BleepingComputer.com: Adding ATAPI Zip drive to full box

I have an internal ATAPI 250Mb Zip drive I want to install in my new computer.

Details:
eMachines C3060
160MB hard drive
40MB hard drive
DVD+RW
CD-ROM
No floppy, but I want to add one.

As you can see, I'm out of cable connections. Is there a way I can piggyback the Zip with the DVD and CD devices?

I'll probably install the floppy and Zip drive at the same time, since installing either means carving a hole in the front panel, and it's easier to carve one hole.


What magic feats must I perform to install this?


-garison

Theres no magic involved...if your out of connections you must buy some more and then "carve a hole in the case"

and plug it in.

Quote

No, you have a full house on your IDE channels.
The only way would be to add another IDE controller as a plug-in card and attach the ZIP drive to that.

Quote

Huh? Don't they just have pop-out panels for floppies like every other case?

:: you have a full house on your IDE channels.
:: The only way would be to add another IDE controller
:: as a plug-in card and attach the ZIP drive to that.

I was afraid it was going to be something ugly.



:: Don't they just have pop-out panels for floppies
:: like every other case?

I'll bereplacing a Digital Media Manager (wanna buy one, cheap?) with the Zip drive and a floppy. The hole in the bezel for the DMM is (for some strange reason) half an inch shorter than the bay.


So, about how much will an IDE controller set me back?


-garison

Looks like you may have to fork out over $17!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16815124001

(not recommending this, its just an example)

Or you could try an external enclosure if you have an USB 2 port available.
You could put the ZipDrive in it ot maybe one of your HDs to give you a portable HD.
Newwgg external enclosures
I run 3 external HDs with different types of enclosures with no probs.

Yeah, my first thought was that an external zip drive would have been the easiest solution.

I recently ran into a Compaq computer with no floppy drive and although there is a steel cage for it and all the hardware needed to install the floppy drive, the cage sits off to one side of the bezel and I haven't been able to find a solution to this on Compaq's site. Really odd. It would mean either cutting away part of the bezel or mounting the floppy in a drive bay with a carrier.

:: my first thought was that an external zip drive
:: would have been the easiest solution.

Yes, but that would mean buying one (I'm a cheap SOB).

The Zip I'm installing is scavanged from my late computer. ("Late" as in, "dear departed") $17 for a new controller I can live with.



On a related question, if I unplug the DMM, will the associated "drives" just disappear? Or do I have to uninstall something? (Yes, I know it's not a hardware question.)


-garison

Quote

Well the external enclosures start at just over $17 also. Then you would have the benefit of being able to hook it up to any other computer with a USB port available as well. Of course it's your $17 so spend as you want.

Quote

Yes, they should just disappear on their own.

:: Well the external enclosures start at just over $17 also.
:: Then you would have the benefit of being able to hook it
:: up to any other computer with a USB port available as well.

True, but that means also dropping up to $99 for a USB Zip drive. I already have the ATAPI device, so what's the sense of spending all that money just to be able to move it, especially when I want it to keep still?

Besides, the only other computer I have now (or will have, after I dismantle and dispose of the others) is a laptop, and I have a parallel-port Zip drive I can hook up to that.


Thanks, guys,
-garison

You can get USB external IDE enclosures for $17! You guys do have it good!

garison808 - if I understand correctly the external enclosure mentioned would take your salvaged ATAPI ZIP drive as is. You dont have to buy a USB version, the enclosure converts it to a USB device. Sounds like a good option to me too.

The only query I have would be if the ZIP software will cope with the unit being a USB drive? From my limited experience with ZIP the software always seemed a little clunky. Does anyone use an IDE ZIP in one of these enclosures? Also the power requirements - I suspect you'd need a powered enclosure to accomodate a ZIP - but that's just a guess.

garison808, on Jun 10 2005, 06:55 PM, said:

Garison why do you want to ply with Zips? when you can burn CDs at a fraction of one zip diskette? I have internal, external USB 100 and 250 Mg I do not use any, but my favorite pendrive USB for portability JL

:: why do you want to ply with Zips? when you can burn
:: CDs at a fraction of one zip diskette?

For a couple of reasons. The first is cost. Yes, a single CD is cheaper than a single Zip disk, but there is also the hidden "negative cost" of reuse. (huh?) Once a CD is burned, it's burned. You can't erase it and start over. So, if I transfer files from my old clunker (with no USB or ethernet -- it's that old!) in ten trips, I've wasted 10 CDs, but I still have a Zip disk that I can use. So, even though it's more expensive, it's more cost-effective to use reusable media.

Second, believe it or not, is because once a year, I have to burn a particular CD. One of my clients' clients puts his web site on a CD every year, to give away as a sort of "catalog" (can you say, "braindead"?). And every year, we go through 50-60 changes to come up with one arrangement that everyone likes. That's 50-60 burned, useless, toss-em-in-a-landfill or use-em-for coasters CDs. Or one Zip disk.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a cheap SOB. And, in the long run, CDs are *way* more expensive than Zip disks.


-garison