FLOPPY DRIVE
ALTHOUGH MANUFACTURERS HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR YEARS TO REPLACE THE FLOPPY DISK, WITH A DEVICE THAT HOLDS MORE DATA, THE 3.5 INCH FLOPPY DISK DRIVE IS STILL VERY COMMON ON MOST PCS SOLD TODAY. THE FLOPPY DISK HAS SURVIVED WELL BEYOND WHAT ANYONE EXPECTED.
IT HAS CHANGED IN SIZE OVER THE YEARS AND IS AVAILABLE IN DRIVES THAT FIT INSIDE THE SYSTEM CASE AS WELL AS OUTSIDE. THE FLOPPY DISK HAS COME IN A VARIETY OF SIES OVER ITS LIFETIME, BUT FOR ABOUT THE PAST TEN YEARS THE MOST POPULAR SIZE HAS BEEN THE 3.5 INCH DISKETTE.
FLOPPY DISK CONSTRUCTION
THE FLOPPY DISK DRIVE IS AN INTERNAL DEVICE THAT IS MOUNTED INTO AN OPEN DRIVE BAY OF THE SYSTEM CASE. WHILE IT IS AN INTERNAL DEVICE ITS BEZEL EXTENDS THROUGH THE DRIVE BAY OPENING AND SHOULD BE VISIBLE THROUGH A REMOVABLE BAY COVER ON THE CASE, AS WELL.
A 3.5 INCH FLOPPY DISK DRIVE IS ABOUT THE SAME SIZE AS MOST NEWER HARD DISK DRIVES. NEWER CASES MOUNT THE DISKETE IN EITHER A SMALLER DRIVE FOR BAY OR REQUIRE AN ADAPTER KIT TO MOUNT IT INTO A FULL SIZE DRIVE BAY . IF YOUR SYSTEM IS OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A 5.25 INCH DRIVEM IT IS MOST LIKELY A HALF HEIGHT DRIVE (ABOUT 1.75 INCHES IN HEIGHT ) AND FITS INTO FULL SIZE DRIVE BAY.
THE PRIMARY COMPUNENTS OF THE FLOPPY DISK DRIVE ARE:
1. READ /WRITE HEADS
LIKE THE HEADS ON THE HARD DISK, THE READ/WRITE HEADS ON THE FLOPPY DISK USE AN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD TO STORE BINARY DATA ON THE FLOPPY DISK MEDIA. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE READ / WRITE ON THE MEDIA. THE PRIMARY DIFFERENCE IS IN THE DENSITY OF THE MEDIA.
THE FLOPPY DISK MEDIA IS TO HOLD MUCH LESS DATA ON A MUCH LOWER REAL DENSITY. WHILE THE SIZE OF THE MEDIA IS SIMILAR IN MOST CASES, BECAUSE THE FLOPPY DISK MEDIA IS PORTABLE. IT IS DESIGNED WITH LESS DATA DENSITY. THERE ARE FEWER TRACKS ON FLOPPY DISKS. WHERE A HARD DISK CAN HAVE THOUSANDS OF TRACKS A RFLOPPY DISK MAY HAVE ONLY TO 70 TO 150 TRACKS.
BECAUSE OF THIS FACTORS, THE READ/WRITE HEADS ON THE FLOPPY DISK ARE LARGER AND MORE PRIMITIVE IN THEIR DESIGN. ANOTHER DIFFERENCE IS THAT FLOPPY DISK RECORD DATATHROUGH DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE MEDIA, MUCH LIKE A TAPE RECORDER.
2. HEAD ACTUATOR
THE HEAD ACTUATOR POSITIONS THE READ/WRITE HEADS OVER A SPECIFIC TRACK ON THE FLOPPY DISK. IN MOST CASES, A FLOPPY DISK HAS 80 TRACKS PER SIDE AND THE HEAD ACTUATOR, WHICH IS POWERED BY A STEPPER MOTOR, MOVES FROM TRACKS TO TRACKS. THE STEPPER MOTOR HAS DETENTS OR STOPS FOR EACH OF THE TRACKS ON THE FLOPPY DISK.
3. SPINDLE MOTOR
WHEN A FLOPPY DISK IS INSERTED INTO THE DRIVE, CLAMPS ATTACHED TO THE SPINDLE MOTOR CLAMP THE DISK INTO PLACE. THE SPINDLE MOTOR THEN ROTATES THE DISK SO THAT THE MEDIA MOVES UNDER THE READ/ WRITE HEADS. THE SPEED OF THE SPINDLE MOTORIS TIED TO THE PHYSICAL SIZE OF THE DISK, BUT FOR THE 3.5 INCH DISK, THE SPINDLE MOTOR ROTATES THE DISK AT 300 RPM.
4. CONNECTORS
A FLOPPY DISK DRIVE CONNECTS TO THE SYSTEM THROUGH TWO CONNECTORS. THE DATA CONNECTORS IS USED TO CONNECT THE FLOPPY DISK TO THE FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER. TYPICALLY, THE DATA CABLE CONNECTS EITHER ONE OR TWO FLOPPY DISK DRIVES. ON SYSTEMS THAT CONNECT TWO FLOPPY DISK DRIVES( EXTREMELY RARE ON NEWER SYSTEM) THE CABLE IS USED TO CONNECT ONE DRIVE AS THE A DRIVE AND ANOTHER AS B DRIVE.
THE OTHER FLOPPY DISK CONNECTOR IS USED TO CONNECT THE DISK DRIVE TO THE POWER SUPPLY. THIS CONNECTOR WILL BEEITHER A VERY SIMILAR CONNECTOR TO THE ONE ON THE HARD DISK DRIVE OR A MUCH SMALLER CONNECTOR THAT SHOULD HAVE A MATE COMING FROM THE POWER SUPPLY ON NEARLY ALL POWER SUPPLY FROM FACTORS.
5.MEDIA
THE FIRST FLOPPY DISKS WERE EIGHT INCHES, BUT THE FIRST ONES TO GAIN WIDESPREAD USE ON THE CP WERE 5.25 INCHES, STILL LARGE WHILE COMPARED WITH TODAYS POPULAR 3.5INCH SIZE. THE 5.25 INCH DISK HAS A LARGE CENTER HOLE USED TO CLAMP THE DISK TO THE SPINDLE SO IT CAN BE ROTATED. THE OUTSIDE JACKET DOES NOT TURN; THE DISK IS ROTATED INSIDE OF IT.
THE READ/WRITE HEAD CONTACTS THE DISK THROUGH THE READ WRITE SLOT THAT IS LONG ENUGH TO ALLOW THE HEAD TO REACH ALLOFTHE TRACKS ON THE DISK. IN AN EFFORT TO PREVENT THE DISK FROM BEING WRITTEN TO ACCIDENTALLY AND OVER WRITING SOME IMPORTANT DATA, THE WRITE PROTECTION NOTHCH CAN BE COVERED TO DISABLE THE WRITE FUNCTIONS.
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