emusonacid!

I got the drive mounted, and when i put in a blank disk and try to format it (in FAT) I get an error that says 'Cluster size too small for HUGE partition. Can't Format'
When I try to format in EMU, i also get an error, however I cant read what it says (covered by the ERROR box)
any ideas?

also, madmax posted something about rolling the id from zip to floppy back to zip, what does that mean?

i could be wrong about this... but maybe you are using the wrong zip disk, like perhaps you have a 250 meg disk, and you are trying to use it on a drive that only supports 100mg? but i couldn't see you doing that. that error makes me think that emu, or your computer can't handle that size of drive. i really don't know what size you are using... but i don't understand why it wouldn't work

typically, in my opinion, the fat is pretty much a wasteful way of orginizing data... what happens is there are, clusters, or little blocks that have say 128 bites, whatever, and lets say you have a file that is 132 bites, well that means you have used two clusters of information, even though that file is only 132 it will take up 256 bites on your drive... i am just pulling numbers here, but i think you get my point. once data, no matter how small, is introduced into a cluster, that cluster is unuseable. that is just the way it is.

that error makes it sound like your computer, emu, or whatever is partitioning the zip drive. i don't really know why you would do this, unless your computer or emu, doesn't reconize that size, typically partioning is used to make one drive many. if a computer can only reconize a hhd of 100mg, and you put 500 meg, you need to partion it so it sees each set of a 100 as a seperate drive. if i remember correctly.. and the cluster size thing makes me think that what is going on is that the amount of data that is suppose to be in each cluster is too small. i think the fat can only handle so many clusters per meg, if there appears to be too many clusters per meg, then the fat can't handle it...

i tell you want. i am will look into this in my a+ book, i don't remember too much about this right now, and i have a fever so i might be off on somethings. i will see what i can come up with and post again, unless someone else beats me to it.

okay... everything i said on top was spot on.. i still remember this stuff

okay... first things first: why are you partitioning your zip drive?
or are you just trying to format it?

what os are you using? do you have a really old computer? are you trying to format the disc using your computer or emu? what fat are you using? 16 or 32? are you sure the zip is the right one for the drive? are you sure the disc is good? did you try another one to see if the same error happens again?

i guess i am getting hung up on why your machine wants to partition the disk. that makes me think you have a computer that is like 15 years old or something. typically older computers do low level formating were the fat is 16. but if you have the 4.7 eos, then i think you would be doing fat 32. so really you shouldn't have to be partitioning your drive at all.

if you answer the questions above, i might have a better idea of were to go for research... i really don't know what you are doing right now with it. but hey you might have already sorted it by now

if not i will see what i can do.

okay... first things first: why are you partitioning your zip drive?
or are you just trying to format it? im just tryingf to format the disk via the emu

what os are you using? do you have a really old computer? are you trying to format the disc using your computer or emu? what fat are you using? 16 or 32? are you sure the zip is the right one for the drive? are you sure the disc is good? did you try another one to see if the same error happens again? my pc could use updating, but its not THAT old. Im using windows. Im fairly sure that its fat 32 that it formats too, but not completely sure. Ive tried multiple disks and the same problem. They are all correct disks

i guess i am getting hung up on why your machine wants to partition the disk. that makes me think you have a computer that is like 15 years old or something. typically older computers do low level formating were the fat is 16. but if you have the 4.7 eos, then i think you would be doing fat 32. so really you shouldn't have to be partitioning your drive at all.

if you answer the questions above, i might have a better idea of were to go for research... i really don't know what you are doing right now with it. but hey you might have already sorted it by now

if not i will see what i can do.

i am going to have to do some research on this man, i don't understand... typically if you formant, it doesn't ask to partition the zip drive disc... that makes me think that your computer or emu, for some reason is having a hard time handling the size of the zip... typically partitioning is done, like i have said before, when a bios can't reconize a hard drive... if you run fat 16 and put a 50 gig hard drive, the most it will reconize is 35 megs of it... provideing you are using a really old computer with a really old dos program... i believe that most computers even with windows xp are still really just a gui, and are still dos base.. i will take a look around and research and see what i can find.

man, i think you have beaten me on this. unless someone else has any ideas here. the only think i can think of is if you are using long formatting.. then you have voided the warranty on your disc, i guess they mess them up. i checked capatability, and all the iomegas are good, with any eos version.

one thing i did read, is that you should try to use the iomega software to format your zip if you are using your computer... it has some kind of priority thing going on. i would think the emu would have been your best bet on formatting them. you just go into utilties and select the drive and hit format, and it should do it. doesn't make any sense. you may have to email emu, or something... i will keep looking... maybe someone else knows what is going on. sorry man

I wish could help you out with this DS-1 but me nah see whacha chat bout.

