VST Zip 100 Drive PowerBook G3 Lombard/Pismo DEAD

[Classicman]

Dear friends,

i can't figure out what could have happened to my VST zip drive. It had been a few months that I hadn't plugged the VST zip drive into my PB G3 and made it work. Tried it a few days ago and nothing to do, completely dead. The led of the drive does not turn on and the Mac does not detect it. No sign of life. I've tried with multiple zip disks and nothing to do. I have checked that the VST drivers are installed and they are OK. I plugged in the expansion slot the Apple CD/DVD player and it works flawlessly.
Can anyone help me? did something like this happen?
Thank a lot in advance.

 

[ried]

I have a dead one, too If it's not coming to life when inserted into the expansion bay, check the connection at the back of the drive. Ensure it's clean (both drive and machine), and then look at the physical connector. Is anything bent that would prevent it from seating fully? That was the case with mine, which sprang to life after the little metal tab on the lower portion of the corner protrusion was bent back into place. My drive subsequently died for other reasons... I think it was dropped at some point.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

No problem, so to speak. Look for old Dell Zip250 drive modules to cannibalize. Only drawback to that fix would be the VST bezel becoming wildly underrated.

 

[ried]

I don't understand. Dell Zip250 drive modules work in the PowerBook G3?

Like these?

Dell Zip Module 653NH Zip 250 Internal Laptop Zip Drive Iomega 30203301 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dell Zip Module 653NH Zip 250 Internal Laptop Zip Drive Iomega 30203301 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Dell laptop internal ZIP drive P/N BP118 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dell laptop internal ZIP drive P/N BP118 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Classicman]

@Trash80toHP_Mini THANKS for your tip!
@ried yes, I think that Trash80toHP_Mini meant just that.
The drive, the main part, should be identical to that of the "VST". Only the small internal card interface that connects the drive to the PowerBook G3 "expansion bay" connector changes.
Here in Europe they are not very widespread... For me now the problem remains unsolved. But it was a really nice tip!

 

[mg.man]

The drive, the main part, should be identical to that of the "VST".

FWIW, I recently 'restored' a faulty VST PB drive by doing just that - picking up a cheap Dell laptop expansion bay drive and removing the drive mechanism, then swapping that into the VST housing. Been working fine ever since.

Your issue might be more serious, could be the little controller 'board that goes from the Zip mechanism to the PB expansion bay connector. The Dell drive was pretty cheap ($10 - $15 IIRC), so it might be worth a try?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Just about any laptop Zip drive mechanism should work, in any PB module I think. Most of mine in 'Books and others are now Zip250 which won't click AFAIK.

You can thank another member/friend from early on in the history of the MLA. I fear he is no longer with us, so keep this bit of lore alive and maybe others should pick up a module or two for just in case.

 

[mg.man]

Most of mine in 'Books and others are now Zip250 which won't click AFAIK.

Just be aware they won't "long format" a Zip100 disk. So if you want to deeply wipe the disk, you won't be able to on a '250 drive.

 

[ried]

Well, I can confirm that this model of Dell expansion bay Zip 100 drives requires a lot more than a housing swap.

Dell laptop internal ZIP drive P/N BP118 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dell laptop internal ZIP drive P/N BP118 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Disassembled both. The removable green connector board on the back of the G3 unit does not fit the Dell drive. They are similar, but different connectors. Still investigating.

 

[mg.man]

Umm... that's a Zip 250 Dell drive. I've successfully swapped for a Dell Zip 100, no experience with anything else.

 

[mg.man]

Worth a shot?
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/121540372812

 

[ried]

On it. Thanks!

 

[Cedsrepairs]

Hey everyone in this thread @Classicman and @ried in particular ; I just scored a Lacie VST zip 100 for my G3 PDQ
(it's the one that goes in the left slot in my case)
But I don't have and can't find drivers for it (and if I plug it in, nothing happens - so I suppose a driver is needed)

Could one of you please help me ?

 

[ried]

Hey everyone in this thread @Classicman and @ried in particular...

IomegaWare 3.5 - Macintosh Garden

IomegaWare is a set of drivers and tools that enables you to operate Iomega drives and manage the disks supported by those drivers.

macintoshgarden.org

 

[sstaylor]

It's my understanding that the 250mb drive is significantly slower in dealing with 100mb disks. I don't recall whether that was reading or writing or both.
Just FYI

 

[Cedsrepairs]

I tried installing this

VST Zip 100 Drive PowerBook G3 Lombard - Macintosh Repository

VST Zip 100 Drive PowerBook G3 Lombard (Mac abandonware from 1993)

www.macintoshrepository.org

But it doesn(t seem to work ( and freeze boot if I don't unplug the zip drive )

I'm under MacOS9.2 and the zip drive is "Lacie VST ZIP 100" ref "ZIPG3".

I need to uninstall this before gong any further I guess (how do I do that ?)

 

[Cedsrepairs]

After many tries and many different drivers …
My vst « zipg3 » might just be broken

Each time I try to boot with it and with a iomega driver ; the boot process stops just before the extension icon appear ( just after dvd )

If I remove the extension the powerbook boots …

Not sure what to think of this

 

[mg.man]

it's the one that goes in the left slot in my case

Don't "expansion" drives need to go in the right side. Isn't the left side battery only?

 

[mg.man]

Can you post a picture of the drive?

 

[mg.man]

Just checked - looks like you can put an "expansion" drive on the left... not sure about Zip - I've only used the ones like those pictured above.