Developer turns floppy disks into secret black-and-white picture canvases — pbm2track “paints” pixel art into the disk’s magnetic timing diagram

January 5, 2026

, By Tom’s Hardware

Developer turns floppy disks into secret black-and-white picture canvases — pbm2track “paints” pixel art into the disk’s magnetic timing diagram

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The floppy disk might seem next to useless in the modern era of flash memory and solid state drives, but that hasn’t stopped one entrepreneurial hacker from developing a tool that turns the simple floppy into a piece of art. The data-analytics-id=”inline-link” href=”https://github.com/dbalsom/fluxfox/tree/main/crates/pbm2track” data-url=”https://github.com/dbalsom/fluxfox/tree/main/crates/pbm2track” target=”_blank” referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade” data-hl-processed=”none” data-mrf-recirculation=”inline-link”> pbm2track tool takes advantage of a floppy disk’s track timing diagram to “paint” pixel art directly onto the disk itself.

Pixel art, painted onto a virtual floppy's magnetic disk using the pbm2track software. — (Image credit: dbalsom (github))

Futuristic as this might sound, it all relies on a slightly more analog approach. Beneath its plastic…

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Developer turns floppy disks into secret black-and-white picture canvases — pbm2track “paints” pixel art into the disk’s magnetic timing diagram

January 5, 2026

, Published By Tom’s Hardware

Developer turns floppy disks into secret black-and-white picture canvases — pbm2track “paints” pixel art into the disk’s magnetic timing diagram

The floppy disk might seem next to useless in the modern era of flash memory and solid state drives, but that hasn’t stopped one entrepreneurial hacker from developing a tool that turns the simple floppy into a piece of art. The data-analytics-id=”inline-link” href=”https://github.com/dbalsom/fluxfox/tree/main/crates/pbm2track” data-url=”https://github.com/dbalsom/fluxfox/tree/main/crates/pbm2track” target=”_blank” referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade” data-hl-processed=”none” data-mrf-recirculation=”inline-link”> pbm2track tool takes advantage of a floppy disk’s track timing diagram to “paint” pixel art directly onto the disk itself.

Pixel art, painted onto a virtual floppy's magnetic disk using the pbm2track software. — (Image credit: dbalsom (github))

Futuristic as this might sound, it all relies on a slightly more analog approach. Beneath its plastic…

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We StartupNews.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.

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Previous News

Samsung Co-CEO Says Soaring Memory Chip Prices Will ‘Inevitably’ Impact Smartphone Costs

Next News

A ‘Stranger Things’ Making-of Doc Hits Netflix Next Week

Tom’s Hardware

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Popular

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