Zip250 disk keeps ejecting

[m_f_h]

Zip 250 MByte disks (and perhaps Zip 100 MByte disks) have a
triangular-shaped cream-colored insert on the underside that tells
the zip drive that there is a valid disk in the drive. I have a zip
disk that is missing that insert, so when I insert it in a drive,
the drive immediately ejects the disk.

This behavior is observed under Windows XP, Mac 8.6, and Linux. Is
there any way to fix this problem?

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

Post by m_f_h
Zip 250 MByte disks (and perhaps Zip 100 MByte disks) have a
triangular-shaped cream-colored insert on the underside that tells
the zip drive that there is a valid disk in the drive. I have a zip
disk that is missing that insert, so when I insert it in a drive,
the drive immediately ejects the disk.
This behavior is observed under Windows XP, Mac 8.6, and Linux. Is
there any way to fix this problem?

I don't think the drive will engage the read/write heads unless it
sees that disk identifier. If the data on the disk is important, you
could try "sacrificing" another disk by transferring that triangular
thing over to your defective disk.

If that can't be done (I've never seen a Zip-250 disk), you might be
able to open up the disk shells and transfer the disk from its current
shell to a good one. I've opened up a Zip-100 disk before, and it can
be tricky to get the spring-loaded disk door working properly when
putting it back together. But as long as it will open, the drive
should be able to read it (provided the other problem is fixed).