AIDA Capture Lab

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AIDA Capture Lab is a service of Automatisering Ingest Digitale Archieven (AIDA), operated by meemoo

3.5 inch high density diskette

Hardware

Floppy drive

Model Freecom USB Floppy Disk Drive floppy freecom
Media 3.5 inch HD floppies
3.5 inch IBM formatted double density floppy disk
Interface USB
Connector USB 1.1
Cable n/a - built in
Workstation connection Can be connected directly with write blocker (which has a USB type A female connection)
Power n/a
Documentation  
Model IBM Diskette Drive Portable 13N6752 floppy freecom
Media 3.5 inch HD floppies
3.5 inch DOS or Windows formatted double density floppies
Interface USB
Connector USB 1.1 or 2.0
Cable n/a - built in
Workstation connection Can be connected directly with write blocker (which has a USB type A female connection
Power n/a
Documentation  

Write blocker

Model Tableau Forensic USB 3.0 Bridge T8U blocker
Media Drives with USB (3.0 and older) connectors
Interface USB
Connector USB 3.0
Cable USB type B to USB type A
USB type B to USB type A
Workstation connection USB cable
Power DC input: 5-pin Mini-DIN connector
Documentation user guide

Workstation

A Linux computer, preferably running the Bitcurator Environment (We use a Dell XPS)

Software

Guymager in the Bitcurator Environment

Workflow

Step 1: Connect the write blocker to the workstation

  1. Connect the write blocker to the workstation using the blue USB 3.0 cable (side: Host USB 3.0)
  2. Connect the DC power supply to the write blocker (bottom)
  3. Plug the power cable into a power socket
  4. Press the power button on the write blocker

Step 2: Connect the Floppy USB Drive to the write blocker

Connect the Floppy USB Drive to the write blocker using its USB cable (side: Device USB 3.0)

setup floppy 3.5 inch HD

Step 3: Prepare the floppy disk

  1. Take a floppy disk
  2. Slide the switch on the disk bringing it in read-only state. Look for a tiny black sliding tab in a square hole in the disk’s lower left corner. Slide the tab with a pencil or your thubmnail so that the hole is uncovered.
    write protection sliding tab

Step 4: Create a disk image

  1. Insert the floppy disk in the Floppy USB Drive. Make sure that you insert the floppy disk with the shutter side in the drive and that the side of the floppy disk with the label is facing upwards.
  2. Create a disk image using Guymager

Step 5: Eject the floppy disk

  1. Press the button on the Floppy USB Drive to eject the disk
  2. If that doesn’t work:
    1. Go to the workstation and open a file explorer window
    2. Right click on the device in the left navigation sidebar
    3. Select eject
    4. Press again on the button of the floppy drive
  3. If that doesn’t work either:
    1. Power off the write blocker
    2. Power on the write blocker
    3. Immediately press the button on the floppy drive