Floppy support on Core i7 boards

[starfry]

Hi Anandtech,

Are there any core i7 boards that support two floppy drives, one 3.5 and one 5.25 ?

We need to do this because we provide an archiving service. We are upgrading kit and would like to avoid keeping old hardware just to run our floppy archiving.

We are not into gaming or anything like that we just need a good clean core i7 board with as much connectivity on it as possible, including legacy connections. Most of all we'd like to find a board with a floppy controller that supports Drive A and Drive B.

So far our searches have proved fruitless.

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Get a PCI floppy controller card.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I thought all floppy controllers supported two drives? Then again, your right, the last BIOS setup screen that I looked at on a recent board, only had a floppy drive A setting option.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I thought all floppy controllers supported two drives? Then again, your right, the last BIOS setup screen that I looked at on a recent board, only had a floppy drive A setting option.

Yeah, I looked at my PC's BIOS screen prior to responding, and sure enough, only floppy A option.

 

[taltamir]

get an external USB floppy drive.. since all you need it for is reading the data off the floppy and giving it to the customer in a different form, say, a CD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...0USB&SpeTabStoreType=0

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: taltamir
get an external USB floppy drive.. since all you need it for is reading the data off the floppy and giving it to the customer in a different form, say, a CD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...0USB&SpeTabStoreType=0

I thought of that, but couldn't locate a 5.25" USB floppy. I didn't look around all that much, though.

Your link is only for 3.5".

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: starfry
Are there any core i7 boards that support two floppy drives, one 3.5 and one 5.25 ?

Core i7 doesn't make any sense, then, since it necessarily means X58 chipset. There are no other Core i7 chipsets, and Intel has taken the lead in removing legacy stuff. Even on boards with floppy controllers, BIOS support for dual floppy drives and/or 5.25" has been in decline for three to four years now.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I wonder if the legacy I/O has been cut down, or if it's only a BIOS limitation.

 

[tcsenter]

Could be either a BIOS or device limit. Some SIO chips are only supporting one floppy, some don't support any.

 

[Arcanedeath]

Use a USB 3.5" floppy and an interal 5.25" floopy, the 3.5" one will be drive B and the 5.25" one will be drive A