High-Capacity Removable Storage Technologies and Information

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High-Capacity Removable
Storage Technologies
and Information
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High-Capacity Removable Storage Technologies and Information
Iomega
The following sections break down many of the high-capacity removable storage products produced by
the Iomega Corporation.
Early Iomega Bernoulli Drives
In the early 1980s, Iomega introduced the Bernoulli drive. The disk used in the original 10MB “Alpha”
Bernoulli drive was a thick, rigid plastic cartridge roughly the same width as an 8'' floppy disk. The 20MB
“Beta” and later models used a 5 1/4'' disk cartridge. A large shutter, similar to the shutter on a 3 1/2'' floppy
disk, easily distinguished both types of Bernoulli disks from standard floppy disks. The 5 1/4'' Bernoulli
drives were manufactured in capacities ranging from 20MB up to 230MB.
Bernoulli disks originally were known as the most durable of the removable-media drive types because the
media is well protected inside the cartridge. When it rotates in the drive, the Bernoulli disk media is pulled by
air pressure toward the drive heads. As the disk spins, the airflow generated by the disk movement encounters
what is called a Bernoulli plate, which is a stationary plate designed to control the airflow so the disk is pulled
toward the read/write head. At full speed, the head touches the disk, which causes wear. Bernoulli drives have
built-in random seek functions that prevent any single track on the disk from wearing excessively during periods of inactivity. Bernoulli disk cartridges should be replaced periodically because they can wear out.
Note
These drives are obsolete, but drives, parts, service, and media for many models are still available from Comet Enterprises,
Inc. (http://www.cometenterprises.com, 2497 South 1760 West, Ogden, UT 84401, phone: 801-436-0000, fax:
801-436-0010) and other sources.
Zip Drives
Zip drives use a proprietary 3 1/2'' disk made by Iomega and also sold by other major media vendors, such as
Maxell, Verbatim, and Fuji. It is about twice as thick as a standard 3 1/2'' floppy disk or SuperDisk (see Figure 1).
2MB floppy disk
120MB Imation SuperDisk
100MB Iomega Zip disk
Figure 1 The Zip 100MB disk (right) compared to the standard 3 1/2'' 1.44MB disk (middle) and the
LS-120 SuperDisk (left). The Zip disk is thicker, has a tapered top, and has a much narrower shutter than
either the LS-120 or 1.44MB disk.
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Iomega
The Zip drives do not accept standard 1.44MB or 720KB floppy disks, making them unlikely candidates
for a floppy disk drive replacement. Internal Zip drives have become popular options in new PCs, and
the external models are an effective solution for exchanging data between systems.
Tip
Recent systems support the Zip drive in their BIOS setup programs, which enables you to use the ATA version as a boot drive.
Zip drives also have suffered from reliability problems, such as the so-called “click of death,” which
occurs when the drive begins a rhythmic ticking sound. At this point, the data on the disk can be corrupted and both the drive and the media must be replaced.
Table 1 lists the Zip drive specifications for 100MB, 250MB, and 750MB Zip drives. SCSI versions of the
Iomega Zip drive can be used with standard SCSI host adapters or with the now-discontinued Iomega
Zip Zoom, a low-cost SCSI host adapter designed especially for the Zip drive.
Table 1
Zip Specifications
Formatted Capacity 100MB
Model (Interface)
ATA
USB
PC Card
Parallel
SCSI
Sustained transfer
rate max.
1.4MBps
1.2MBps
1.4MBps
1.4MBps
1.4MBps
Average seek time
29ms
29ms
29ms
29ms
29ms
USB + PC
Card
Adapter
Parallel
SCSI
Formatted Capacity 250MB
Model (Interface)
ATA
USB
USB +
IEEE1394a
Adapter
Sustained transfer
rate max.
2.4MBps1
900KBps2
2.3MBps2
900KBps
800KBps3
2.4MBps4
Average seek time
29ms
<50ms
<40ms
<40ms
29ms
29ms
Formatted Capacity 750MB
Model (Interface)
ATA
USB 1.1
USB 2.0
IEEE-1394a
Sustained transfer
rate max.
7.5MBps
900KBps
7.5MBps
7.5MBps5
Typical throughput
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Average seek time
29ms
29ms
29ms
29ms
5
5,6
5
1. Performance when 250MB Zip media is used. With 100MB Zip media, read performance is 1.4MBps and write performance is 0.25MBps.
