Troubleshooting

If you encounter a problem while installing or using your Zip® ATAPI drive, check this section for possible solutions.

CAUTION! Electrical power should be turned off before connecting or disconnecting any cables; otherwise, computer equipment could be damaged.

  1. Make sure the computer is receiving power.
  2. Make sure the power cable connection to the Zip ATAPI drive is secure.
  3. Make sure there is a disk in the drive.

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  1. Make sure PIN 1 is properly connected on all IDE interface connections. The stripe on the interface cable should align with PIN 1 on each connection. If the cable does not have a keyed connector, make sure the connector has not shifted a pair of pins.

  2. Make sure the jumper setting on the Zip ATAPI drive is set correctly. For example, if you installed the Zip drive as a "slave" drive, the jumper setting must reflect "slave" drive. Refer to Installing Your Zip ATAPI Drive for details.

  3. If there is another drive on the same IDE channel, make sure it is also properly configured. Refer to the documentation that accompanied the other IDE drive for configuration information (often this information is on the drive case). If you cannot locate the documentation, contact the manufacturer of the drive.

  4. Make sure BIOS support for the Zip ATAPI drive is disabled in the computer's CMOS setup. Note that this may require turning off autodetection for the Zip ATAPI drive. Refer to your computer's documentation if you need instructions on disabling autodetection.

    If you are unable to disable BIOS support for the Zip drive in the CMOS setup and the Zip ATAPI drive does not appear on the system, the computer may have an incompatible BIOS that does not correctly understand removable ATAPI drives. You may be able to solve the problem by obtaining an updated BIOS from the computer manufacturer. If an updated BIOS is not available, it may be possible to install the Zip ATAPI drive successfully using an add-on IDE card.

  5. Make sure the software drivers for the Zip ATAPI drive are correctly installed on the computer system. The necessary drivers are included with the IomegaWare software. Carefully follow the installation instructions under Installing the Zip Drive as the Only Device on the Secondary IDE Channel.

  6. If the computer's operating system is Windows 98, make sure the system is running in 32-bit mode (Protected mode). To check whether the system is running in 32-bit mode, right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the Performance tab and check that File System and Virtual Memory are listed as 32-bit. If the mode is 16-bit, refer to the Windows 98 documentation for instructions on improving the system performance to 32-bit.

  7. Some IDE hard drives do not work properly unless they are in a certain position on the IDE cable. You may need to reverse the position of the master drive, such as a CD-ROM, and the Zip ATAPI (slave) drive on the cable for the drives to work properly.

  8. If the computer still does not recognize the Zip ATAPI drive, it may be that the existing IDE master drive does not allow access to a slave drive on the same cable. Try installing the Zip ATAPI drive on the other IDE channel.


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  1. Make sure PIN 1 is properly connected on all IDE interface connections. The stripe on the interface cable should align with PIN 1 on each connection. If the cable does not have a keyed connector, make sure the connector has not shifted a pair of pins.

  2. Make sure the slave drive is correctly jumpered as a slave. Refer to the documentation that accompanied the slave drive for configuration information (often this information is on the disk case). If you cannot locate the documentation, contact the manufacturer of the drive.

  3. Some IDE hard drives do not work properly unless they are in a certain position on the IDE cable. You may need to reverse the position of the slave drive and the ATAPI (master) drive on the cable for the slave drive to work properly.


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Make sure BIOS support for the Zip ATAPI drive is disabled in the computer's CMOS setup. Note that this may require turning off autodetection for the Zip ATAPI drive. Refer to your computer's documentation if you need instructions on getting into the CMOS setup and disabling autodetection.

If you are unable to disable BIOS support for the Zip drive in the CMOS setup and the computer hangs during boot-up, the computer may have an incompatible BIOS that does not correctly understand removable internal drives. You may be able to solve the problem by obtaining an updated BIOS from the computer manufacturer. If an updated BIOS is not available, it may be possible to install the Zip ATAPI drive successfully using an add-on IDE card.


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PC systems cannot read a Mac-formatted Zip disk unless special software is installed on the system. If you try to use a Mac-formatted Zip disk on a PC that does not have disk exchange software installed, you will see a message indicating that the disk is not formatted.


