This is a longshot but are you plugging the USB drive directly into the computer or are you using a hub? If a hub, is it a powered hub? Some USB devices won't work with a non-powered hub.
I fully understand your need for a floppy drive. I also have hundreds of floppy disks around. I have both 5.25" and 3.5" floppies, boxes of them. I have a dedicated machine setup with both 5.25" and 3.5" drives so that I can copy data to/from my floppies. I also collect vintage computers and some of them are floppy only.
Once you get your floppy drive working, you should look into an app called WinImage. It's an app that will allow you to make images of those old floppies for archival purposes.
I fully understand your need for a floppy drive. I also have hundreds of floppy disks around. I have both 5.25" and 3.5" floppies, boxes of them. I have a dedicated machine setup with both 5.25" and 3.5" drives so that I can copy data to/from my floppies. I also collect vintage computers and some of them are floppy only.
Once you get your floppy drive working, you should look into an app called WinImage. It's an app that will allow you to make images of those old floppies for archival purposes.