I too, have fallen victim to this problem--twice! The first time it
happened, I had never heard of the problem and I kept re-trying with
different disks (it's an internal drive in a non-portable PC, so I don't
think moving the drive around was aproblem in my case). I ended up hosing
three or four $20 disks--of course, the data on those disks was lost... A
person who works in another department said that he had the same problem
at his previous job and that they had to spend $80/disk to recover the
data. I also discovered that the problem is a physical one and that bad
disks can cripple previously good drives! The supplier replaced the drive
as it was still under warranty, but several months later, I had the
problem again! This time, I was ready and simply replaced the drive. But
what bugs me is that Iomega was/is so reluctant to admit the
problem--you'd think they'd stand behind their product.
My advice is to avoid using them. We have to because our customers will
often provide us with data on that media, but if we had our choice, we
wouldn't have one in the shop at all! Besides, new formats are going to
be coming out over the next year or two that will render the zip disk
obsolete--despite Iomega's aggressive marketing campaign.
BTW, Anyone had experience with Imation's 120MB SuperDisk? Supposedly,
the drive will support both 1.44MB floppies as well as the SuperDisk. It
would be nice not to sacrifice another bay to a new drive...
Cheers!
Mike
On Thu, 16 Apr 1998, Rick Forrester wrote:
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
> > Another thing I wanted to ask about zip_drives...I got
> > 'attacked' by this person on #linux the other night, babbling
> > something about how I was DOOMED because I used the zip-drive....he
> > referencing something called "the click of death". He wouldn't hear
> > of my skepticism..ie; 28 zip-carts & 2years or so on without so much
> > as a hint of any trouble here.
>
> > Anyone know what this bloke was on about with this 'click of death'
> > thing, regarding iomega zip drives?
>
> See <http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,18622,00.html> for an article on this
> problem. It doesn't affect everyone, but does bite many. Once it occurs,
> because the drive positioning mechanism isn't very robust, the problem can act
> almost as if it were a mechanical virus.
>
> Yes, I've been a victim of this problem. Yes, I unknowingly proved that it
> can cause a problem when you move a failed disk from one Zip drive to another.
> Yes, Iomega, albeit reluctantly, is replacing the drive and supposedly the
> damaged disks too, after a weeks long battle.
>
> I doubt you're doomed. The fragility problems with Zip drives affects mainly
> those who frequently transport Zip drives around, such as when I travel on
> business. If you don't carry your drive around a lot, you may have no
> problem. If you _DO_ start having a problem with a Zip drive (you insert a
> disk, and an unending series of "click" ... "click" ... "click" noises begin
> to come from your drive, _DONT_ test it with another disk. Go to your dealer
> and get some help in getting the drive repaired/replaced. It is likely that a
> bad drive will eat other diskettes.
> --
> Rick Forrister <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> Opera: Greek word meaning "death by music".
> --Anonymous
>
>
>
> --
> PLEASE read the Red Hat FAQ, Tips, Errata and the MAILING LIST ARCHIVES!
> http://www.redhat.com/RedHat-FAQ /RedHat-Errata /RedHat-Tips /mailing-lists
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>
==========================
Mike Edwards, MIS
Edwards Graphic Arts, Inc.
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
PLEASE read the Red Hat FAQ, Tips, Errata and the MAILING LIST ARCHIVES!
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