RE: Zip test
EP and all,
Okay, I tried the Post-It test on my late-1995
(yes, 1995) vintage PP Zip. The first time, I not
only covered up the triangular reflector window
but also covered up the little round dimple
just below it. Big mistake. The thing caused
the drive to click several times, then croak.
After a little fiddling, I removed the disk by yanking
it out with pliers after issuing an Eject command.
I then snipped back the Post-It so it only
covered the window, and the drive spit it out
right away. Then I took off the Post-It and
covered the reflector window with nothing but
Scotch Magic Tape. The drive read that
configuration just fine. Then I tried
aluminum foil. Rejected repeatedly.
Then I considered the software possibility.
I closed Iomega's Eject utility, which I had
had running the whole time, and tried again.
Same results. My system also runs the ZipWatch
utility and the ToolsStartup utility out of
my startup group, and I didn't bother pulling
them and rebooting. Has anybody tried that
to see if these have to be running to make
the reflector-window protection effective?
I'm too busy just now to try more experiments.
In any event, I'm not worried. Iomega is
going to win on this one. If not, the stock
would have tanked already. You don't think
the institutional investors with hundreds
of thousands of shares would let a day go
by without checking this out with a couple
of patent experts and engineers, do you?
And you don't think Iomega has failed to
think through Nomai's ability to overcome
the grounds for last spring's injunction
against Nomai, do you?
My Post-Its are yellow. We don't do
chartreuse here. <g>
Cheers, Tom (long IOM) |
