Iomega, Class Act or Class Action?:
A Continuing Study
Into How Iomega Treats
Its Customers and Employees

April 1997

February 1997

January 1997

December 1996

Mail received 10OCT96 to 13NOV96

My responses to mail received 10OCT96 to 13NOV96

Starting 12 April 1997, when readers send me helpful suggestions that they have given or received, regarding technical problems with iomega products, I shall be posting those helpful suggestions here. Although I make no warranty as to the usefulness of this information, I hope that it helps others.

From: marditti@juno.com
To: debbykilburn@ocsnet.net
Cc: s@theriver.com
Subject: Re: IOMEGA mess
References: <199704092046.NAA17383@pantano.theriver.com>
X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0,4-5,12,15,24,29,31-35
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 1997 00:33:09 EDT

Steve Langford contacted me and asked if I can help with your parallel ZIP drive. Well, I can try. I am not a ZIP expert, but I have been figthing with these bastards for over two month. They are BAD in providing free help, even if it is their fault. They do not care.

The ZIP drive will displace the CD ROM. This is what happened to me. They claimed that it is not their fault. In any event, DOS considers the ZIP as a drive and CD ROM is not. Therefore, when A new drive like ZIP is installed, it moves the CD ROM by one letter. This is a major mess. Since your ZIP is parallel, I do not see how it may be and IRQ issue. Did your printer work OK on that same parallel port? If yes, most likely, it is not IRQ.

IOMEGA has a long list of documents relative to various problems. In my case, it was document No. 2077, but it is for WIN 95. They may have similar notes about WIN 3.11. This unfortunately is a semi secret. I have written to IOMEGA's president, public relation Manager but to no avail. After many nasty letters I got some response from Peggy Nelson. You can reach her at 800 777 6004 Ext. 5757 (this is not a published number). I got the number from Steve's document. Call her and be very demanding. She does not know anything technical. But, ask her for IOMEGA's Catalog Of Documents. There you may find note or notes relative to your problems. My second computer with WIN 3.11 is down, so I can try my zip (also parallel) on that system. As soon as I get it up, I will try it.

In the mean time, try to remove the IOMEGA program, use an uninstall program and make sure that everything works OK. When this is OK try and use IOMEGA's GUEST only and go from there. Have you tried to print the user's manual which is on their 3.5" disk. You may find some information there. The main thing is get the catalog of documents.

Please let me know on your progress. If you decide to write to IOMEGA, I can provide you with copies of my letters as a guide.

I live in Los Angeles.

Best of luck and all the best.

Mort Arditti

Comments: Authenticated sender is

<ungar-lex.moish-mel-Diane-Shoshie@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>
From: "ungar-lex.moish-mel-Diane-Shoshie" <ungar-lex.moish-mel-Diane-Shoshie@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>
To: s@TheRiver.com
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 04:29:35 +0000
Subject: zipped drive
X-Confirm-Reading-To: "ungar-lex.moish-mel-Diane-Shoshie" 

<ungar-lex.moish-mel-Diane-Shoshie@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>
X-pmrqc: 1
Return-receipt-to: "ungar-lex.moish-mel-Diane-Shoshie" 

<ungar-lex.moish-mel-Diane-Shoshie@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>
Priority: normal

[Would somebody please give these folk some technical help? --SL, 14 April 1997]

Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 22:23:02 -0400
From: Nicholas Bretagna II <afn41391@afn.org>
To: s@TheRiver.com
Subject: iomega "click"

1) it seems to do it when the machine/zip has been in use a fair amount.
	(i.e., a heavy use situation for the zip drive)

2) if i turn off the machine for a while, the problem goes away.

3) there appears to be no permanent harm, at least in my experiences
with the ZC to this point, anyway. it hasn't done it a lot or for too
long. i don;t keep using it when it starts doing this, and i unplug the
xformer straight off.

Now, i am far from a hardware expert (my training is in software), but, i would suspect that this is actually a transformer problem, just at a guess. [There is no reason why you should not be permitted to speculate! This might well prove to be the cause of these problems, for all I know. --SL, 19 Apr 1997] i think that possibly the xformers heat up after a time and then start putting out unreliable power to the zip drive. this causes it to re-cycle through its power-up sequence (which sounds remarkably similar, if you think about it...) (it could be that the drive motor heats up, too, i suppose)

I was going to try and swap xformers with a scsi one (mine's parallel) i have access to, but they don't have the same outputs, so that's not a good idea :(

beyond that, all i could suggest is that if you know someone who is having the problems, and/or have access to some testing equipment, you might see if the xformers are giving clean power whenever the ZC starts occurring. i'd really bet that's the problem. the cheap xformers are probably crapping out after a time.

i don't have a direct fault with this, as far as Iomega goes... when you demand a low price, some corners get cut. if it works for you for six-nine months [mine's worked fine for 18+!] then you've probably gotten your money's worth (a cheap xformer is in the $10-15 range).[Sorry, but I can not be so magnanimous as you, in these regards. --SL, 19 Apr 1997] just go out and buy a good replacement xformer [i wouldn't trust iomega's, of course!! :) ]. i suggest a good one, in the $30-40 range. note that this is all subject to verification of my suspicions, of course.

also, i seem to recall that this sort of thing is usually progressive. the xformer will probably get worse with time.

any comments from any hardware people?

