old dell laptop, parallel port floppy drive, recommendation?

[coppercone2]

I have a old dell laptop circa 2001 and a DX9-Dell-EXFDD floppy drive with a parallel port on it.

Does anyone have a hunch at a linux or BSD solution that would allow me to get a file from the floppy drive onto a USB drive? I expect to run into ALOT of bullshit for trying to save 10$ here. This laptop has a parallel port on the back.

I don't wanna buy a USB floppy disk if I have these things, the laptop is kinda cool because it has serial also. On the plus side, the floppy drive is japanese.

[johnkenyon]

Replace the floppy drive itself with a Gotek?

[rsjsouza]

What exactly you want to do with the old laptop? Does it have an OS already? Does it have a working HDD?

To transfer a file to this laptop you could either use a host that has a FDD (so you would write files from the host directly to the floppy) or try your luck using a data transfer cable. This could be done with either a laplink parallel cable or a serial null modem cable. That would require the host to also have either a parallel or a serial port. 

Otherwise, you will need to get a USB FDD. Keep in mind that not all formats work well with the cheap standard USB FDD drives on the market.

[pcmad]

i got old dell laptops that in your spec only down side i am in the uk if you intrested pm me

[coppercone2]

I fixed a old IBM with a floppy on it so its no longer useful. better built and more reliable too, the laptop had structural damage