In IBM PCs, they are used to write or read on floppy disks.5 1/4 or 3 1/2 inches.They are usually represented with the A: or B units:
They are removable storage devices.
The floppy drives were invented by the IBM company, being the versions of 8, 5¼ and 3½ inches (and all its variants) the most popular forms for the storage and exchange of data from the mid-70s to the end of the 90s.Computers gradually stopped bringing floppy drives, being replaced by readers of optical disks (CDs, DVDs...), flash memories, external hard drives, etc.
Operation of the floppy drives
Basically the floppy drives have a small motor that rotates a floppy disk at a controlled speed, while a second engine operates a mechanism that moves a Magnetic read-write head on the surface thereof.Both read and write operations require the head to physically touch the floppy disk (this causes the surface of the floppy disk tape to be spent in successive uses).
To write information to the disk, electricity is sent through a coil in the head.The magnetic field of the coil magnetizes points on the rotating disk; the changes in the magnetization encode the digital data.
To read the data, the small voltages induced in the head coil by the magnetization in the disk are detected, electronically amplified and sent to the controller chip.separates the information from the sequence of pulses coming from the unit, decodes the data, detects errors and sends the information to the computer system.
In the 5¼ units, the diskette is inserted and must be lowered a knob, being immediately read; to remove it, the knob must be lifted and the diskette removed.In both the 3½ units, the diskette is inserted (automatically protrudes a button) and reads immediately, to remove it, the button must be pressed (which is retracted while there is no floppy disk inside).All are manual and mechanical procedures.
Related: • How to install a floppy disk drive.
Comments
Post a Comment