My classiccmp non-retirement :-)

Another possibiliy is to assume that some (non-working) drives are still around, how hard would it be to get them working again. For both the CD-ROM and the floppy, I think all parts other than the head/laser pickup could be made in a good home workshop (Note, I am not claiming _I_ could do it, at least not yet). Now the winding on a floppy drive head could corrode and go open-circuit (this is a problem on some types of recording head, I am told it was due to acid from the fingers of the people who handled the wire when they were being wound). But I would think the semiconductor laser and photodiodes in a CD pickup was much more likely to fail with time. GIven the head, I think the electronics would be doable. The floppy drive would probably be easier, if only because all floppy heads used much the same read chain, so if you could find data on any floppy drive you could probably make something that would work. And if you get it wrong, you are not likely to damage the head. Whereas the CD pickup is a more complicated device to drive, if you get the laser current wrong it'll either not work (current too low) or not work ever again (current too high). And every manufacturer did his own thing, so you are not likely to be able to find a published circuit that will work. -tony