There are at least four different kinds of IDE Zip drives - the original ATA version, the ATAPI version which replaced it, an AT […]
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There are at least four different kinds of IDE Zip drives - the original ATA version, the ATAPI version which replaced it, an ATAPI2 version which seems to have replaced the original ATAPI Zip, and an ATAPI3 version which will probably replace the ATAPI2 . The various types of IDE Zip drives can be differentiated in the following ways:
The ATA Zip has a separate access light and eject button in addition to a manual eject hook on the front of the drive. All ATAPI Zip's have an eject button which doubles as the access light, and they lack the manual eject hook (they have a hole in the back of the drive for this purpose, so you would have to open up the computer to use it).
The firmware revisions for the ATA Zip are in the form of B.29 (letter before number). For the ATAPI Zip drives, they should be in the form of 23.D or 14.A (number before letter). In Windows 9x, the firmware revision can be found on the Properties/Settings tab for the Zip drive in the Disk drives section of Device Manager.
To identify an ATAPI2 or ATAPI3 Zip drive, view the label on top of the drive. Beneath the diagram of jumper settings, you should see a part number which begins with P/N. Following that number, it will say ATAPI2 or ATAPI3 if it is one (and if it's an ATAPI2, it may not show all of the available jumper settings on that diagram).
Note that different types of IDE Zip drives use different jumper settings, so it's important to know which type you have.
My experience is with the ATAPI drives, but I think most of this information would also apply to the older ATA drive.
I think you can download the manuals for the original ATAPI Zip drive from Iomega.
The manuals for the ATA Zip seem to have been removed from Iomega's website. I think the main difference in configuration is the jumper settings, so I've included the relevant illustration from Iomega's PDF file here.
The ATAPI2 Zip has some special configuration issues - especially when it's set for drive A: mode. You can find some ATAPI2-specific information here.
I'm told that the ATAPI3 Zip no longer supports drive A: mode as the ATAPI2 model did. Apparently, Iomega decided that it was more trouble than it was worth.