Jaz 2.0g internal drvie LED and Problems with Tools disk...

[MrBrad]

Folks,

I bought a used Jaz 2.0 g internal drive and three 1.0 g disks at a
flea market. Attached it to Adapetc 2940 on a box running latest RH
Linux.

Having some problems ...

First the drive LED is not working. Can I carefully replace it? Any
tips? Since I have never had one of these before - should it light up
when running or flicker when read/write activity or be solid on when
mounted or operational? It does none of these things.

Next The Three Discs - marked as one gig - Mackintosh format...

Disk One - works just fine. can mount and apparently read and write
just fine. It was formatted as FAT16.

Disk Two. Second disk - works fine and was reformatted as a VFAT.

Disk Three - was / or still might be a "tools" disk. Seems to work ok
MECHANACALLY but can not get it mounted. Insert disk - spins up -
then pops out / ejects after about 10 seconds. I can not tell if the
disk is being rejected by the drive unit or by the linux mount
command. L:inux will not mount a disk that it can not read. and this
could have a password on it but I don;t know one way or the other. Is
there some test done in the drive that could cause it to eject
automatically? If so any way to bypass so I can get it mounted and
then format the tape? Does the tools disk have a password?

So the net of this discussion are these two questions ... (1) is there
a password on the tools disk that I need to use to make it a
read/write disk? I do not mind erasing or reformatting since this is
running on a Linux box and the disk lab les indicate Macintosh format.
(2) can I / should I replace the Drive LED?

Regards,
Brad

[D***@ix.netcom.com]

Post by MrBrad
I bought a used Jaz 2.0 g internal drive and three 1.0 g disks at a
flea market. Attached it to Adapetc 2940 on a box running latest RH
Linux.

2GB drives and 1GB disks are not a good match - especially not if you
intend to write to them on a regular basis.

Post by MrBrad
Having some problems ...
First the drive LED is not working. Can I carefully replace it? Any
tips? Since I have never had one of these before - should it light up
when running or flicker when read/write activity or be solid on when
mounted or operational? It does none of these things.

It should be off most of the time. When you insert a disk, it should
flash while the disk is spinning up, and then it should light up solid
for a moment before going out again. After that, it should light
during disk access.

I suppose it should be possible to replace the LED if you can find an
appropriate replacement, but I've never heard of anyone doing it.

Post by MrBrad
Next The Three Discs - marked as one gig - Mackintosh format...
Disk One - works just fine. can mount and apparently read and write
just fine. It was formatted as FAT16.
Disk Two. Second disk - works fine and was reformatted as a VFAT.
Disk Three - was / or still might be a "tools" disk. Seems to work ok
MECHANACALLY but can not get it mounted. Insert disk - spins up -
then pops out / ejects after about 10 seconds. I can not tell if the
disk is being rejected by the drive unit or by the linux mount
command. L:inux will not mount a disk that it can not read. and this
could have a password on it but I don;t know one way or the other. Is
there some test done in the drive that could cause it to eject
automatically? If so any way to bypass so I can get it mounted and
then format the tape? Does the tools disk have a password?

I think the password should be "APlaceForYourStuff". Look here:
http://pw2.netcom.com/~deepone/zipjaz/special.html#toolsdisk

A 2GB Jaz drive cannot long format a 1GB Jaz disk (I don't know much
about Linux, so I'm not sure how that affects things), and I'm not
sure whether a short format would be sufficient to return the tools
disk to normal status.

There might be something wrong with the disk. You could try
disconnecting the SCSI cable from the drive to see if it continues to
reject the disk that way. If it does, then there is probably
something wrong with it.

[Rick]

Post by D***@ix.netcom.com

Post by MrBrad
I bought a used Jaz 2.0 g internal drive and three 1.0 g disks at a
flea market. Attached it to Adapetc 2940 on a box running latest RH
Linux.

2GB drives and 1GB disks are not a good match - especially not if you
intend to write to them on a regular basis.

Post by MrBrad
Having some problems ...
First the drive LED is not working. Can I carefully replace it? Any
tips? Since I have never had one of these before - should it light up
when running or flicker when read/write activity or be solid on when
mounted or operational? It does none of these things.

It should be off most of the time. When you insert a disk, it should
flash while the disk is spinning up, and then it should light up solid
for a moment before going out again. After that, it should light
during disk access.
I suppose it should be possible to replace the LED if you can find an
appropriate replacement, but I've never heard of anyone doing it.

Post by MrBrad
Next The Three Discs - marked as one gig - Mackintosh format...
Disk One - works just fine. can mount and apparently read and write
just fine. It was formatted as FAT16.
Disk Two. Second disk - works fine and was reformatted as a VFAT.
Disk Three - was / or still might be a "tools" disk. Seems to work ok
MECHANACALLY but can not get it mounted. Insert disk - spins up -
then pops out / ejects after about 10 seconds. I can not tell if the
disk is being rejected by the drive unit or by the linux mount
command. L:inux will not mount a disk that it can not read. and this
could have a password on it but I don;t know one way or the other. Is
there some test done in the drive that could cause it to eject
automatically? If so any way to bypass so I can get it mounted and
then format the tape? Does the tools disk have a password?

http://pw2.netcom.com/~deepone/zipjaz/special.html#toolsdisk
A 2GB Jaz drive cannot long format a 1GB Jaz disk (I don't know much
about Linux, so I'm not sure how that affects things), and I'm not
sure whether a short format would be sufficient to return the tools
disk to normal status.

To reclaim the "alternate" partition from a Zip or Jaz Tools disk you
run the program "reclaim.exe" found on the disk from either the DOS or
Mac partition, depending on which of the two operating systems you are
running. But again, that procedure will only work under DOS or a Mac OS.
It will convert the inappropriate partition to the OS you are using.
IIRC it's a "short format" process. But I have no idea if it will work
at all on a 1G disk in a 2G drive. Tools disks have been out of
production a long time and this question hasn't come up in years. The
dual format on a Tools disk may be enough to cause Linux to simply choke
on it.

Post by D***@ix.netcom.com
There might be something wrong with the disk. You could try
disconnecting the SCSI cable from the drive to see if it continues to
reject the disk that way. If it does, then there is probably
something wrong with it.