ZIP Drives no longer working for me?

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

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Ok, I have NOT used the drives for some time. I have in the past used them to transfer my files to and from my old Atari computers and my PCs
I have decided to connect one back up into a PC, and the BIOS Sees it just fine, but when I get to the Desktop, I cannot for the life of me find it.

Now, just in case you are missing something, it is doing this in Windows 10, and Windows 11 and also Linux Mint, Linux Cinnamon, and Suse KDE.
I have used the Disk Manager, Partition Manager, and also KDEPART and GParted and NONE of them see the drive.

I have then used different drives... I have 4 ZIP100 Drives, and one ZIP250, they are all IDE and on the Atari I have a ZIP250 that is SCSI.

Is the support for these drives now over?
Why can the BIOS see them just fine but new O/Ses cannot even use them?
I did try XP onto a test PC but it failed to install ( LOL ) and so I am going to throw Vista or 7 onto it tonight just to see...
 
Sod it.
I just chucked Windows 7 onto a PC and it worked the drive just fine.
Tried a few other drives, just for kickers, and they all worked just fine.

Did a Ridiculously stupid ( but bugger, it why not ) thing and they are all working as a single SPANNED disk.
Yeah, sure, ZIP 100 Drives are not the quickest, but I am only piddling so sue me.

So hm... Time to look for a Windows 10+ and a Linux Driver for them I recon.
 
Yeah, that seems to be the way.

It, or rather they, are IDE, and I use a SATA to IDE device to read them, and thats never been an issue.
I just threw Windows 7 onto a spare PC and it worked just fine until I did some updates and then it stopped working again... I am for the moment, assuming its the SATA Driver.
So, I tried XP but that seems to be a bit iffy obn that PC, only cos I used an old USB Drive and not a CD... I might try that, but I have stuffed in a VISTA Stick and see how that plays!
Its not for anything vital or anything even remotely important, its just that I fancied doign it again... I mean... My Atari TT has a DVD and the Falcon has BlueRay drive, so I could simply do things that way, ( and I have been doing ) but I got the drives and so I want to use them you know!
 
There is an update for 7 which breaks (intentionally) Securom and some other older DRM, it also stops certain drivers working, uninstalling that update might get it working again, in 10 that is embedded and you can't easily work around it. Also the drivers might require legacy 32bit support which works in 7 under 64bit but nothing newer.
 
Might be one that you'll just need to run an old PC on win 7 or earlier for compatibility.

I'm going to assume if no disk managers see them on newer OS's then using them as a passthrough device to a hypervisor won't work either.
 
Rroff said:
There is an update for 7 which breaks (intentionally) Securom and some other older DRM, it also stops certain drivers working, uninstalling that update might get it working again, in 10 that is embedded and you can't easily work around it. Also the drivers might require legacy 32bit support which works in 7 under 64bit but nothing newer.
Click to expand...
You are aware that update was done because older DRM systems like Securom are considered a security risk (although certain anti-cheat programs could be considered a security risk since they give themselves ring 0 access without approval).

As for getting zip disks working on modern operating systems it might be better for the OP to obtain a USB zip drive that won't have to rely on "conversion technology" to get it working (although there are PCI-E IDE cards available that might get around the issue).
 
demonix said:
You are aware that update was done because older DRM systems like Securom are considered a security risk (although certain anti-cheat programs could be considered a security risk since they give themselves ring 0 access without approval).

As for getting zip disks working on modern operating systems it might be better for the OP to obtain a USB zip drive that won't have to rely on "conversion technology" to get it working (although there are PCI-E IDE cards available that might get around the issue).
Click to expand...

Hence the intentionally in there.

EDIT: Anti-cheat programs in that respect are quite a serious security concern IMO as most are able to self-update their code and have low level system access same with some DRM.
 
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demonix said:
You are aware that update was done because older DRM systems like Securom are considered a security risk (although certain anti-cheat programs could be considered a security risk since they give themselves ring 0 access without approval).

As for getting zip disks working on modern operating systems it might be better for the OP to obtain a USB zip drive that won't have to rely on "conversion technology" to get it working (although there are PCI-E IDE cards available that might get around the issue).
Click to expand...

Hmm... Ok, well I have USB adapters that I can use IDE drivers with... I might give it a shot.

PCI Cards?
Oh, maybe thats an option yes, Certainly Windows 7 worked until the update, so as long as the drivers on the ATA Controler supports it... Sure why not?
Would that then also work with Win 10/11?

To be honest, I have given up the idea, but now I am thinking I might give it a shot.
Only thing is, that the test PC is an ITX with a PCIE Slot and the IDE Cards that I have are PCI. This means that I will have to use an older Mobo to test these out!

Not to worry... I have tons of older gear.
So there Bledd... Reasons to NOT throw away old stuff... You might just need it... or want it... Or just be a plebb hoarder like me.
 
Reminds me of that time when I thought getting a Syquest Syjet 1.5gb drive back in the early 2000's was a good idea. The thought of having multiple 1.5 gb discs I could swap in and out when needed seemed great on paper. But when it came to it, the discs themselves were so fragile and vulnerable to dust getting inside and onto the actual proper hard disc patter inside each removable cover, that you'd be a nutter to actually store anything important on them. That and they cost and arm and a leg for each disc. It did look good though as another fancy internal drive in the PC. I do still have it kicking about somewhere.
 
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