About the rolling the ID ting - I didn't mean the SCSI ID - I just meant when you get to the screen that appeart s after you hit save sometimes you be getting the message "Invalid ___something" so don't pay attention and flip the drive from zip to floppy and back to zip an it goes away. I wish I could give more suggestions more that what SNH already said but truely I nevah gots this message. Good luck sorting it out bre.

oh ok, i was off in left feild there.I got a few more thests to do tonight, ill keep ya posted!

FACK!
Still not working
Ive tried switchibng cable ports, changing the setup (termination and scsi ID) and nothing
The best i can do is get it to see the drive and not be able to format, but its better than having my sampler freeze up like it was doing

Also, interesting thing i noticed
Usually, if i turn on my sampler then boot up my computer its will say 'Scanning scsi devices'
THe itll list my scsi stuff and what channels there on
When i have the sampler hooked up into the zip, and then the zip to my computer i dont get that anymore
any ideas?
do i not have to install any software for my emu?

Has the zip drive ever worked?

yea, when i got it i hooked it up to my pc. It booted up fine, i didnt try to save anything on it though.
I, just today, put it back up to the pc, and i cant get it to load up.
So my suspision is this; I believe the one cable that i used to hook it up originally had failed, and now it doesnt work at all
I think this because when the sampler is hooked up to the zip drive you can see it but cant save it. the cord going from the emu to the zip should work then tright?
but you cant save, nor does the scsi bios at the begining recognise it, because the cable connectin it to the scsi card is shot.
That would makes sense considering all the info i have right now, but may not be true
im on the right track i think though, i just gotta borrow a cable to see if my suspision is right

good luck man, i hope it works for you.

unfortunately i am going to tell you something that may bother you alittle. the thing about computers is when something fails, it may still work, or still kind of work. for example, it is said that you should have at least 3 to 5 extra floppy drives. they are very sensitive to shock, so if it gets dropped it may break, that is why moving your computer may also cause a floppy drive to fail. also when you go and get a new floppy drive it is also a good idea to buy more then one, because there is a good chance that you will get one that died in transite. the problem with identifying a bad floppy drive is that it may actually work sometimes, and then once in awhile wont, then will then wont. i beleive it is the same thing with your power supply too, sometimes it will work, sometimes it wont. there are signs of course that will alert you to units impending failure.

i think getting a scsi cord that YOU KNOW WILL WORK is very important right now. what will happen is if your zip works with that cord, then alright, you zip drive, or scsi card isn't bad. however if the zip doesn't work with the barrowed chord that YOU KNOW WILL WORK, then unfortunately you are going to have to suspect the computer... the zip... the scsi card... even possibly the emu's scsi. you may even what to look into possible curroption on your computer. like maybe the drivers and such need to be loaded again, maybe you had a brown out that may have caused the data to get scrambled. but i am thinking it will be your chord.

also, have you tried using the sampler with the zip alone, not hooked to you computer? don't think this would matter, but you know, sometimes the stranges things are sometimes the answer.

good luck again man, keep us posted.

I can tell you right off the bat that you never format zip drives with musical equipment. Your zip drive should have come with a utilities cd-rom that are used for all aspects of disk maintanance.

I know this because I once tried to format my zip 250 with an mpc2000xl and wound up trashing all the disks. I had to go to a friends house and reformat all the disks using his scsi card and the zip utilities that came with the drive. Once I used their utility I never had a problem again.

why? i have formatted my zips with my emu and they all work fine....

after all my emu asks me if i want to format, hell, i have bought mac and ibm formats and used those and all formatted them with my emu as well and they work fine. all of them.

also, does any one use the undo/redo feature on the emu's with the zip drives? just curios