2. Performance when 250MB Zip media is used. With 100MB Zip media, read and write performance is significantly slower.
3. Performance when 250MB Zip media is used. With 100MB Zip media, read and write performance is considerably
slower, varying with parallel port configuration. For the fastest performance with any type of media, use EPP or ECP/EPP
parallel-port modes.
4. Performance when 250MB Zip media is used. With 100MB Zip media, read performance is 1.7MBps and write performance is 200KBps.
5. Performance when 750MB Zip media is used. Performance is slower when reading/writing 250MB media or when reading
100MB media.
6. Performance when connecting a USB 2.0 drive to a USB 1.1; there is no version of this drive made especially for the USB
1.1 port.
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Note that although the SCSI and Parallel port versions of the Zip 100 claim the same sustained transfer rate, the throughput of the SCSI drive is more than twice as fast—a fact that owners of both models can attest to. If you have a SCSI card with an external port, use the SCSI Zip drives; they’re fast!
Media for the Zip 100 drive costs about $9 per disk in quantities. Media for the Zip 250 drive costs
about $11 per disk in quantities, with U-shaped media being slightly more expensive. Media for the
Zip 750 drive costs about $13 per disk in quantities.
Figure 2 shows the interior of a Zip drive, listing the various components within it.
Head retractor Disk insertion stop
Disk cartridge lock pins
Head actuator/
data cable
Insert/eject arm
Head actuator
Spindle motor
Manual eject
Head lock Disk eject
release lever solenoid
Figure 2
Eject spring mount
Iomega Zip drive internal view.
The interior assembly forms a tray that is mounted on a sliding track. This allows the entire tray to
move with the disk.
Zip Drive “Click of Death”
Iomega has acknowledged that as many as 100,000 users of Zip drives have suffered what is called the
“click of death.” The name refers to a sharp clicking sound heard from the drive as the heads are continually loaded and unloaded as they try to read a disk. This unfortunately means at a minimum that
the disk, and possibly the drive, is likely trashed.
In fact, many users have found that the disk cartridge can be damaged in such a way that, if you
attempt to read it on another Zip drive, that drive is damaged as well. The only solution is to get a
new disk and drive and to not try to read damaged disks in new drives.
If you think your drive or disk has been damaged, call Iomega technical support (see the Vendor List
on this book’s DVD); Iomega should replace the defective disk and possibly the drive as well.
Iomega lists these precautions to help prevent damaged disks and drives:
■ Eject disks prior to transporting any Iomega drive. This allows the drive heads (which read and write
to the disks) to park in a natural position.
■ Avoid dropping your drive. It can damage internal structures.
■ Be especially careful to transport and store Zip disks only in the Zip disk cases.
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Iomega
5
Note
Iomega offers utility diagnostics software that tests the integrity of the Zip heads and Zip media. You can download this
from its Web site, although Iomega does recommend users contact them for any “click-of-death” issues.
Another company, Gibson Research, has developed a unique program for diagnosing problems with Zip and Jaz drives.
It is called Trouble In Paradise (TIP) and can be downloaded free from the Gibson Research site. Gibson is well known as
the manufacturer of the Spinrite program for hard disks. The Gibson Research Web site has a lot of additional information
on the click of death and other Zip drive issues. See the Vendor List for its URL and address.
Because of the high frequency of this problem, many data recovery companies have had a large business in recovering data from damaged Zip cartridges. In fact, the problem has even prompted a class
action lawsuit. The law firm of Dodge, Fazio, Anderson, and Jones, P.C. announced that a nationwide
class action (known as the Rinaldi lawsuit for Jason Rinaldi, the first-named member of the class) was
commenced on September 10, 1998, in the Superior Court of New Castle County in Delaware on
behalf of all owners of the Iomega Zip drive. The complaint contains claims for breach of warranty,
negligence in manufacturing and design, consumer fraud, and failure to warn.
Investigation has shown that the click of death has three main causes:
■ Magnetic particles corrupt the read/write mechanism of the drive, as well as any disk it is
attempting to read.
■ Lubricant on the disk decomposes, forming a solid material, which accumulates on the heads of
the drive. This prevents the heads from reading the disk and subsequently corrupts it.
