Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 3aoo-cvfd AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:

> sindi keesan wrote:
> > We have an internal zip drive (IDE or ATAPI)
> > What is the linux equivalent of these sys files?
>
> Try the pportide.i kernel from Slackware 7.1.

Why is that named somethng that sounds like parallel-port ide?
Maybe it is supposed to work with all ide devices?

> > We have not used zip drives at all before.
>
> Same here.
>
> > I have the zip drive mini howto but cannot figure it out.
>
> The ZIP-drive miniHOWTO is quite clear:  first you need
> a suitable kernel.  The miniHOWTO gives step-by-step
> instructions for compiling your own, but you probably
> don't need to do that -- there is a zipslack.s kernel
> that might match the specifications in the miniHOWTO
> (check the kernel config).

Good idea, I will try that instead of pportide.i, since zipslack.s is 
probably supposed to work with all sorts of zip drives.  I ran across a 
suggestion to use scsi emulation (ide-scsi) even with atapi drives.

The reason to install one of these drives is so that my partner can 
download large files at school and bring them home on a zip disk.
As infrequently as this would be used, I won't bother to compile another 
kernel (no more than I would for the scsi scanner which works with SW81 
adaptec.s modules, with which zgv won't work.)

 > Then the miniHOWTO gives step by step instructions for
> what to do after booting the kernel:
>
> > load the module insmod ppa
>
> You will find it in Slackware:  /modules/2.2.16/scsi
>
> > build a mounting point. mkdir /zip
> > insert a preformatted windoze type disk into the drive.
> > mount the disk.  mount -t vfat /dev/sda4 /zip

This is the scsi emulation method, I think.  It could also be /dev/hdd4 
(fourth ide drive) instead (internal ide or atapi drive is what we have).

> If your kernel doesn't do vfat (see /proc/filesystems),
> you will find a module for vfat in /modules/2.2.16/fs.
> If you don't have /dev/sda4, do:
> ---------------------
> mknod /dev/sda4 b 8 4
> ---------------------


What is vfat?  Do I use it for hdd4 as well as sda4?  Luckily we have no 
other scsi or emulation scsi devices in this computer we are building.

> > We have not used zip drives at all before.
>
> Nor have I.

We will try it first in DOS, which only seems to require one .sys file 
added to config.sys (aspiatap.sys or aspiide.sys) for scsi emulation, then 
treat it as a floppy drive (so we just took out the 1.2MB second floppy 
drive).

> Cheers,
> Steven