Using "generic" internal ATAPI Zip drives: Iomega says no

Readers continue to report both success and failure with using "generic" (that is not Mac-specific) ATAPI Zip drives in a G3/BW Mac (see item last time).

Unofficial word from Iomega A reliable source from within Iomega (although not an official spokesperson and therefore wishing to remain anonymous) assures me that "Iomega will only support Zip SCSI drives installed internally to any Macintosh, period. Off-the-shelf Zip ATAPIs and IDEs are absolutely and without question not supported inside any Macintosh by any means. If you use a Zip disk in an off-the-shelf Zip ATAPI/IDE installed in any Mac, it will not be covered under warranty if we find out."

He continues: "Apple makes specific modifications to their IDE/ATAPI drives to assure they will operate correctly and reliably." That said, the source acknowledges that you may have apparent success with off-the-shelf drives. However "your data are at risk." He advises to use the internal SCSI drives instead. Or get the ATAPI drive installed by Apple.

Second slave Two readers (Joachim Glaeser and George Graves) report that there are two slave positions for the jumpers in these ATAPI drives. One of these slave positions needs to be selected for the drive to work. It may be that only one of the two slave positions will work.