■ The drive heads come in contact with the edge of the spinning disk, which can dislodge the
drive heads or tear the storage media and render the disk useless.
This latter point is especially troublesome because if damaged media is inserted into a new drive, it
can damage the new drive as well—in some cases tearing the heads off their mounts.
Tip
Before you insert a previously used Iomega Zip disk into a drive, you can check the media for damage by carefully sliding open the shutter on the disk and rotating the media using the spindle at the bottom of the disk. If you see roughness or
damage, contact Iomega or the media vendor for replacement.
Note also that if you purchase brand-new media in bulk from a store that uses magnetic antitheft strips that must be
demagnetized before you leave the store, the Zip media can be demagnetized as well. Return such media to the store for
replacement.
Data recovery from a damaged Zip disk can cost $400 or more, so I suggest you keep backups of any
important data you store on these disks, and if your drive starts clicking, don’t use media with any
data already onboard to test it.
A proposed settlement for the Rinaldi lawsuit was announced on March 21, 2001, and it offered
rebates to all Zip drive owners who purchased drives between January 1, 1995 and March 19, 2001. A
modified version of this settlement was agreed to on June 10, 2002. The settlement offers rebates on
future purchases of Zip and Pocket Zip drives and media. Users who certify that their drives were
affected by the click of death will receive higher amounts for their rebates. The original deadline for
submitting claims for the rebates passed on September 6, 2001, and was extended to the period of
June 19 through July 19, 2002.
If you have not received information on the settlement, you can read the details of the settlement
and receive a copy of the notice by going to the Iomega Web site (www.iomega.com), following the
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Rinaldi Class Action Settlement link, andviewing the documents posted. As mentioned before, the
U250 cartridges from Iomega have been redesigned to use titanium particles in the media. This
improvement in media design should significantly improve operations of the drives. The U250 cartridge is also self-cleaning to improve reliability of the cartridge and the Zip 250 drive.
Click-of-death problems can still occur with Zip drives and, to a lesser extent, with Jaz drives. Users of
these drives should regularly test their drives and media with Iomega’s diagnostics supplied with the
drives and the Gibson Research TIP program to avoid problems.
Iomega Peerless
The Iomega Peerless removable hard disk system is a proprietary storage system which features 10GB
and 20GB removable hard disks, which integrate the read/write heads into a sealed case. The Peerless
base station is a vertical mount enclosure about 4'' wide and 5'' tall that uses interchangeable interface
modules for the IEEE-1394 (FireWire) and USB 1.1 interfaces. The base station contains the electronics
for the drive system. The transfer rate of the Peerless drive when attached to the IEEE-1394 interface is
15MBps, and about 1MBps when attached to a USB 1.1 port. Iomega discontinued the Peerless drive
in late 2002, and any remaining inventory of drive kits and cartridges can be obtained for a significant discount from original prices.
Jaz Drives
The Jaz drive from Iomega is a proprietary design removable-cartridge hard disk, available in 1GB and
2GB internal and external models. Unfortunately, the cartridges themselves cost $90–$100 each in
quantity, making them much more expensive per GB than DAT or Travan backup tapes. The high cost
of the media makes the Jaz drive unsuitable for backup when compared to traditional tape media, but
it is possibly useful as an add-on external SCSI hard disk drive for either data or program files. Jaz
drives have been discontinued by Iomega.
Figure 3 shows the 2GB external SCSI version of the Jaz drive. Jaz media is thicker and has a different
shape from the media made for the lower-capacity Zip drives also produced by Iomega.
Figure 3
A 2GB external Jaz drive and media. Photo courtesy of Iomega Corporation.
Jaz drives were available in SCSI interface versions only; the 2GB model is backward-compatible with
1GB media. Table 2 lists the specifications for Jaz drives.
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SuperDisk Technology
Table 2
7
Jaz Specifications
Model
1GB
2GB
Formatted capacity
1,070 million bytes
2,000 million bytes
Transfer rate:
Maximum
Average
Minimum
6.62MBps
5.4MBps
3.41MBps
8.7MBps
7.35MBps
3.41MBps
Burst
10MBps
20MBps
Average seek time read
10ms
10ms
Average seek time write
12ms
12ms
Access time
15.5ms–17.5ms
15.5ms–17.5ms
Disk rotational speed
5,400rpm
5,394rpm
Buffer size
256KB
512KB
Interface
Fast SCSI II
Ultra SCSI
Note
Some users of Jaz drives have also reported click-of-death problems similar to those experienced by Zip drive users. For
more information, testing software, and solutions, see the Gibson Research Web site.
