Floppy Disk Drive error 40

[NewBritG44]

I get a weird thing going with my floppy drive that I hope someone can explain to me. When I turn my computer on, I immediately get the floppy disk drive error 40. I just F1 through the error to get on my computer without the floppy drive. After my computer is on for about an hour, I'll restart the computer and everything is fine. I have access to the floppy drive. I don't get the error anymore. Has anyone ever experienced this and does it mean I need to replace my floppy drive? Any ideas wopuld be appreciated. This has me baffled!!!!

[Babs]

Hi,
Follow these steps you should get through.

If you are getting this error when you first turn on the computer it basically means that the cable that connects to the back of the floppy drive inside the computer has either come loose or fallen off. Follow these steps to rectify this problem and many others:

Turn the computer off

Take the cover off the computer by unscrewing the 4 or 6 screws at the back of the tower along the outer edges

Now slide the cover off the back of the computer

With the cover off, turn the computer around so that you are looking into the open side , with the power plugs to your left and the disk drives to your right

Now lay the computer down on it's side with the open side facing up

If you look at the front of the computer , you should see your floppy drive, and if you follow the floppy drive inside the computer, at the back of the floppy drive there is an inch and a half wide gray ribbon cable plugged into it (or it may have fallen out) .

If the cable is there, grab ahold of it and wiggle it back and forth WHILE you are pulling it towards the back of the computer.

The cable should come off , line it back up and push it back in . Press firmly along the edge to ensure it is seated properly.

If the cable was not in the floppy to begin with, line it up and push it in .Press firmly along the edge to ensure it is seated properly.

Once you have done this , set the computer upright again and turn it on. If the error message is still there, repeat this process again, chances are the cable is still loose or you may have made a mistake.

[NewBritG44]

Babs, thanks for the reply-BUT as I mentioned about an hour after the computer has been on I'll restart it and the floppy drive then works. The cable is on the floppy drive as well as the connector on the motherboard. The computer isn't moved at any time. Could the heat inside the computer have anything to do with the floppy first not working and then working.

[Babs]

Can you put in a little more about your system config?
And can you also tell from when this problem started http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

[NewBritG44]

My system config is as follows
700 mhz Athlon computer
64 meg of ram
20 gig hard drive
cdrom
12x dvd drive
It's a computer I put together
TO be honest, I took my 3 1/2" floppy from another computer I had so it's not new - It's really been doing this for the last couple of weeks.

[Jerkymom]

You've checked the floppy drive connections, but have you tried a different ribbon cable? They do occasionally go bad. Since the drive isn't new, it's also possible it's slowly going bad. I think the intermittent cycle of working and failure points to a bad cable or a bad drive. If you don't have access to an extra cable or drive to try, cables are only about $2 and floppy drives less than $20. I doubt your problem is heat-related because I'd think your drive would be more likely to work at startup when it's cool, then fail when the overheating occurred.

Kim

[NewBritG44]

Thanks for the advice-I will replace the drive and the cable and see what happens!!!