Zip copying problem solved

We have previously reported potential problems copying to and from a Zip drive when running Mac OS 8.5.1. Dale Sorenson (one of the readers to have this problem) has been trying to determine a cause and solution. With some help from Iomega tech support and the Iomega manual, he believes to have found an answer: He needed to change the jumpers on his internal Zip drive.

The "Understanding IDE/ATAPI Connections" section of the manual notes that, on the original G3s with a HD, CD-ROM and Internal Zip, the Macs should ship in what Iomega calls the "recommended" configuration. Like this:

PRIMARY IDE CHANNEL
HD=Device 0 (Master)
SECONDARY IDE CHANNEL
CD-ROM=Device 0 (Master)
Zip=Device 1 (Slave)

Dale discovered the jumpers on the internal Zip had been set wrong by Apple. The Zip was not configured to be Device 1 or even Device 0. The jumpers were set to a configuration Iomega documents as "Reserved (Do Not Use)." Oddly, setting the Zip drive to be Device 1 (as in the above "recommended" configuration) did not fix the problem. To solve the problem, Dale had to completely reconfigure both IDE Channels to one of the "alternate" configurations:

PRIMARY IDE CHANNEL
HD=Device 0 (Master)
CD-ROM=Device 1 (Slave)
SECONDARY IDE CHANNEL
Zip=Device 0 (Master)

Dale adds: "Putting the Zip drive on its own channel solved the problem completely. Note, the IDE cables Apple uses are too short for the above configuration, so I had to rearrange the devices. I moved the HD from the bottom of the case to the empty drive bay above the Zip drive. I had this problem with two different G3s straight out of the box." If all of this channel stuff sounds a bit confusing (as well it might), Dale recommends checking out the manual. He found it very helpful.