SuperDisk Technology
One of the first removable-media drives to break the 20MB barrier and maintain backward compatibility with standard 3 1/2'' media was a drive made by a company called Insite Peripherals in the early
1990s. Its patented floptical technology used optical tracking to precisely align the magnetic
read/write heads of the drive, which could store a then-amazing 21MB in the same form factor used
by a 1.44MB 3 1/2'' drive.
The performance specifications of the drive (average access time of 65ms, transfer rate of 1.6MBps,
and rotational speed of 720rpm) are similar to those used by higher-capacity drives today. The Insite
Peripherals floptical is a direct ancestor of the Imation LS-120 SuperDisk, which uses an advanced version of the same head-positioning techniques. Both the now-obsolete Insite floptical and the LS-120
are capable of reading, writing, and formatting standard 3 1/2'' 720KB and 1.44MB floppy disks, but
the relatively unpopular 2.88MB floppy is not supported.
The read/write heads of a floptical drive use magnetic recording technology—similar to that of floppy
disk drives—and the floptical disk itself is composed of the same ferrite materials common to floppy
and hard disks. Floptical drives are capable of such increased capacity because many more tracks are
packed on each disk, compared with a standard 1.44MB floppy. Obviously, to fit so many tracks on
the floptical disk, the tracks must be much narrower than those on a floppy disk.
That’s where optical technology comes into play. Flopticals use a special optical mechanism to properly
position the drive read/write heads over the data tracks on the disk. Servo information, which specifically
defines the location of each track, is embedded in the disk during the manufacturing process. Each track
of servo information is actually etched or stamped on the disk and is never disturbed during the recording
process. Each time the floptical drive writes to the disk, the recording mechanism (including the
read/write heads) is guided by a laser beam precisely into place by this servo information. When the floptical drive reads the encoded data, the laser uses this servo information again to guide the read/write heads
precisely into place. The use of servo information is not unique to flopticals; hard drives have used servo
tracks for years, but the use of a laser beam to read the servo tracks is what makes floptical drives unique.
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Although the Insite drive never became popular because of a combination of high drive and media
cost and lack of BIOS support, it started several trends in high-capacity drive development, including
backward-compatibility with existing media, faster performance than ordinary floppy drives, and the
combination of optical positioning and magnetic storage.
LS-120 (120MB) SuperDisk Drives
The LS-120 drive (also called a SuperDisk drive) was designed to become the new standard floppy disk
drive in the PC industry, replacing the venerable 3 1/2'' 1.44MB floppy drive. Although it did achieve
a certain degree of success, Imation has ceased manufacturing of the drives but continues to produce
the drive media.
LS-120 technology stores 120MB of data—or about 83 times more data than current 1.44MB floppy
disks—and was developed by Imation; Compaq; Matsushita-Kotobuki Industries, Ltd. (MKE); and O.R.
Technology. In addition to storing more, the newest models of drives read at up to 27 times the speed
of standard floppy disk drives and write data up to 20 times faster than standard floppy disk drives
when LS-120/SuperDisk media is used. Figure 4 shows the media types that are compatible with the
LS-120 drive.
Media shutter on
1.44MB floppy
Write-protect/enable
slider on 1.44MB floppy
Media shutter
on SuperDisk
Media sense hole
on 1.44MB floppy
Write-protect/enable
slider on SuperDisk
Media sense hole
on SuperDisk
Figure 4
A standard 1.44MB 3 1/2'' floppy disk (left) compared to LS-120 SuperDisk media (right).
Note
SuperDisk drives can use either SuperDisks or standard 3 1/2'' floppies. Because the media sense hole and writeprotect/enable slider are on opposite sides of the media, the SuperDisk is protected from damage if it is inserted into
an ordinary floppy drive by mistake.
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SuperDisk Technology
The LS-120 floppy disk drive can act as the PC’s bootable A: drive (in newer systems that support
ATAPI removable devices; a few of the newest systems even support booting from USB drives) and is
fully compatible with Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows 9x/Me. Windows XP supports the
USB and ATAPI versions of the drive; check with vendors of PC Card and parallel-port versions for
support and drivers. Macintoshes can also use USB-based SuperDisk drives, so data (and the drive
itself) can be shared between PCs and Macs.
