I would probably format a USB drive as FAT16 1 GB, put files onto it, then use usbimager in Ubuntu to create an image of the USB drive. Then delete all files on the USB drive and copy the 1 GB image file onto the USB stick. Next, edit the image file in Ubuntu later on to alter the files. Would this require writing a 1 GB file each time I alter files on the image (slow)?

I remember in the late 90's I used to have a parallel port to CF-card adaptor. I had a workstation w/NT4, so USB wasn't used. I wish I had kept that adaptor. I think it was an IOGear product. I can still picture it in my mind. Anybody know what transfer rates those LPT-to-CF adaptors were capable of?

I'd use dd, fdisk, mkfs.fat, then image mounter.

(If i'm in a hurry, truncate is faster than dd at making a blank file of an arbitrary size. dd just offers more control.)

Image mounter is stock on xubuntu. Just doubleclick the .img file, and you can work with it inside the file manager like any other disk. Be sure to unmount and eject it before copying it.

As for how I would use something like this:

There are a few vintage mono-cga lcd 'laptops' out there that lack any kind of permanent storage, and the addons that would enable that are bulky, and $$$ unobtainium.

Like the IBM 5140.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_Convertible

A 5v pigtail off the external keyboard, and a compact, displayless version of this zip emulator stuck on the parallel port, could shoehorn storage on. Sadly, I recall it having only 1 lpt, so cramming one of the lpt sound solutions on would be out of the question on a stock unit.

It would still let you get more use out of such a vintage toy, though.

wierd_w wrote on Yesterday, 14:47:

As for how I would use something like this: […]
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As for how I would use something like this:

There are a few vintage mono-cga lcd 'laptops' out there that lack any kind of permanent storage, and the addons that would enable that are bulky, and $$$ unobtainium.

Like the IBM 5140.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_Convertible

A 5v pigtail off the external keyboard, and a compact, displayless version of this zip emulator stuck on the parallel port, could shoehorn storage on. Sadly, I recall it having only 1 lpt, so cramming one of the lpt sound solutions on would be out of the question on a stock unit.

It would still let you get more use out of such a vintage toy, though.

Maybe a parallel port switcher will help. It may work fine if you need to use either sound or zip, but not both at the same time.

the3dfxdude wrote on 2026-03-15, 20:09:

There are direct LPT to CF and LPT to SD card adapters out there. Can you compare what emulating a zip drive brings to these other options?

Yeah I'm not seeing a real use case over those other than "I want to be restricted to 100MB volumes but don't want to make 100MB partitions". I am unaware of anything that NEEDS to be on a zip 100 disk, vs things that need to be on a floppy, CD, or DVD.

It doesn't have to be exactly 100MB. Any disk image up to 1GB will be supported. Additionally you can use Iomega driver and access the disk in Windows (up to XP), or PPA driver for Linux. Most of those LPT to CF/SD adapters out there support DOS only.

mdanh2002 wrote on Yesterday, 15:33:

Most of those LPT to CF/SD adapters out there support DOS only.

Which models were those? The LPT-to-CF adaptor I had worked in NT4 and w95. Sold it for $30 in 2006 :(

BitWrangler wrote on Yesterday, 15:24:

Yeah I'm not seeing a real use case over those other than "I want to be restricted to 100MB volumes but don't want to make 100MB partitions". I am unaware of anything that NEEDS to be on a zip 100 disk, vs things that need to be on a floppy, CD, or DVD.

1 GB is a nice maximum size for vintage systems. Aside from the disk imaging fuss, I think it is the read/write speeds which will be the limiting element. I recall benching ISA ethernet around 700 KB/s. I think my Xircom ethernet over LPT got around 230 KB/s. Even at 60 KB/s, I can see the benefit of this emulator for 286 and older systems.

feipoa wrote on Yesterday, 23:06:

Which models were those? The LPT-to-CF adaptor I had worked in NT4 and w95. Sold it for $30 in 2006 :( […]
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mdanh2002 wrote on Yesterday, 15:33:

Most of those LPT to CF/SD adapters out there support DOS only.

Which models were those? The LPT-to-CF adaptor I had worked in NT4 and w95. Sold it for $30 in 2006 🙁

BitWrangler wrote on Yesterday, 15:24:

Yeah I'm not seeing a real use case over those other than "I want to be restricted to 100MB volumes but don't want to make 100MB partitions". I am unaware of anything that NEEDS to be on a zip 100 disk, vs things that need to be on a floppy, CD, or DVD.

1 GB is a nice maximum size for vintage systems. Aside from the disk imaging fuss, I think it is the read/write speeds which will be the limiting element. I recall benching ISA ethernet around 700 KB/s. I think my Xircom ethernet over LPT got around 230 KB/s. Even at 60 KB/s, I can see the benefit of this emulator for 286 and older systems.

I am referring to modern hobbyist DIY LPT-to-CF/SD adapters sometimes sold on eBay/AliExpress, not commercial units back in the late 1990s-early 2000s. Most of these DIY units support DOS only. Or if you are very lucky, Windows 95.
I used to have an LPT adapter for 3.5" hard disk drive. It worked fine with a CF-to-IDE adapter. It's very big and even has an internal fan (which ran off the 12V supply). I threw it away back in 2010.

Seems like a very interesting project to undertake. I haven't tried reverse engineering hardware, but back in my university days I recall enjoying the process of reverse-engineering how bitmap files are stored. Admittedly not a very complex task, but was very rewarding to see my modula-2 program draw graphics on the screen (it didnt natively support bitmaps, as far as I was aware).

I don't personally have a need for this, as my PCs are in a cupboard, with no easy access to the rear of the PCs. But, I can see your project being of use to some.

In my case I use internal ATAPI zip drives. ZIP 100 for my DOS machines and ZIP 750 for the Win 9x machines. I also have a USB 750Mb and USB 100Mb to connect to my modern Windows 11 PC or to my XP machines. Though I am considering adding a second NIC to my NAS and have a retro network that's connected just to the NAS, and not the Internet.

I have to say though, that even the internal drives are rather slow. I tend to just walk away whilst it copies, unless I am copying something small.

It was very satisfying the first time I got PALMZIP to assign a drive letter. I was even happier when DIR and COPY CON both worked perfectly in MS-DOS. From there, getting the emulation to work with Iomega drivers under Windows was a matter of creativity and patience. I learned a lot about x86 assembly in the process too.

Backwards compatibility was not that great between ZIP100, ZIP250 and ZIP750. ZIP250 drives can read ZIP100 disks normally, but can only write to ZIP100 disks slowly. The ZIP750 drives only have read-only support for ZIP100. I have never played with an IDE ZIP drive, only USB and LPT drives.

mdanh2002 wrote on Today, 12:49:

It was very satisfying the first time I got PALMZIP to assign a drive letter. I was even happier when DIR and COPY CON both worked perfectly in MS-DOS. From there, getting the emulation to work with Iomega drivers under Windows was a matter of creativity and patience. I learned a lot about x86 assembly in the process too.

Yeah, I am sure! Impressive work.

mdanh2002 wrote on Today, 12:49:

Backwards compatibility was not that great between ZIP100, ZIP250 and ZIP750. ZIP250 drives can read ZIP100 disks normally, but can only write to ZIP100 disks slowly. The ZIP750 drives only have read-only support for ZIP100. I have never played with an IDE ZIP drive, only USB and LPT drives.

Yes, the backwards compatibility compromises were unfortunate. But, TBH, they were fighting against CD-Rs and flash storage by that point. So had to make the drives as cheap as possible. Presumably hoping to make money on the disks but, due to the read-write nature of them, and the price, most people only owned a small number of disks.