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Make sure the Zip ATAPI drive is electrically grounded. If the drive bay mounting screws do not make contact with a direct metallic path to the Zip drive chassis (for example, if you are using a plastic carrier to mount the drive in a 5.25" bay), then you need to provide a grounding strap. The grounding strap should be a wire from the ground lug on the right side of the drive by the power connector to a solid, metal connection on the computer chassis.

You may also see data transfer problems if you have updated or replaced the drivers for your IDE controller. We recommend using the default Microsoft IDE controller drivers that came with your operating system.


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If you are using 100MB disks in the Zip 250 drive, see Compatibility with Zip 100MB Disks.

Windows Users:

If your system appears to hang when writing very large files to a Zip 100MB disk in your Zip 250 drive:

The Zip 250 drive features backward compatibility that allows you to read and write to Zip 100MB disks. Because of the higher capacity of the Zip 250 drive, however, performance when writing to a Zip 100MB disk is significantly reduced. This means that a large file that takes 10 seconds to write to a Zip 250MB disk could take about 90 seconds to write to a Zip 100MB disk (using your Zip 250 ATAPI drive to write both disks). While Windows is writing to the disk, the system is busy and may appear to be locked up.

If your system appears to hang when writing a large file to a Zip 100MB disk, you can verify that the Zip drive is operating correctly by checking that the green light on the button is on or blinking irregularly. When the green light goes out, the file writing process is complete and your system will be available again.

For additional information about using Zip 100MB disks in your Zip 250 drive, see Compatibility with Zip 100MB Disks


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If your system appears to hang when writing a large file to a Zip 250MB or 100MB disk, you can verify that the Zip drive is operating correctly by checking that the green power light is on. It is normal for the drive to continue to write data after Windows reports the copy is complete. When the green activity light is no longer flashing, the file writing process is complete and your system will be available again.


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Drive letter assignments are controlled by the operating system—in order to change a drive letter assignment, you must work with the procedures required by your computer's operating system.

Windows 98/98SE/Me Users:

If your computer is running Windows 98/98SE/Me, you can change drive letters as desired for any of your removable drives (including your Zip drive and CD-ROM drive) by using the Drive Letter Manager in your IomegaWare software. The instructions are as follows:

  1. Right click on the Zip drive icon in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. Click the tab for Drive Letter Manager.
  4. Drive Letter Manager will display the current drive letters assigned on your system.
  5. To change the drive letter for any removable drive, click the drop-down arrow next to the current drive letter and select the drive letter you want to use. The drive letters you choose will be effective after you restart your system.

Windows 2000/XP Users

The following instructions describe how to change drive letters for removable drives under Windows 2000/XP.

NOTE: You must have administrator privileges for your local computer in order to change drive letters under Windows 2000/XP.

  1. Select Control Panels, Administrator Tools, Computer Management, then Disk Management.
  2. Right click on the icon for the Zip drive and select Change Drive Letter and Path from the shortcut menu.
  3. Click the Edit button.
  4. Click on Assign a drive letter and select the letter you want to use for your Zip drive.

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Make sure BIOS support for the Zip ATAPI drive is disabled in the computer's CMOS setup. Note that this may require turning off autodetection for the Zip ATAPI drive. Refer to the your computer's documentation if you need instructions on getting into the CMOS setup and disabling autodetection.

Disk automatically ejected when inserted into the Zip drive

Make sure you are using a genuine Zip 250MB disk or Zip 100MB disk. If you attempt to insert a non-Zip disk into the Zip drive, the drive will automatically reject the disk.


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It is recommended that you use the Iomega software eject command to eject Iomega disks. If you are using Windows Explorer and want to eject a Zip disk, make sure that Explorer is displaying the contents of a different drive (for example, highlight drive C:).

If the disk still does not eject from the Zip drive, try closing any open applications or windows listing the disk's contents.

If the disk still does not eject immediately, it may be due to the way Windows 2000/XP handles disk caching. Eventually, Windows 2000/XP should allow the disk to eject. If it does not, please refer to the help files included with Windows 2000/XP.


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The NTFS format is a fixed disk file system, which locks the disk when it is mounted under Windows 2000/XP. This means that once you access an NTFS formatted Zip disk, the disk will no longer eject using the eject button on the front of the drive. To eject the disk, you must first close any windows listing the disk contents, then use the software eject command that is available when you right mouse click on the drive icon in My Computer or Windows Explorer.


For help with problems that are not covered in this manual, please visit the Support & Downloads area on www.iomega.com


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