How to Install a Floppy Disk Drive

Step 4 – Install the Cables to the Floppy Disk Drive

Now you will install the flat-cable to the floppy disk drive. You have to be very careful here in order to not invert the cable. One of the wires of the flat-cable has a different color, indicating that this wire corresponds to the first pin (pin 1) of the connector. On the cable we used, which was black, this wire was white. The colors aren’t important, what is important is to locate the side that has a stripe using a color that is different from the rest of the cable.

Then on the floppy disk drive connector you need to locate where the pin 1 is located. Usually there is a “1” or “2” marking indicating that this is the side corresponding to pin 1. If you can’t find it, look for a “33” or “34” marking: the side with such marking is the opposite side of pin 1.

So when installing the flat-cable to the floppy disk drive the pin 1 marking on the flat-cable must match the pin 1 marking on the connector, as shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15: Pin 1 marking.

Once you get the flat-cable in the correct position, go ahead and install it by pushing its connector with your thumbs, as shown in Figure 15, until the connector on the cable reaches the end of the connector on the floppy disk drive.

Figure 16: Installing the flat-cable.

Now you need to install the power connector. First, pull the power supply floppy disk drive connector from inside the case through the 3.5” bay that is opened, as shown in Figure 17. This connector comes from the power supply and your power supply should have one or two of them. Pay attention to pull the right connector: the floppy disk drive power connector is smaller than the traditional peripheral power connector (see the difference in size and physical aspect between the connector that is on our hand and the other connector that is located inside the 3.5” bay in Figure 16).

Figure 17: Pull the power supply connector to outside the case.

If this cable is too short and you are not able to pull it to outside the case, don’t worry. Just ignore it and the rest of this step. You can connect it after the floppy disk drive is in place. We will come back to this situation on step 6.

Now go ahead and install it to the floppy disk drive, as shown in Figure 18. It’s easy: push it until it reaches the end of the connector present on the floppy disk drive. The most important thing here is to keep the notch present on the connector facing up.

Figure 18: Installing the power connector.

Figure 19: Power connector correctly installed.