Thinkpads Forum

Hi all,

I need to read some data from a 1GB Jaz disk. I have a Jaz drive too which connects directly to a printer port.
The problem is my Z61p does not have a printer port. Is there any way to read the data using some kind of adapter (maybe USB) from my thinkpad. Do I need some hardware on my laptop for the SCSI interface. I have never used a Jaz drive before so dont know exactly how it works either.

Also if I plug in the same drive on a desktop with XP on it, do I need any hardware inside the CPU for that ?

Thanks for the help.
- Kaps

I have an old SyQuest drive which I think is similar to the Jaz setup (parallel port adapter for the drive's normal SCSI interface); hasn't been used in years as it started having "clicking" issues... but that's another story...

If the Jaz drive works like I think it does, you will need a driver/utility program for the parallel port connection. There appears to be a SCSI-USB adapter:

Iomega Jaz USB to SCSI Adapter Adaptor p/n 13146

No other hardware should be needed (i.e. laptop SCSI interface). Same goes for the desktop system; you could use the parallel port (if it has one) or the USB adapter. If you want, you could install a SCSI controller PCI card in your desktop and use the drive's native SCSI interface. You should be able to find some cheap SCSI cards; probably less than the $80 for the USB adapter I referenced above.

You may be able to get some information/help from here:

http://www.iomegasupportforums.com/phpbb2/index.php

You're talking about 2 different animals:
- printer port
- SCSI interface

If it is a parallel-version (printer port), you can buy a USB-to-parallel adapter.
If it is a SCSI-version, you can't run it from a laptop. You'd need a PCI SCSI-card with external 25 pin connector, such as Adaptec 2906.
If you have a docking station such as the 2631, you could put the SCSI card in there, otherwise you need a PC.

Unfortunately both parallel port and 25-pin external SCSI port look identical. You'd need to 'google' the exact Jaz model to find out what it is.

I have a solution for you with 2 options if you really need the data.

1) You can send me the Jaz disk and I'll copy off the data for you from my desktop which has a built in drive (when I get it up working again in the next week or 2).

2) I can send you a Microtech adapter that will convert the SCSI HD 50 (or SCSI 25) to USB and you can send it back when you are done.

Thanks everyone for the information and thanks 'schen' for the offer but my problem is solved now.
After searching around for hours in the department for old computers before 2000 ,, I found a desktop with a SCSI card in it and was able to hook up the Jaz drive and retrive data. All I had to do was to install new drivers from Iomega website and it worked smoothly. It was simple but took long times to copy data.
Ah, The joys of grad school.
Thanks again everyone
- Kaps