--
---------------------------------------------------------
Nicholas Bretagna II
afn41391@afn.org

When they took the fourth amendment, 
   I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs.
When they took the sixth amendment, 
   I was quiet because I was innocent.
When they took the second amendment, 
   I was quiet because I didn't own a gun.
Now they've taken the first amendment, 
   and I can say nothing about it.

I think that the Internet has pretty well safeguarded the First Amendment, at least for the moment. The only way to keep our freedoms is to exercise them vigorously, it seems to me. I know that I am not the first ever to have held such a thought.

This site attempts to give the fullest-possible sway to free expression. All points of view that have been submitted have been expressed here, in a satisfactorily-wide variety of ways, I believe. Only those who simply vent their anger at me, personally, in the foulest of language, have been omitted, I think.

Your adendum is well worth any reader's careful consideration. Our First-Amendment rights could much-too-easily be swept aside by an overly-zealous Congress, for instance, in its eagerness "to protect the innocent children from pornography." Sometimes our choices are not clean and are not clear. I certainly hope that our Supreme Court gets this one right, though.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Nicholas! Please see alternative suggestions at

Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 16:53:17 -0400
From: Bob Williams <Williar2@muohio.edu>
Subject: Iomega
X-Sender: williar2@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu
To: s@TheRiver.com

>Could I get you to describe to me this problem in a little more detail?
>When I first got my zip right after they came out, it had a problem reading
>a certain disk--it would just make a kerchunk sound when I put the disk in
>and not mount it. Eventually, after basically hitting the disk on the desk
>and blowing into it, it started working. I thought it was the disk.
>
>Then I got another disk that simply would not mount no matter what I did. I
>tried it on a friend's system, and it performed beautifully, but still
>wouldn't mount on mine. Just make the sound and sit there. Then about six
>months ago, it stopped working completely, failing to mount any disks. I
>managed to get one disk to mount partially (some files) once, but that was
>it. Is this the problem you had? I was going to get a new one, but if the
>fix charge is $79, that would be cheaper. In any case, I'm very curious
>what's wrong. Is it a common problem?

>Yeah thats it, you described my problem to the "t." You know, for a while
>I thought thats how these things were supposed to work.  It was only by
>getting a new Zip (from Iomega) that I realized that they are not
>supposed to "kerchunk" but be fairly nice and quiet.
>
>I only found I had a "head misallignment" problem when I started checking
>the alt.iomega.zip.jaz group and read about it there.  That was after I
>had called Iomega and got the bad news about the $79 charge.  The thing
>had intermitently worked during the warranty period, with occasional
>failures to mount at first then a complete failure to mount.  I realized
>I screwed up by not sending it back as soon as I heard the "kerchunk"
>which I should have known was not right.  I was pretty pissed off,
>especially when I read about the others with this problem and realized
>this was an Iomega design defect, as I viewed it.
>
>The one bright note to the story is that I called Iomega again a few
>weeks later, expecting to put up a fight, but also resigned to just pay
>the $79, when something magical happened.  I got probably the biggest
>idiot I have ever got on a support line and she royally screwed up when I
>told her my serial number.  I actually said to her "I know its out of
>warranty and I will have to pay $79," and she replies: "No, its still
>covered, its only two years old, send it in without charge."  I did not
>contradict her but instead took down the RMA # and sent her on over.
>Five days later I got the new drive.  Maybe its worth a try for you.
>
>I originally thought the Zip was well designed and portable etc. (but
>maybe a little noisy).  I now think they are really poorly made/designed
>and wish I would have got a syquest.  Good luck.

[Dear Reader,

If so, please see

--SL, 12 May 1997]

Anubis (charismac)
APT or APS Powertools
AutoRemounter
Drive7
HDT HardiskTools
Lido
MultiMounter
PLI
Powerbook Setup
Redline
SCSI Director
SCSI manager 7.7-7.5.2
Silver Init
54xx-64xx Update (Performa)

(Also suggest rename Iomega Driver to load first in extensions folder 
by adding a space to the beginning of the name) 

 

NAMES, ADDRESSES, & LINKS; PEOPLE AND GROUPS TO WHOM 


YOU CAN WRITE


Perhaps the comment I need to make most often, when I read letters from people complaining about Iomega, is that it does no good for us to complain to each other.  Please write to those in positions of authority, about such matters. 



Correspondence can be found at the following pages: 
 
August 1997 Correspondence

July 1997 Correspondence

June 1997 Correspondence

May 1997 Correspondence

April 1997 Correspondence

February 1997 Correspondence

January 1997 Correspondence

December 1996 Correspondence

Mail received 10OCT96 to 13NOV96

My responses to mail received 10OCT96 to 13NOV96

 


By the way, you might like to visit 


"Seatbelts 
for School Buses" 


Thank you for your interest! 


Sincerely, Steve Langford

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©Stephen A. Langford, Oro Valley, Arizona, 6 August 1997.  
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  
This document may be freely transmitted in its entirety, 
so long as no monies are earned during the transaction/s.  
Permission is required for any and all other pertinent circumstances.




 (Metering for this page was begun on 12 April 1997.)