IOMEGA ZIP CD 650 DRIVE NOT RECOGNIZED

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Level 1

16 points

IOMEGA ZIP CD 650 DRIVE NOT RECOGNIZED

I have an iMac G3 (333 Mhz) with 256 RAM running Mac OS 8.6. I had an Iomega Zip CD 650 and it worked beautifully (highest burn rate was 4x but that was fine). All of a sudden, it started giving me hardware errors. I tried everything I could think of, but it still did not work, so I think the drive was just dead.

Anyway, for my operating system, there aren't really any burners out there that I like, and all the new ones are for USB 2.0, which is not supported by OS 8.6 (or maybe supported but running at a 1.1 speed). I bought one on eBay (the same one I had before, or so I thought). My last one was also bought on eBay.

So, using Toast Titanium 5.0.2, Toast won't recognize the drive. It tells me there is no recordable drive and to check the connections and the power. I've tried that, tried the troubleshooting wizzard, tried basically everything. I know the USB port works (tested), and I know the drive gets power and somehow the computer connects with it because when I reboot, the drive light blinks. Just in case I also tried using Toast 4.0 and 4.1.2, but I got the same results, "no CD Recorder found, check power and connections."

I checked the serial number to identify exactly what kind of drive it is and to my surprise, it is identified as "ZIP CD 650/IOMEGA CD-RW 4X4X6X USB 2.0 EXTERNAL DRIVE. So, first I was surprised because it's a 2.0 and that one is not even identified in the main product listing. Second, when I go into specs, it says that the transfer rate is USB 1.1, but what would be the point of making a USB 2.0 drive with a USB 1.1 transfer rate?.

I keep getting a message saying "ISD ATAPI BRIDGE" requires software not installed, but I have tried deleting all Toas software, re-installing it, and it still won't be recognized by my computer.

Any suggestions? Should I just cry, forget about it, and hope to find a CD-RW Zip 650 that is listed as USB 1.1 instead of 2.0? Should I just forget about writing CD's until I've saved enough money to buy a new iMac G5 with the Intel Dual Processors?

Thanks for your help

Ricardo

iMac G3 Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier 256 RAM

Posted on Jun 3, 2006 2:43 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

127,099 points

Jun 3, 2006 6:33 PM in response to Ricado

IOMega's web site indicates the drive is behaving as expected.

Iomega CD-RW Driver Explanation

Mac® OS 8.6-9.1

Drivers are not available for download for Mac® OS 8.6-9.1. Mac OS 8.6-9.1 will load a mass storage driver that will detect your drive as a CD-ROM drive. You will need burning software for your drive to burn CD's when using Mac OS 8.6-9.0.4. If you are using Mac OS 9.1 you can use the built-in burning software.

Iomega® HotBurn® will work with Mac OS 8.6-9.1. If you do not own Iomega HotBurn, you can purchase the software from our Online Store or from the Europe Online Store.

Please note: Iomega HotBurn does not support Mac OS 9.2 - above. If you would like to use your Iomega CD-RW drive with Mac OS 9.2.x or Mac OS 10.2 or newer please view the document on Charismac Discribe software.

Toast™ customers: Toast updates are not available on our website; however, you can download Toast updates from the Adaptec (Roxio) website. [But only for toast 6 and later!]

Iomega CD-RW customers can purchase Iomega HotBurn at a discounted price. Visit the Iomega Online Store or the Europe Online Store.

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Answer 2

Ricado Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 3, 2006 7:48 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you for your comments Grant. As part of what I tried, I checked the Iomega website and the Adaptec/Toast website. Apple offers a Mass Storage extension and one for support, both of which I have installed.

I thought that maybe it was something that had to be installed by the operating system itself, so I even re-installed Mac OS 8.6 but it didn't change anything.

Unfortunately, nothing I've tried seems to work, and believe me, I've tried just about everything that all websites suggest and things I've thought of that may be the cause. The USB port works (I can plug in other peripherals), the drive is obviously getting power as the eject button works and the lights flash, and there seems to be data flow from the computer to the drive, at least minnimally, because when the computer starts the drive lights flash.

I will try the drive in a PC one of these days and see if it works, although I don't know what good it will do me to confirm what I already suspect (that the drive works but it's just not being recognized by my iMac). One of those weird things, I guess

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Answer 3

Ricado Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 4, 2006 8:36 AM in response to Ricado

Well, after doing some research outside of the Apple, Adaptec/Toast, and Iomega websites, I guess I have found my answer. There seems to be an on and off problem with the Iomega Zip CD 650 CD-R Drives. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, it's the luck of the draw.

For anybody who's experiencing similar problems, these are two links to sites that list problems like mine and that basically say "don't get this drive, it's unreliable." Now, I give the benefit of the doubt to Iomega because I had 2 drives that worked (with the first one, I had to fiddle with it to no end until it worked. The second one, once everything was set up with the first one, was a real "plug and play." Now, 3 drives after the 2nd one, I'm no closer to burning a CD than I was when the second one broke down.

I guess I'm out of luck

http://www.computing.net/mac/wwwboard/forum/10508.html

http://www.atpm.com/7.02/zipcd.shtml

Ricardo

iMac G3 Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier 256 RAM

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Answer 4

Ricado Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 17, 2006 11:29 PM in response to Ricado

There was no actual "solution" except to keep trying different drives. I finally got it to work on the fourth try (so, basically, I spend the total I would have spent on a new one if they still sold them).

