External floppy drive not reading disks

[paul1981]

I'm suspecting the motor being the cause of the issue, all though I'm not sure. It makes a humming sound when a disk is inserted, but goes quiet when the disk is ejected. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Is the motor spinning? Look for videos on youtube of the Amiga 500 disk drive working.and you will be able to hear whether the noise is correct.

I can't actually play your video on my naff old android.

[paul1981]

Oh...external drive. I'm blind! Check for siezed motor...WD-40 may make it work.

[paul1981]

Belt driven? Yes, without a doubt it will be a stretched drive belt. Look no further...

[paul1981]

Got the new drive belt today. They might not look too far apart in terms of length, but the old one is a bit longer.
Old belt on top, new below:



I installed the new belt with relative ease, started Workbench, inserted a floppy into the drive and... success!
Pretty happy with that fix

If anyone wonders, this is the belt I got.

That's great, i'm really pleased the new belt is working for you. From looking at the sizes of those belts, I'd expect that the new one should be more tighter (shorter) than what I'm seeing in the photo - you'd be suprised how much belts can stretch from new after 20 or more years down the line. If the drive shows any sign of incorrect behaviour, then replace the belt with one a bit smaller (tighter) than the new one you currently have.