Is it possible to somehow install a floppy drive inside a powermac g4 quicksilver?
- Thread starter MacManiac
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Thats the problem, I'm sick of using an external one. So is it possible to install a 1.44MB drive?
Possible... maybe... I am not guaranteeing these exact pieces are compatible, but likely are. Find a ZIP faceplate and mount for a quicksilver, then find an internal LS-120 Super disk, then find an ATAPI to IDE adapter. Then you should be able to mount it under the optical drive and connect as slave to the existing cable there. The LS-120 should be able to read/write 1.44MB floppies. You may be able to find a 3D printable faceplate or mount on the internet, or see if someone could 3D scan or model one for you. They look like this.
Hopefully there is a 3D model of a nonmirror drive door g4. Can't I just use regular old internal floppy drive from a PC and get an IDE to floppy IDE adapter or floppy drives need specificly to be flashed for mac kinda like the gpus?
You do not have to flash a floppy drive. They are mechanically made to read and write certain formats/densities. It varies greatly. I don't know if an IDE to Floppy controller exists, because old computers came with separate controllers, one for floppy and one for IDE.
The very easiest thing to do would be remove the floppy from the external USB case, and mount it inside the G4 case, but continue to use it as a USB device. Either extend the cable out the back of the machine through a PCI slot and into a USB port, or get a PCI USB card with an internal USB connector.
Thankfully my G4 came with a PCIe card that has a tone of usb ports on the outside and one on the inside. Sadly I couldn't find a bracket for a nonmirror drive door g4 to print
Attach some photos of your floppy, maybe I can design one. I have IOmega 31062400 and SmartDisk FDUSB-M models that I can compare to.
I disassembled an IOMega drive, and mounted in the default holes in the 3.5" bay under the optical. The drive is about 0.25" smaller than the width of the 3.5 bay. And its much lower than a typical drive (slimline). So, an adapter will have to be created to mount it higher.
I have two laying around, the black one is an NEC and the other one is really rusty and has no label. I think I have more drives some where.
Attachments
Those don't look like USB floppy drives, those look like standard half-hight internal drives. As I said before, there is no controller/adapter for these types of drives. I was under the assumption you would use your USB floppy in the drive bay and connect to the internal USB port on your PCI card.
First try on the faceplate, test print in white, will make the final in Gray.
First try on the faceplate, test print in white, will make the final in Gray.
I adjusted the height of the USB floppy with a 3D printed bracket, so I have the correct height, but I need to bring it forward so the manual eject button protrudes enough to eject a disk.
Oh so you meant USB drives. I found AliExpress an adapter for a standard ide drive to USB maybe I can buy one of those. Do you have the file for the floppy drive door?
Here is my 3D bezel for a USB-floppy. STL files linked here
I am not sure if a standard 3.5 floppy will fit in the small hole available with the eject button being so far from the slot. Remove the blank bezel and see how narrow the slot is.
Here is the USB faceplate snapped in, with disk. Drive mounts are currently printing to bring the drive forwards 0.225 inches. I have some issues with filament and stinging... but going down the road 60mph you will never see that.
I am not sure if a standard 3.5 floppy will fit in the small hole available with the eject button being so far from the slot. Remove the blank bezel and see how narrow the slot is.
Here is the USB faceplate snapped in, with disk. Drive mounts are currently printing to bring the drive forwards 0.225 inches. I have some issues with filament and stinging... but going down the road 60mph you will never see that.
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That looks great. Great job.
I saw a video from about 11yrs ago on YT Here where op said the QS they got for free had a floppy but the inside shots were not great and looks like oem ide to me. My gut is the guy was not familiar with g4 powermacs and assumed it was a floppy vs a zip. The bezel was the correct zip bezel.
I use a usb floppy with mine.
I saw a video from about 11yrs ago on YT Here where op said the QS they got for free had a floppy but the inside shots were not great and looks like oem ide to me. My gut is the guy was not familiar with g4 powermacs and assumed it was a floppy vs a zip. The bezel was the correct zip bezel.
I use a usb floppy with mine.
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Works on OSX, not on OS9. Tried both versions of USB floppy drives I have, neither works on os9. But, success for mounting a 3.5 floppy 1.44MB internal on a QuickSilver machine!!!
No floppy in drive:
Floppy reading:
From my Mavica Floppy camera 1.44MB disk:
In OSX 10.4.11
No floppy in drive:
Floppy reading:
From my Mavica Floppy camera 1.44MB disk:
In OSX 10.4.11
Something like This? I was thinking similar and running that to an internal port on a pci usb2 card. Unsure if that adapter would work under os9 or OSX but I use a number of external floppies under osx without issue.