• You need to use the particular cable shown at here. The IBM controller expects it. The cable manipulates both the motor-on and drive-select lines.
• Do not accidentally use the hard drive type of twisted cable. Difference shown at here.
• For 5.25" drives, terminate as appropriate, per the diagram at here.
5.25" 360K floppy drives
DOS:
DOS 2.0 or later (2.0 introduced DOS support for 360K floppies).
BIOS:
The IBM BIOS (all three revisions) on the IBM 5150 motherboard has full support for 360K drives/floppies.
Hardware:
The floppy controller (photo) that IBM supplied in the IBM 5150 supports 360K drives.
5.25" 1.2M floppy drives
DOS:
DOS 3.0 or later (3.0 introduced DOS support for 1.2M floppies).
BIOS:
The IBM BIOS (all three revisions) on the IBM 5150 motherboard does not support 1.2M drives/diskettes.
Hardware:
The floppy controller (photo) that IBM supplied in the IBM 5150 does not support 1.2M drives.
To gain 1.2M operation, one possible solution is here. Another possible solution is here.
3.5" 720K diskette drives
DOS:
DOS 3.2 or later (3.2 introduced DOS support for 720K diskettes).
BIOS:
The IBM BIOS (all three revisions) on the IBM 5150 motherboard has partial support 720K drives/diskettes.
See note 1 below.
Hardware:
The floppy controller (photo) that IBM supplied in the IBM 5150 supports 720K drives.
Note 1
You can read from and write to 720K diskettes, but not format.
Use of one of the options shown at here will give you the ability to format.
3.5" 1.44M diskette drives
DOS:
DOS 3.3 or later (3.3 introduced DOS support for 1.44M diskettes).
BIOS:
The IBM BIOS (all three revisions) on the IBM 5150 motherboard does not support 1.44M drives/diskettes.
Hardware:
The floppy controller (photo) that IBM supplied in the IBM 5150 does not support 1.44M drives.
720K diskette in 1.44M drive
If a 1.44M drive is connected to the IBM supplied controller, it will be discovered that 720K diskettes can be used.
You can read from and write to 720K diskettes, but not format.
Use of one of the options shown at here will give you the ability to format.
Note that the 1.44M drive can be attached to either the controller's internal connector (P2) or external connector (J1). For internal connection, see here. For external connection, see here.
1.44M diskette in 1.44M drive
One possible solution is here.
Another possible solution is here.
Another possible solution is here.
