ponocat

Q: Is there anyone who has a G3 who can read my floppy?

I wrote a book in the mid-1990s and stored it on what was available at the time:  double density 3.5-inch floppies.  I would like to see if the data are retrievable and have read that G3 powerbooks can read these discs.  Is there anyone out there with a functioning G3 who can help me?  (I have purchased 3 different 3.5 inch floppy readers in past month and none of them can read the doubles density disks, although they read my 1.4MB disks ok.)  Or is anyone familiar with another product or solution other than the G3 that can help?

Posted on Oct 5, 2014 2:44 PM

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Q: Is there anyone who has a G3 who can read my floppy?

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  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Oct 5, 2014 10:40 PM in response to ponocat
    Level 6 (9,889 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 10:40 PM in response to ponocat

    As you have discovered, a USB floppy drive is not capable of reading the special 800K Macintosh format (on DSDD/2DD diskettes). The same is true for a PC floppy drive. The reason for this is that the 800K Macintosh format requires a drive with a variable speed.

     

    What you need is a pre-1998 Macintosh desktop or PowerBook with a built-in floppy drive. A Macintosh computer from approx. 1991 to 1997 will have a floppy drive that can handle both 800K and 1.44 MB (earlier models could read maximum 800K).

     

    Jan

  • by ponocat,

    ponocat ponocat Oct 6, 2014 7:29 AM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 6, 2014 7:29 AM in response to Jan Hedlund

    Thanks for the prompt and useful reply.  I will look for a service company that has such machines to read my disks.