How do I mount a zipdrive at the parallel port?

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mclien
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How do I mount a zipdrive at the parallel port?

#1 Post by mclien »

is there a way to mount a zipdrive at the parport (printerport) in puppy?

searched all the forums, but didn't find a solution...

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Walt H
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Re: zipdrive parport

#2 Post by Walt H »

mclien wrote:is there a way to mount a zipdrive at the parport (printerport) in puppy?

searched all the forums, but didn't find a solution...
In short, yes. :) First, we would need to know (I think) whether the drive is parallel port, USB, or SCSI (or is it IDE for internal drives?)

If the drive is a parallel port drive, as mine is, you would go to a command line and type the following:

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insmod imm
This inserts the module for running most parallel port Zip drives. If the drive is an older model, you might instead type:

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insmod ppa
Try installing the imm module first, as it is more commonly use.

Next, put a disk in the Zip drive. Then, go to the Start menu, click on Utilities (I think - I'm writing from memory, as I'm at work), and select the Mount Drives utility. The Zip drive should appear as one of the drives which can be mounted. Click on the button marked Zip and, in a few seconds, a ROX window should appear listing the files on the Zip disk.

If it works, that's all you need to do. Run the utility again to unmount the drive before removing the disk. Every time you want to use a Zip disk, simply put a disk in the drive, then run the mount drives utility. No editing of fstab required.

If that doesn't work, you can try running the following to ensure the necessary module is present:

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modprobe imm
OR

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modprobe ppa
As far as other Zip drives, I don't have experience with those. Perhaps someone else has those answers. :?:
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

Guest

#3 Post by Guest »

Thanks Walt H,

I'll try that tomorrow. ( The puppy computer is in the kids room, which are allready sleeping.

If this works, how do I mange to run the insmod command on boot?

so long

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Walt H
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#4 Post by Walt H »

If it works, you shouldn't have to run it again; the module should then install on future boots - at least it does for me.
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

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Walt H
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#5 Post by Walt H »

One thing I didn't mention is that those instructions assume you are saving the configuration on the hard drive (i.e., in a pup001 file). Otherwise, you'll have to run modprobe or insmod imm (or ppa as needed) each time you want to use your Zip drive.
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

Guest

#6 Post by Guest »

ok this is a parallel port drive.
I'm useing puppy 1.0.4 as hdd installation on an rather old maschine

but..
I get errors in any case (modprobe and insmod):

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# modprobe imm
Note: /etc/modules.conf is more recent than /lib/modules/2.4.27/modules.dep
/lib/modules/2.4.27/scsi/imm.o.gz: init_module: No such device
Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters.
      You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg
/lib/modules/2.4.27/scsi/imm.o.gz: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.27/scsi/imm.o.gz failed
/lib/modules/2.4.27/scsi/imm.o.gz: insmod imm failed

# modprobe ppa
Note: /etc/modules.conf is more recent than /lib/modules/2.4.27/modules.dep
modprobe: Can't locate module ppa

and here what comes from /var/log/messages:(while modprobe)

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Aug 24 14:03:30 (none) syslog.warn klogd: imm: Version 2.05 (for Linux 2.4.0)
and here what comes from /var/log/messages:
(inserting the zip disk ignoring the message)

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Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.notice klogd: sdb: Unit Not Ready, sense:
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: Current 00:00: sense key Not Ready
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: Additional sense indicates Medium not present
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: sdb : READ CAPACITY failed.
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: sdb : status = 1, message = 00, host = 0, driver = 08 
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: Current sd00:00: sense key Not Ready
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: Additional sense indicates Medium not present
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: sdb : block size assumed to be 512 bytes, disk size 1GB.  
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd: sdb: Write Protect is off
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.info klogd:  sdb: I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  unable to read partition table
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.info klogd: Device not ready.  Make sure there is a disc in the drive.
Aug 24 14:04:11 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
Aug 24 14:04:12 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
Aug 24 14:04:13 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
Aug 24 14:04:14 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
Aug 24 14:04:15 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
Aug 24 14:04:16 (none) syslog.warn klogd:  I/O error: dev 08:10, sector 0
any ideas?

