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What sort of floppy drive should I get?

Following advice on another group, I purchased an Imation USB floppy drive. I never could get it to work on my G4, even after upgrading with additional ports and memory. The G4 barely recognizes a Memory card reader, but after several tries that at least turns on and works. The floppy drive, the light won't even light up. I think any more devices I may get need to have their own power source because they seem to be maxing out the Mac.

What I need to do is transfer old data on floppy disks which was made on a Mac enhanced. What sort of drive is recommended for this? Thanks.

Power Mac G4, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Hard Drive 500 GB, External Backup 500 GB, Video HD 60 GB

Posted on Jan 4, 2011 10:46 AM

Top-ranking reply

Limnos

Level 10

420,601 points

Posted on Jan 4, 2011 11:00 AM

Thoughts:

Friend with a different computer?

Any way to get the USB drive on external power? Powered external hub?

May sound silly but you can get a low end G3 for free or next to nothing. Have a session getting all your stuff off the floppies then pass it on.

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18 replies

Jan 7, 2011 1:39 PM in response to romko23

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Power Mac G4
Model Identifier: PowerMac3,6
Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Processor Speed: 867 MHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 1.75 GB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.6f2

Hub in Apple Pro Keyboard:

Product ID: 0x1002
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 1.22
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Mitsumi Electric
Location ID: 0x18100000
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 50

USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse:

Product ID: 0xc045
Vendor ID: 0x046d (Logitech Inc.)
Version: 27.30
Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Logitech
Location ID: 0x18120000
Current Available (mA): 100
Current Required (mA): 98

Apple Pro Keyboard:

Product ID: 0x0204
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 1.22
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Mitsumi Electric
Location ID: 0x18110000
Current Available (mA): 250
Current Required (mA): 50

BDAqua

Level 10

245,651 points

Jan 7, 2011 2:23 PM in response to Cornelia Shields

Current Available (mA): 100
Current Required (mA): 98

I'd try that Mouse where more power is available.

Jan 8, 2011 4:26 AM in response to BDAqua

You mean maybe the mouse is draining power so the memory card reader barely works and the floppy drive doesn't work at all? I don't think so. The mouse is plugged into the keyboard and has worked fine since I got it.

What sort of floppy drive should I get?