Internal ZIP drive problems...

[Frodolives]

I'm pretty new to setting up my own hardware, but it sounds like my problems are fairly common, though I'm still not getting very good answers. Here's what's happening:

Just build a pc based upon an Asus A7V133 with a pretty recent BIOS (1007) and using Windows 98. I've installed my IDE ZIP drive as a slave to the CD Rom, and it's being recognized by Windows as Floppy B, even though BIOS is set as ZIP, so also I can't change the drive letter assignment in device manager.

I'm able to copy files from the zip to the pc, but copying files TO it are locking me up. I really need this for removable b/u storage for a while and would like to get full functions.

Iomega support pages don't have a lot to say, but for one thing they say that I may need to set it as master and the cdrom as slave. Do I really wanna do this? Thanks if anyone can offer some suggestions, and I'll gladly repost more info if required!

 

[ojai00]

Try checking the jumpers to make sure that your ZIP drive is set to slave and your CD-ROM is set to master. If that doesn't work, try switching the ZIP drive to the slave on the primary channel (the one that your hard drive is connected to). Hope this helps.

 

[HawkeyeColt]

Go here This will answer your question.

 

[Frodolives]

Ojai, I checked the jumpers before installing, but I'll try the slave to hdd config you suggested.

Hawkeye, thanks, but that's the page I was referring to that wants me to assign my cdrom as slave to zip. I'll try that if I must, but I'd prefer not to have to do that if there are other solutions. My last system had zip as slave to cdrom and worked fine

 

[Jolt2]

It could be a BIOS related problem. The following is from the FAQ of the support page from Soyo (a motherboard manufacturer).

"I could not get my ATAP2 ZIP drive to work correctly in Win95/Win98.
Please upgrade your BIOS to the latest version and also make sure all the jumpers on your ZIP drive are removed, and not being set to Master/Slave. "

You should check Asus for a BIOS update, check their FAQ and support pages. If nothing there, I would e-mail Asus support about it. While you are waiting for an answer from Asus, you could try removing all the jumpers on the zip drive and see if that works like it does on some Soyo boards.

 

[Frodolives]

I found a thread on amdmb.com about a compatibility problem that others are having too. Here is a quote from the iomega site regarding a patch:

"Description: Please note, this is a 3rd party Beta patch and is not supported by Iomega or its contact centers. This patch will help solve system hangs and slow performance between the Zip 100 ATAPI drive and Via's 686B chipset. This also affects motherboards with the KT133a core logic chipset."

According to the guy who posted the thread this patch didn't help him, and another user finally gave up and went with a usb

 

[Frodolives]

Updating this in case anyone else may benefit. The patch I found at the iomega site for the via ide miniport drivers did indeed solve my problem! It is a beta patch and no guarantees of course, but I'm happy to have my backup storage back to work!

Please note that I found I had to uninstall the previously installed iomega ware to get it working properly, and I can't report yet whether that software will work fully once reinstalled, I'm just happy to have basic function for now.

From the iomega support site:

"ZIP 100 ATAPI Slow Performance/Hang Beta Patch

The Problem

The Zip 100 ATAPI drives will not work at this time with the VIA VT82C(686B) chips. This also affects motherboards with the KT133a core logic chipset. There is a timing issue between the chipset and Iomega Zip 100 drive. This is an issue with the newer Zip 100 ATAPI units. The following is a list of things that may happen when you have a Zip 100 ATAPI attached to this chipset" etc etc...

Iomega support page for this issue

 

[jumpmanx]

hmmm, i have the same board ... asus a7v133.... and had problems with the internal zip drive for the longest time. the problem is with the via4in1 that comes with the board. u'll need to get the latest 4in1's from via's website.. that should solve your problem.

 

[Frodolives]

Heh, you didn't read the whole thread did you? My problem is fixed, but the latest 4 in 1 drivers didn't do it for me until I also got the beta patch from the iomega site.