Subject: [linux-audio-dev] [OT] iomega JAZ drives: a commentary
From: Paul Barton-Davis (pbd_AT_Op.Net)
Date: Tue Sep 12 2000 - 04:38:52 EEST
I just want to alert my many friends and colleagues on this mailing
list to the status of Iomega JAZ drives under Linux. These drives
appear to be a really wonderful tool for people doing audio work
(1-2GB for US$100-200, removable, easily transportable, etc.).
It was for this reason that I bought a 1GB drive nearly 2 years ago,
and a 2GB unit to install in the recording studio where I work.
I spent the first 6-8 months of ownership dealing with the so-called
"Click Death" syndrome: a h/w problem that Iomega denied even
existed. A wise sleuth tracked it down after a lot of hard work, and
eventually Iomega admitted that it was their fault that their drives
would completely destroy 1GB disks with some significant
frequency. During this period, I was shipped 2 replacement drives,
both of which had the same problem, and finally a 3rd one which was
apparently fixed. Every time I called Iomega, I was told that they do
no support Linux, even though this was a problem visible from the BIOS
level of the system I had the JAZ drive installed upon.
Finally, in the late fall last year, my JAZ drive finally seemed to
work well enough to justify investing in a second one to facilitate
moving large quantities of software and audio material between my home
system and the studio. This worked until May of this year, when I
began to get write/read errors from the disk. Initially, I concluded I
had been too careless with the disk. After 3 months this summer of
travel, I returned to software development, and decided to get a new
disk. This also failed in the same way. I returned the disk to the
store, and came home with a 3rd disk, which also failed. The failure
mode all involves some interesting "crunching" sounds.
At this point, I checked Iomega's website. I discovered that the
"crunching sound" required tech support, so I wrote to tech support. I
told them that I had a lot of problems with their products, but had
recommended them to friends. I asked if the unit I had was still under
warranty, because I knew that they did not offer "support" for Linux
and that a product return was my only option.
The reply I got stated:
At this time, Iomega does not support the use of its products with
the Unix(TM) or Linux(TM) operating systems. If you are using Iomega
products with an operating system not supported by Iomega, Iomega
can not guarantee technical support or warranty services for these
products.
It continued:
We are aware of third parties that have developed software and
drivers to enable specific Iomega products to be used with operating
systems other than those endorsed by Iomega. Also, Iomega does have
Linux beta drivers available on our website at:
www.iomega.com/software that you may want to try.
I checked their website. As expected, they don't really have
"drivers", but a few utilities, all of which were already available
free from 3rd party authors. Iomega seem completely unaware of the
notion of a generic SCSI driver, at least in their support and
marketing departments. In addition, having been lied to once by their
support staff, I strongly suspect that the "crunching sound" is a
known problem that represents a failure of their product to perform
its intended function. I cannot prove this, obviously.
Not that I actually believe this, but let me note that for the record,
Iomega itself is basically telling us that their drives do not work
with Linux.
They continued by noting that my drive was out of warranty, and would
cost me $149 to have it replaced by a refurbished unit. This is almost
50% of the cost of new 2GB unit.
I would like to suggest that if you use Linux and are considering a
JAZ drive, you find some other media, and then write and tell Iomega
why you did not buy their unit. If you have a JAZ drive that you use
with Linux, I hope that you have better luck than I have had.
I am currently investigating the Castlewood JAZ-alike, which costs 50%
of the price of the Iomega units.
--regards,
--p
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