Checking on the serial numbers in the Iomega site showed that there are quite a few different models under the category Zip CD 650 USB and some work with some operating systems but not with others, no matter what you do. At least that's my experience.

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Answer 5

Tom1980

Level 1

0 points

Aug 27, 2006 8:45 AM in response to Ricado

Where can buy a replacement external drive for the Iomega 650 Zip Drive that will work with OS 9.1? After reading all of the problems in the discussion with the Iomega Zips, I really don't want to buy another one. What else can I purchase that will allow me to burn CD's (don't really care about DVD's) on my imac?

Let me give some background on the problems I have had. My Iomega 650 Zip Drive worked fine for the first couple of years, then worked sporadically. Now I'm convinced it's completely unusable. It stopped reading CD's that I previously burned with it sometime ago (I'm still able to read them in the slot-loading CD reader that is on the imac) but for awhile I could still get it to burn new CD's.

Now it won't do anything. The Zip drive is recognized, as it appears as the drive to use when I open Adeptec Toast 4.1.2 to burn a CD. However, when I insert a blank CD into the drive I get the message "Waiting for the writer". If I select disc information it says "there is no disc in the recorder". If I eject the disc and insert it again I get the message "insert a recordable disc".

As for the behavior of the drive itself, it spins a couple of times, then stops. I tried cleaning it and it spins better but still never gets up to a high enough speed to burn or read a CD.

My imac came with a slot loader that reads CD's but won't burn them. I tried installing Disc Burner 1.01 to see if I could use the slot loader to burn CD's but it doesn't work. I also installed Discribe-9x-mac-ppc-5047 after talking with the Iomega tech people and it doesn't work either.

Any sugguestions on what I can do/purchase to get my imac to burn CD's is greatly appreciated.

Tom

I have an iMac G3 (333 Mhz) with 256 RAM running Mac
OS 8.6. I had an Iomega Zip CD 650 and it worked
beautifully (highest burn rate was 4x but that was
fine). All of a sudden, it started giving me
hardware errors. I tried everything I could think
of, but it still did not work, so I think the drive
was just dead.

Anyway, for my operating system, there aren't really
any burners out there that I like, and all the new
ones are for USB 2.0, which is not supported by OS
8.6 (or maybe supported but running at a 1.1 speed).
I bought one on eBay (the same one I had before, or
so I thought). My last one was also bought on eBay.

So, using Toast Titanium 5.0.2, Toast won't recognize
the drive. It tells me there is no recordable drive
and to check the connections and the power. I've
tried that, tried the troubleshooting wizzard, tried
basically everything. I know the USB port works
(tested), and I know the drive gets power and somehow
the computer connects with it because when I reboot,
the drive light blinks. Just in case I also tried
using Toast 4.0 and 4.1.2, but I got the same
results, "no CD Recorder found, check power and
connections."

I checked the serial number to identify exactly what
kind of drive it is and to my surprise, it is
identified as "ZIP CD 650/IOMEGA CD-RW 4X4X6X USB 2.0
EXTERNAL DRIVE. So, first I was surprised because
it's a 2.0 and that one is not even identified in the
main product listing. Second, when I go into specs,
it says that the transfer rate is USB 1.1, but what
would be the point of making a USB 2.0 drive with a
USB 1.1 transfer rate?.

I keep getting a message saying "ISD ATAPI BRIDGE"
requires software not installed, but I have tried
deleting all Toas software, re-installing it, and it
still won't be recognized by my computer.

Any suggestions? Should I just cry, forget about it,
and hope to find a CD-RW Zip 650 that is listed as
USB 1.1 instead of 2.0? Should I just forget about
writing CD's until I've saved enough money to buy a
new iMac G5 with the Intel Dual Processors?

Thanks for your help

Ricardo

iMac G3 Mac OS
8.6 or Earlier 256 RAM

imac 350 MHz/512k Mac OS 9.1.x

Reply

Answer 6

Ricado Author

Level 1

16 points

Aug 27, 2006 9:48 AM in response to Tom1980

Hi Tom. I, like you, looked for other CD writers but most of them are now designed for USB 2.0 (I don't have that, I only have USB 1.0). Everybody at the stores told me that they would work because the USB 2.0 would only work as fast as the computer, so it would just work at a slower transfer rate (which was perfectly fine with me). Unfortunately, nobody could guarantee that it would work, so the only option was to buy it, and if it didn't work, return it. Sorry, I've tried with enough Iomega Zip CD's to be spending money and going through all the trouble.

I have actually one from the 3 that I bought that seems to be in perfect working condition (we tried it on my mom's PC using Windows) but my computer just won't recognize it. The Installation Disc says Iomega CD-RW USB/Fire Wire for Mac and PC, the Iomega website says it should work on my computer, I've made sure I only have the extensions necessary for burning CD's, but my computer just won't recognize the drive. Finally, I just gave up. I will wait until I have enough saved and get one of the new iMac's but until then,no more CD burning for me.

You may want to check out Mac computer stores in your area and see if they have any suggestions and maybe can lend you one of their demos just to try it out and return it if it doesn't work.

Sorry I couldn't be or more help.

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Answer 7

Tom1980

Level 1

0 points

Aug 31, 2006 3:14 PM in response to Ricado

Thanks for your comments. They pretty much confirmed what I was afraid of given such an old computer.

There is a mac store near my house so I'll try that and see what they suggest. If anything fruitful is gained from the visit, I'll post the details.

Tom

imac 350 MHz/512k Mac OS 9.1.x

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