Iomega Zip drives are so ubiquitous in the PC hardware universe that I expect to see a report soon that archeologists have discovered an Egyptian tomb with mummified Zip cartridge instructions. It’d probably be in Mac format, though.
Iomega Zip drives are so ubiquitous in the PC hardware universe that I expect to see a report soon that archeologists have discovered an Egyptian tomb with mummified Zip cartridge instructions. It’d probably be in Mac format, though.
The capacity of Zip cartridges and their widespread use makes them the ideal form of “sneakernet” for moving files between systems, including between different computers. While using Zip drives with Linux and most desktop environments isn’t all that difficult, it’s a bit involved, and I’ve come across a few details that I haven’t found documented anywhere else. The online references mentioned in this column are listed in the Siteworthy sidebar.
The Basics
First, there are three different ways to connect a Zip drive to your computer: SCSI, ATAPI/IDE, and parallel port. The SCSI and IDE variations are pretty straightforward and work just like a hard drive of the same type — you hook the drive up to the interface and then mount, use, and unmount it. The naming convention is the same as that used for all drives attached via IDE or SCSI interfaces. For example, on one of my systems I access Zip cartridges as hdc4, which decodes as IDE drive (hd), third IDE device (c), and the fourth and only partition (4).
Parallel-port Zip drives are slightly more complicated, which is a shame, since being able to move the entire drive between systems can be a great advantage. More than once, I’ve benefited from carrying…
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