In addition to its own 120MB floppy disks, the LS-120 drive accepts standard 720KB and 1.44MB
floppy disks and actually reads and writes those disks up to three times faster than standard floppy
disk drives. By contrast, the rival Iomega Zip drives can’t use existing floppy disks.
Note
The SmartDisk Corporation FlashPath flash-card adapters for 3 1/2'' disk drives do not work in drives such as the LS-120
or PC Card-connected floppy drives; they are designed to work only with standard 1.44MB 3 1/2'' drives connected via
a standard floppy controller.
Having one of these high-capacity drives in a portable PC enables the use of relatively inexpensive
120MB removable disks while on the road. They are good for utility programs or databases and
spreadsheets and can be removed and secured when the portable system is not in use.
LS-120 specifications are compared to standard 1.44MB floppy disks in Table 3; the following specifications reflect the revised versions of the LS-120 drive.
Note
In mid-1999, Imation redesigned the LS-120 drives to provide faster performance than the original version. Prior to the
cease in production, most models had been upgraded. However, Imation’s PC Card model continued to use the original
mechanism, as seen in Table 3.
Table 3
Imation LS-120 Specifications Versus 1.44MB Floppy*
Drive Type
LS-120
LS-120
LS-120
LS-120
3 1/2'' Floppy
Formatted capacity
120MB
120MB
120MB
120MB
1.44MB
Model (interface)
ATA
USB
PC Card
Parallel
Floppy cable
Maximum data
transfer rate
1100KBps
750KBps
440KBps
750KBps
45KBps
Buffer size
10KB
10KB
8KB
10KB
none
Average seek time
60ms
60ms
70ms
60ms
84ms
Disk rotational speed
1440rpm
1440rpm
720rpm
1440rpm
300rpm
Track density
2,490tpi
2,490tpi
2,490tpi
2,490tpi
135tpi
Number of tracks
1,736×
2 sides
1,736×
2 sides
1,736×
2 sides
1,736×
2 sides
80× 2 sides
*Third-party LS-120 drives might vary.
The LS-120 disk has the same shape and size as a standard 1.44MB 3 1/2'' floppy disk; however, it uses
a combination of magnetic and optical technology to enable greater capacity and performance.
Named after the laser servo (LS) mechanism it employs, LS-120 technology places optical reference
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tracks on the disk that are read by a laser system. The optical sensor in the drive allows the read/write
head to be precisely positioned over the magnetic data tracks, enabling track densities of 2,490tpi versus 135tpi for a 1.44MB floppy disk. Unlike phase-change, magneto-optical, or CD-R/CD-RW drives,
the laser in the LS-120 drive is used strictly for positioning purposes.
The LS-120 SuperDisk also can be used in the interchangeable drive bays of many high-end notebook
computers. A pair of Panasonic digital cameras—the 1.3-megapixel PV-SD4090 and the 3.3-megapixel
PV-SD5000—use SuperDisk media to store digital photos.
Some PC manufacturers provide the option of using an LS-120 drive in their products as standard
equipment in place of the floppy drive. The 120MB floppy disks are available for around $8.50per
disk.
The LS-240 version of the SuperDisk drive connects to the IDE port or to the USB 1.1 port. It uses
240MB LS-240 media as well as the LS-120 media made for the original SuperDisk drives. LS-240
SuperDisk drives can also be used with standard 3.5-inch 1.44MB or 720KB floppy disks, and can format 1.44MB disks with a special LS-240 format which enables this media to hold 32MB of data.
LS-240 media is about $11 each in quantities.
Castlewood Orb
The Castlewood Orb, shown in Figure 5, uses the same magneto-resistive (MR) technology used by
many hard drives and achieves hard drive–like performance and capacity of either 2.2GB or 5.7GB per
cartridge.
Figure 5
The external SCSI version of the Castlewood Orb drive. Photo courtesy of Castlewood Systems, Inc.
The Orb is available in models supporting all leading interfaces, including ATA, internal and external
SCSI, parallel, IEEE-1394a, and USB; a combo external SCSI/USB drive is also available. Third-party
vendors also have introduced IEEE-1394a versions of the Orb. Table 4 lists specifications for the various models made by Castlewood.
