One of the primary challenges of capturing data from floppy disks (either 5.25″ or 3.5″) is that the same form-factor was used across multiple generations of disk sizes and file systems.
In a way this is a followup to my article a few years ago on building a digital curation workstation and the blog post I wrote for MITH last year on using BitCurator to capture and access data on server hardware.įirst let me explain the nature of the problem. (Quick note: though 5.25″ floppy disks were used by the Apple II, “Macs” only ever used the 3.5″ diskettes, so if I say “Mac floppy disk,” I mean a 3.5″ diskette.) What follows are some recommendations based on my findings. While these disks are otherwise uncommon, because Macs were frequently associated with the works of “creatives,” they have an outsized importance in the world of digital archives, and thus merit some special attention. I’m a fan of the Kryoflux and recommend it regularly, but it does have several limitations, especially when it comes to cost, so I’ve been looking for alternative ways to access HFS formatted disks. Variations on this question include: “why can’t my USB 3.5” floppy disk drive read old Mac disks?” or, “How do I access double sided double density (DS/DD) Mac disks?” or, “I have a stack of 3.5” floppy disks that neither Windows nor Linux will recognize, what gives?” However the question is formed, a common recommendation from the community is to use a Kryoflux controller card to capture the data from the drive. One of the more common questions asked on the various digital curation forums is how to access HFS formatted 3.5” floppy disks. A Mac HD 3.5″ floppy disk: Not compatible with 400/800KB disk drives.
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