Thanks

mclien
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#7 Post by mclien »

is there an auto-logoff for the forum after some time?
was logged in for a while but now I was guest...
Last edited by mclien on Wed 24 Aug 2005, 12:51, edited 1 time in total.

mclien
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#8 Post by mclien »

do I perhaps have to pass the I/O IRQ parameters together with the modprobe command?
and if so, where do I find the adresses for the parport?

Thanks

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Walt H
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#9 Post by Walt H »

I didn't have to pass any parameters other than running insmod imm to get my Zip drive running in Puppy 1.0.4.

You might try running modprobe parport. I don't remember having trouble with parport in Puppy, but I know it does happen from time to time. (I did have trouble with it initially in Xandros.)

You might also try running the insmod imm command with a disk in the Zip drive (if you haven't tried that already).

Otherwise, someone with Puppy actually installed on the hard drive (as opposed to simply having the pup001 file will have to speak to whether anything changes in terms of paths or what not which could affect this.

I don't remember having to do this, but you might also try downloading and installing the modules pupget.
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

mclien
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#10 Post by mclien »

no success so far :-(

I tryed insmod/ modprobe:
imm: error aborted
ppa: no module found
parport: doesn't report anything.

in none of this cases I found a zip partition in the mount tool of puppy.

and i didn't find any parport or zip moduels in pupget.

any further ideas?

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Walt H
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#11 Post by Walt H »

You may want to check the BIOS to see what the setting is for the parallel port (Bi-Directional, ECC/EPP [?], etc.) You do not want the bi-directional setting as I recall.

You might try cycling through the different BIOS choices for the parallel port, then running insmod parport and insmod imm to see whether that clears the problem up.
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

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danleff
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#12 Post by danleff »

Walt should be right on the money. I have one of these in my closet.

I'll have to pull it out and see how it works. My ide zip drive is seen right off.

It used to be the case that you needed to have a zip disk in the drive on boot for the modules to get properly loaded.

I'll let you know what I find out.

These zip drives have some minor quirks. If the zip disk is formatted as a fat (Windows) disk, then you will see it as sda4.

If it is formatted as a Linux disk, sda1.

Of course, it has been a while since I did this.

For kicks, see my old article here.

Now you got me curious.

P.S. I just installed my parallel port 250 mb zip drive.

parport is loaded on boot. Make sure that there is a valid zip disk in the drive at boot. Do;

modprobe imm

Your drive should be seen by Puppy's drive mount utility as a zip drive.
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mclien
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#13 Post by mclien »

ok, I have toggled through all variations of the perport settings (about 18 or so).
with no result.
now I try my old 100MB zip with a disk in at boot.

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#14 Post by danleff »

There are two modules that can be used, depending on the age of the zip drive.

The imm module is for the newer zip drives, all the 250 mb drives and some of the newer 100 mb zip drives.

If your drive is one of the older ones, then the ppa module will be needed. This one is not in Puppy, but can be added from the complete modules file that Barry has available on the download site.

If having the zip disk in the drive on boot and loading the imm module does not work, then let us know. I think I can walk you through extracting the ppa module to the right place and modprobing it. Maybe attach it to this thread so that you only need to place it in the right lib directory and modprobe it.
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mclien
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#15 Post by mclien »

OK, of course it's an OLD 100MB drive and the imm module doesn't work.
So any help would be great.
Woouldn't it be a good idea to have the ppa module in puppy by default, because puppy is the best distro to make an old computer work?
Just to understand me right: I LOVE to show others that you don't neet to buy a new comp, if you just use the right Linux!!

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#16 Post by danleff »

Well, most of the Zip drives around are not that old anymore. Anyway let's see if this posts.

Place the module file in the /lib/modules/2.4.29/scsi directory.

In rxvt, type in;

depmod -a {hit the enter key}

Then try modprobe ppa

See if dmesg shows the parallel port zip drive and what the designation of the zip drive is, say sda4 if the disk is formatted as fat32.
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mclien
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#17 Post by mclien »

I finally found time to try this and it works...
for a while, after changing the zip disk the computer chrashes and reboots allthe time.

But perhaps I have a hardware problem there (very old machine). so don't worry i think everything is fine exept my hardware :-)

I'll try it out on a good machine some time and post the result.

Thanks for everything

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