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SyQuest Drives
Table 4
Orb Specifications
Formatted capacity
2.2GB or 5.7GB (ATAPI only)
Average seek time read
11ms
Average seek time write
12ms
Disk rotational speed
5,400rpm
Transfer rate by model: Parallel
ATA
USB
Maximum 2MBps
12.2MBps
1.0MBps
Burst 40MBps
16.6MBps
16.6MBps
3
Ext. SCSI1
3
Int. SCSI2
12.2MBps
12.2MBps
20MBps
40MBps
1. Ultra SCSI
2. Ultra Wide SCSI
3. Runs at maximum speed of interface; varies with device bus speed or number of drives on the USB port
Although some Orb users have been very happy with their drives, many others have had repeated difficulties in reading and writing to Orb media. For more reliable operation, I recommend that you do
the following:
■ Remove all Iomega drivers (Zip/Jaz tools, Guest, and so on) before installing the Orb and its drivers. If
you are using Iomega drives as well as the Orb, download the newest Iomega driver software
and install it after you install the latest Orb software.
■ Download and install the latest Orb drivers for your operating system and firmware for your Orb drive
model. Check Castlewood’s Web site (http://www.castlewood.com) for the latest information.
■ Allow the drive to spin up completely before using Windows Explorer or any other utility that views the
drive’s contents.
SyQuest Drives
Over the years, SyQuest offered a wide variety of removable-media drives in capacities ranging from
44MB up to 1.5GB. These drives were very popular in the Macintosh world, but most SyQuest models
were also made in PC versions. The last SyQuest models produced were the EzFlyer 230MB drive,
SparQ 1GB drive, and SyJet 1.5GB drive. Parallel port, ATA, and SCSI interface versions were produced,
but the USB and IEEE-1394 interfaces were never supported. SyQuest went bankrupt in late 1998, but
a successor company, SYQT, Inc., continues to offer a limited quantity of drives and data cartridges for
sale at its Web site, http://www.syquest.com. SyquestRepair (http://www.syquestrepair.com) provides technical support and repairs and also sells cartridges and accessories for most models of
SyQuest drives.
Because SyQuest went out of business before developing Windows 2000 or Windows XP drivers,
SyQuest-branded drivers are not available for these operating systems. SCM Microsystems, which
helped develop parallel port to ATA and SCSI drivers for Syquest, offers OEM drivers that many users
have found useful for SpartQ and EZFlyer parallel port drives, as well as SyJet SCSI to Parallel devices.
You can download Ephdw2k.zip for SparQ and EZFlyer drives from http://www.scmmicro.com/
downloads.html?PID=36&s1=8&s2=61 and download Epstw2k.zip for SyJet SCSI to Parallel from
http://www.scmmicro.com/downloads.html?PID=16&s1=8&s2=63. DriverZone offers Windows 9x and
other operating system drivers, FAQs, and manuals for many SyQuest drives at www.driverzone.com.
The disks for the SyQuest and SyDOS drives are composed of a rigid platter inside a plastic cartridge,
but they are not as well-protected as the disks in Bernoulli cartridges. Some people consider these
disks fragile. If the SyQuest and SyDOS cartridges are not severely jostled or dropped, they can be
transported safely. However, these cartridges must be carefully protected when you mail or ship them.
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According to SYQT technical support, most SyQuest and SyDOS cartridges can be left in the drive
when powered down. However, SYQT recommends that cartridges for the 44MB and 88MB drives be
removed before powering down the drive. With all drives, cartridges should be removed before transporting the drive.
Avatar Shark Parts and Drivers
The Avatar Shark 250MB drive was a small removable-media drive that connected to the parallel port
or PC Card slot of a PC. The Shark was built by Avatar Peripherals, which is now out of business.
Replacement cartridges, accessories, and drives can be purchased from Weymouth Technologies
(http://www.weymouthtech.com, 119 Winthrop Lane, Holden, MA, 508-735-3513). Drivers and documentation for Windows 95/98, Windows NT, IBM OS/2, and MS-DOS can be downloaded (for a fee)
from the Dead Boards link at http://www.windrivers.com/company.htm. A discussion forum is also
available at this Web site. Avatar drivers are also available from http://www.techadvice.com.