This Story Posted:
February 17th

[1:59 PM]
Iomega 250 Problems Solved With FWB HD Toolkit

Jeff Handy who told us about his epic Mac vs. NT battle at his company has given told us about his difficulty with Iomega and his new Blue and White G3. Fortunately Jeff also found a solution and he shares that with us as well. "A few weeks ago my company purchased a new Apple (Blue) G3 400 with accessories to the tune of $7000.  Included in the package of accessories was a ZIP 250MB SCSI drive connected via the Adaptec PD 2940UW. I am a high-level tech support rep.  So, I am no stranger to incompatibilities and troubleshooting.  Whenever I copied either large or multiple files to the Zip, the system would freeze to the point of no return. I had to do the unthinkable: hit the reset button!  I tried making it work with no extensions, tried promoting extensions, tried zapping the pram (that was rough - another story), ran disk doctor, etc., etc...   I posted the problem in several newsgroups and went to all the resources at my disposal.  My problem seemed to be common with similarly configured G3s.  So, I made the call to Iomega for a return authorization.  (Case number 241349)  I went through three technicians before they decided to escalate this problem to the "Problem resolution team".  I was told I would receive a call within 72 hours.  Five days later, since no one called, I called the tech support team again.  This time, the technician decided to authorize a return.  I told the guy, I know the drive is OK - I tested it on another machine running Windows NT.  He said he could only offer to replace the product.  So, I requested that he send me the USB 100MB instead (since I knew it would work).  He said he could not do that. To cut the story short, I went through three more reps and finally gave in to their solution.  Frustrated (because I knew replacing it would make no difference), I decided to try FWB to delete and re-partition the disk.  If there was a driver related issue, this SHOULD fix it.  It DID!  The drive works perfectly with the FWB Hard Disk Toolkit.  I was so angry at Iomega for their lack of good support and lack of concern, I decided to write this letter and called the tech support line back.  The rep said, "We strongly recommend against using third party formatting tools for our media."  I told him to watch out for an article by me on the web and to tell his superiors, they had better fix the problem quickly.  Even if they don't 'fess up, I truly hope they resolve this problem soon. Jeff Handy" The Mac Observer Spin: Iomega has been plagued with customer service issues for some time. It is a good thing that Jeff found his own solution for the problem. Remember, this machine is a test case for Macintosh computers in his office so finding a solution was imperative. Too bad Iomega couldn't be part of that solution. Nice work Jeff and thanks for the update! Jeff will also be giving us a follow-up story on how it is going in his office soon. Iomega