to 3.5" disks during the roughly decade of overlap of the two drive types.
I doubt there is enough of a market demand for legacy 5.25" disks where the data doesn't already exist on other mediums to make it worthwhile to offer any kind of modern interface.
- mywacaday 6y agoBookmarking this as I am in a kick off for a project that needs to archive data in a regulated industry and the scope includes 5.25" drives. There always somebody!
- robotnikman 6y agoConsidering that people are archiving from other types of old media such as video game cartridges, its not too farfetched of an idea. There is probably a lot of valuable data still residing on some old 5.25 floppies
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Zardoz84 6y agoPinouts ? You know that you can connect a 5" and 35." drive on the same floppy drive port ?
- tyingq 6y agoThere were many 5.25" drives with edge card connectors. Hence this popular style of floppy cable that could connect different mixes of 3.5" and 5.25" drives. http://www.nullmodem.com/images/fddcable02.jpg http://www.nullmodem.com/images/fddcable02.jpg The power cables were typically a different connector as well.
- ineedasername 6y agoYes, while the 5.25" discs had a severe disadvantage in their fragility. Transporting them without protection was a recipe for disaster if a part of it was slightly bent. 3.5" disc's hard shell made them much more physically durable. I remember carrying them loose in my backpack without any problem.