Just installed and upgraded four new harddrives to a four unit RAID0 configuration and installed a new Audigy 2 ZS sound card, installed software, formatted the HD's and made a new XP Pro installation. Everything looks and works great with the exception of the following.I cannot format floppies. When I click format, nothing happens. No error messages, response, acknowledgement that I have done anything, or anything. This happens both on my standard floppy drive ("A") and a parallel LS-120 drive ("B"). Everything else works fine on the floppy drives. I can read, copy, install and anything else one would do on a floppy. I just cannot get the format command to be acknowledged.I still have my old SCSI and IDE drives connected for future backup purposes, but at the present have retained everything on them. I can change my startup bios back to my original primary drive and startup my old XP Pro OS and can format floppies find on either "A" or "B" drive.All text (i.e. bios settins with the exception of HD startup, driver dates, versions, working properly etc.) reads the same from either the old harddrive, or the new installation.Have I missed an optional check mark somewhere, or did something not install?Any ideas?Thanks:RTH

A similar thing happened to me - it turned out I put the connector cable in the wrong way round. I thought it wasn't possible, but it obviously it was... :)Cheers,Gosta.http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg

Thanks Gosta:I got the same response on the FlightSim Forum.Strange thing is that I never disturbed or reconnected my floppy ribbon and it has been working fine for years. The second drive is an LS-120 with an IDE ribbon and it is doing the same thing. Oh well, I guess I better open the case and take a peek.The other odd thing is that I can go back to my previous primary harddrive which still has WinXPPro installed, boot to that harddrive and there is no problem. The floppies format fine, and the case hasn't even been opened much less ribbons disturbed.Regards:RTH

>I got the same response on the FlightSim Forum.;).I don't know what else to suggest - it could be a problem in the BIOS, but then the drives shouldn't show up in Windows.Good luck and let us know how you get on...Cheers,Gosta.http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg

Well....So much for that idea.I just checked my ribbons, and everybody is where they are supposed to be. (Pin 1 on pin 1 (stripe)). I even courted real disaster, and intentially reversed it. It did just as I suspected having done the same thing in the past by mistake on another computer. The floppy light stays on all of the time and the floppy drive is not recognized at all. The only difference was that I got an array error upon bootup as well which may be a hint being that the new harddrive configuration is the only revision outside of the new sound card.Oh well! This is something I certainly can live with. I can either boot up to the old drive or go to another computer if I want to format a floppy. Just about everything I save now is to a CD anyway, so I probably have a future lifetime of necessary formatted floppies. It still puzzles me as to why it will work when booted up to one Harddrive/OS and will not the other (All hardware configurations being exactly the same).Thanks again:RTH

Temporarily remove the LS-120 drive and see if you get the format function back.Only other thing is you installed some Raid software that is causing the problem. Did you have to make any jumper changes on the MOBO, when you installed the Raid?W. Sieffert

Thanks for the suggestions Sieffert:Tried removeing the LS120. Same old thing. Same thing with it installed and the floppy drive removed. No jumper changes required. Only software installation (latest version). I had pretty well already come to the conclusion you suggest in your second comment. I feel sure it is tied in some way to the RAID installation. I don't know what the relationship is and am surprised that the floppy drive would be affected, but there are signs. For example, when I removed the LS120, if it is not disabled in the bios startup, I get a raid error at bootup.I was hopeing that someone else with my MOBO and a similar configuration who had already gone down this road and new the directions might see this and knew the solution. I think I will just live with this. Everything else works flawlessly so far. It will be a simple matter to just leave a secondary WINXPPrO OS on my old drive and resort to it if I ever want to format a floppy.Thanks again:RTH

I didn't see anywhere above where you mentioned your MOBO! I have a SOYO Dragon+ that is raid capable but I don't use it. I looked through the SOYO MOBO book, but no FAQ on lost format functions.I tried using an LS-120 on an old desktop. If I placed the LS-120 on IDE BUSS 0 with C: drive, I couldn't get the LS-120 to boot from floppy. I fiddled around with it to no end. I finally moved it to IDE BUSS 1 with a CD-drive. I went back to a cheap 3 1/2 inch floppy on its own buss.I am wondering if you uninstalled the RAID software with the LS-120 out of the loop, whether you would get the floppy format function back.W. Sieffert

Did you run Windows Update since installing the new drives? I just ran mine, and there was a driver update for my SATA/RAID controller (I'm using an Asus A7N8X mobo).Cheers,Gosta.http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg

Roger on the updates, and I have autoupdate enabled. (Already has two or three times since the new installation.Note above that I have tried useing only the floppy drive with the LS120 disconnected and diseabled (And visa versa).Sorry about that on not giving my specs. Thought I had but had a senior moment I guess.P4C800 Deluxe MotherboardPentium 4, 3.2G CPU1G PC3200/400 MemoryWinXP ProDirectX9.0cATI Radeon 9800Pro 128MBSecondary Graphics Diamond Stealth III S540 PCI 21

Did you have to increase your electric service to the house with that computer? I bet the lights dim when you search for something on one of the hardrives!! :-lolW. Sieffert

Negative: Everything works fine. I have never noticed any power problems with a good power supply. The only challenge is arrangement so that you have enough room for everybody inside of the case.I don't know whether the upgrades (RAID HD's and Audigy) really did anything for FS9, or if just a clean new installation helped but it seems that everything is a bit smoother with a possible slight increase in frame rates. (Probably my vivid imagination) I also have a multitude of fans, including individual Raidmax Hard Drive coolers which I highly recommend. Without, you cannot leave a hand on the drives due to heat. With them they are only moderately warm to the touch. They are a snap to install and moderately priced at about $15.00 with free shipping from AJUMP.com. I wish I was brave enough to try one of the more exotic CPU cooling systems but have not dug up the nerve to try that yet. Maybe a future project.Happy Flying:RTH

I started from scratch, reformatted and made a fresh installation of all software.Looks like the floppy format problem had nothing to do with hardware, but there was a glitch in the operating system installation or some such related error.Everything works normally now, and both "A" (Std. Floppy drive) and "B" (LS120) drives format floppies at will.My starting over really had nothing to do with the floppy format problem. I made the mistake of useing the restore function back to the near beginning of my prior software installations. It would not undo that restore and bring me back to the present content, so I might as well have started over. Just about all software had to be reinstalled anyway. I don't know that I am going to fool around with the restore function any more in the future. It always has been a hit or miss effort to me, sometimes working, sometimes not. This was the first time it would not let me undo the restoration though. From what I read in the links and replies to another post I made concerning "restore", this is not necessarily a rare result.Thanks for the help folks. The problem has been solved.Respectfully:RTH

Ah! The sweet smell of success! Right! Go take a shower and shave!!! :-lolGlad you got it going. Its amazing what one bit or byte will do to ruin your whole day!!W. Sieffert