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Conference noted::ibmpc-95

Title:	IBM PCs, clones, DOS, etc.
Notice:	Intro in 1-11, Windows stuff in NOTED::MSWINDOWS please
Moderator:	TARKIN::LINND

Created:	Tue Jan 03 1995
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	3023
Total number of notes:	28404

2973.0. "How does Iomega ZIP drive protection work?" by CGOOA::OWONG (SKIWI in Canada (VAO)) Wed Apr 02 1997 16:00

    Just curious.  Does anyone know how the read/write protection
    mechanism on the Iomega ZIP disks works?  Their docs say the mechanism
    is all on the disk.  I think it's tied in with the clear plastic area on
    the underside of the disk but I don't know, hence my question.
    
    	Owen.

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2973.1	clear plastic for disk ID only	NETCAD::BARENYS	John Barenys	`Wed Apr 02 1997 18:37`	17
	>I think it's tied in with the clear plastic area on >the underside of the disk A while back I recall reading that the clear plastic window on the disks was only to allow the drive to know that it was indeed a zip disk in the drive and not some other type... Apparently the read/write protection is done by writing something to a specific area of the disk... this is why if you forget the password for the disk you need to reformat it, and you can also have different password for different disks. At least that is what I think I remember :) -John
2973.2	but, this is all a guess	BULEAN::BANKS	Saturn Sap	`Thu Apr 03 1997 12:43`	6
	Yes, I don't think anything physical changes on the disk (zippy), other than magnetic flux changes on the rotating medium. If I had to guess, I'd say that "write protecting" a zippie involves sending some parameter hidden in a manufacturer specific SCSI mode page, resulting in magic being written on the disk (and subsequently read back by the drive's firmware when the zippie is inserted into the drive).