IomegaWare (OS X) for Mac

4.0 stars

"Tips-Suggestions for OS Tiger & Iomegaware 4.0.2"

February 2, 2006  |   By Bryan Anthony

Version: IomegaWare (OS X) 4.0.2 (10/28/2002)

Pros

I have a G4 867mHz from 2001. I'm using Mac OS 10.4.4, which is outside the range of Iomega's suggested OS's (10.0.x to 10.2.x). It works great anyway. Zip's are faster than backups to CD's, and cheaper & more space-efficient than an external hard drive, unless you need to buy many Zip's ($10 apiece for 250MB Zips is steep).

Cons

There hasn't been a driver by Iomega since 2002, so it's unclear if Tiger users need it, or if it conflicts with it.

I read a few reviews of this driver elsewhere. Some users had trouble getting Zip disks to mount, or were giving it bad reviews because it was so old. Zip disks not mounting could be a bad Zip drive (as I had) not the driver's fault.

Try this when upgrading your Mac OSX versions:

1) after upgrading the Mac OS version, use the Iomegaware 4.0.2 software to uninstall all Iomegaware. You'll see it delete files (about 900).

2) Repair Permissions & Restart the Mac.

3) Re-install the driver, to replace the same Iomegaware files.

4) Repair Permissions & Restart again.

Because the 4.0.2 driver is so old, I guessed (when upgrading to 10.4.4) that the OS upgrade might overwrite some of the Iomegaware files. So I chose to uninstall & re-install.

Also, if having problems with a Zip drive, if it's USB make sure the drive is plugged directly into a USB port. Of all the periphs I have the "powered USB 250" draws the most power, & may not get enough if plugged into a hub.

As someone else asked, "what does this driver DO?" I wish I knew. OS 9.2.2 is bundled with Iomega drivers, & maybe Tiger has them too, meaning I wouldn't need this.

Zip disk costs add up, & I wish I'd spent all that on an external HD, but Zip's are where my backups are (I've used them since the 1990's).

With this driver in Tiger 10.4.4, my Zip250 works, whether the driver is being used(?) or not. The uninstall/reinstall may be why I've not had the problems others reported.

Iomega needs to be clear which Mac OSX's are compatible with this driver. They should update their web site. I have a few browser-related glitches in Tiger, maybe because this driver is so old(?). Is it truly Tiger-compatible? I can only guess.

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