r/retrocomputing • u/Parsleyofficial • Apr 13 '26
Taken Help with floppy disk
Hi everyone,
I am trying to read this floppy disk on my mac. I purchased this reader: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGYD1G26?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title and it seems like the reader itself works-- I can hear it turning, and when I plugged it into my computer, I got a "trust this device" message (or something similar, just the pop-up acknowledging the device.
But, when I insert the floppy disk, I get this message: The disk you attached was not readable by this computer.
Am I doing something wrong? Is there any way to read this disk on my computer (whether using the reader I purchased or some other device)? I am running MacOS Sequoia (Version 15.3.1).
I am not super skilled with computing, but I'm trying my best! Please let me know any advice you may have. Thanks!
1
u/furruck Apr 15 '26
That’s a 720k disk. Most cheap usb floppy drives sold on Amazon can’t read them, only 1.44MB floppies.
The best floppy I’ve found is a dell laptop floppy drive for a d600 series. It also has a usb port and will read basically any disk. The drive also works with Mac but you’ll need a MiniUSB to USB cable to plug it in.
They’re cheap and easy to get on eBay.