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TB077 Rev1 Backing Up Your Files with an Iomega Zip Drive
Overview
This document describes the process of backing up data from any Centroid control requirements floppy
drive parallel port DOS 5 0 or higher to an Iomega Parallel Port Zip drive
Procedure
Obtaining Your Zip Drive
First of all you will need an external parallel port Zip drive Zip drives are relatively easy to obtain being sold
in almost any large chain store such as Wal Mart Sears Best Buy or Office Depot They range in price from
$100 $150 for a 100 megabyte capacity drive or $150 to $200 for the newer 250 MB version which can also
read and write the 100 megabyte disks Make sure you get the external parallel port drive though since no
other drive can be connected to Centroid controls which do not have USB connectors and will often not have
space for an internal drive Another advantage to having an external drive is that it can be taken from place to
place for easy file transfer
Zip drives usually come with a single Zip disk though more can be purchased for $10 $15 per 100 megabyte
disk or $25 $30 for the 250MB variety You will probably only need one disk to back up all your files though
you can check whether you will need more by running the DOS program 'chkdsk' after exiting from the control
software with Control Alt X Check how much space is used on the hard disk If it's less than 100 000 000
bytes for a 100 meg disk 250 000 000 bytes for a 250MB disk you only need one To get back into the
software type 'cnc7m4'
Setting Up Your Zip Drive
When you buy your Zip drive the package will contain the Iomega software that enables you to use the drive
with your control However there is a problem Zip drives are sold with Iomega software included on CD
ROM but Centroid controls do not have CD drives Therefore you will need a separate computer with a CD
drive and DOS or Windows installed Windows 3 1 95 98 or NT Alternatively Centroid can send you a
floppy disk with the guest software already installed and ready to use or email it to you
Boot your computer system up and then put in the Iomegaware CD
FOR DOS
Put a floppy disk in your floppy drive and type format a /u /s
to format the disk This will delete all information
on the disk make sure the disk is fully operational and undamaged and will copy the system files needed to
start your control from the floppy in case of hard drive failure
Next you will need to copy the correct files to the floppy to start the guest program The files you want are in
the directory d \drvrflp\w31
assuming your CD ROM drive is known as letter D To copy all these files to the
floppy type the following hitting enter at the end of each line
d
cd\drvrflp\w31
copy guest * a
copy aspippm* sys a
copy * ilm a
Now since you don't need to try to load drivers for every possible drive since the Iomega Guest software will
by default try to load not only drivers for the zip parallel port but also for Jaz drives SCSI zip drives and
ATAPI zip drives you must edit out the lines in the guest ini file that pertain to those drivers To do this type
edit a \guest ini
which will put you in the MS DOS text editor Delete the following lines
ASPI=ASPIIDE SYS /INFO /SCAN
ASPI=ASPI8DOS SYS /D
ASPI=ADVASPI SYS
ASPI=ASPIPC16 SYS /SCAN /INFO
ASPI=ASPI1616 SYS /SCAN /INFO
ASPI=ASPIATAP SYS /INFO /SCAN
Which will leave the file looking like this
[ scan for existing aspi managers ]
SCAN=ON
[ Load aspi managers ]
ASPI=ASPIPPM1 SYS /INFO FILE=NIBBLE ILM SPEED= 1
ASPI=ASPIPPM2 SYS /INFO FILE=NIBBLE2 ILM SPEED= 1
These are the lines that load the parallel port drivers for your Zip drive
Save the file by pressing the Alt
and F
keys at the same time to make the File menu appear then pressing S
Then you must make a config sys
file to make it possible for the Zip drive to be accessed under DOS If you
are still in the editor use Alt+F
N
to create another file Type LASTDRIVE=Z
then save the file as before
and enter the name config sys
when it asks you what to name the file
Now you're ready to start working on your control Go to the Setting up your control
section
FOR WINDOWS 3 1
Format the drive as for DOS by going to the DOS command prompt From the Program Manager main menu
run command com
then type format a /u /s
then copy the files from the CD to the floppy go to the file
manager either from the Control Panel or by running the command winfile
then navigate to the directory
d \drvrflp\w31
and copy the files guest exe
guest ini
aspippm1 sys
aspippm2 sys
nibble ilm
and
nibble2 ilm
to the A drive assuming your CD drive is D and your floppy is A Then use the Windows
notepad run notepad
to make a text file containing the command LASTDRIVE=Z
then save it as
a \config sys
this is the configuration information the computer reads at startup Then open the file
a \guest ini
with Notepad and delete the following lines
ASPI=ASPIIDE SYS /INFO /SCAN
ASPI=ASPI8DOS SYS /D
ASPI=ADVASPI SYS
ASPI=ASPIPC16 SYS /SCAN /INFO
ASPI=ASPI1616 SYS /SCAN /INFO
ASPI=ASPIATAP SYS /INFO /SCAN
This should leave the file looking like this
[ scan for existing aspi managers ]
SCAN=ON
[ Load aspi managers ]
ASPI=ASPIPPM1 SYS /INFO FILE=NIBBLE ILM SPEED= 1
ASPI=ASPIPPM2 SYS /INFO FILE=NIBBLE2 ILM SPEED= 1
Save the file Now go to the section titled Setting Up Your Centroid Control
FOR WINDOWS 95/98/NT 4 0 If you're using Windows and the Iomega software setup appears click 'no'
and exit the setup Use the Windows explorer go to the start menu select 'run' and type in explorer
then
click 'OK' to navigate to the directory D \drvrflp\w31
if D is your CD drive If not just put the letter of your CD
drive instead like F \drvrflp\w31 or G \drvrflp\w31 Copy the files 'guest exe' 'guest ini' 'aspippm2 sys' and
'nibble2 ilm' to a floppy disk stick a floppy in the drive highlight the files you want to copy by clicking each of
them while holding down the 'Ctrl' key then go to the 'edit' menu and select 'copy' Then click on the floppy
disk icon in the explorer which will be on the left side and will say something like '3½ Floppy A ' and select
'paste' from the edit menu Next double click the file A \guest ini
the copy of guest ini
on the floppy disk
which should open the file in notepad If it does not run notepad manually start menu run 'notepad' click
'OK' and open A \guest ini
Then delete the lines
ASPI=ASPIIDE SYS /INFO /SCAN
ASPI=ASPI8DOS SYS /D
ASPI=ADVASPI SYS
ASPI=ASPIPC16 SYS /SCAN /INFO
ASPI=ASPI1616 SYS /SCAN /INFO
ASPI=ASPIATAP SYS /INFO /SCAN
This should leave the file looking like this
[ scan for existing aspi managers ]
SCAN=ON
[ Load aspi managers ]
ASPI=ASPIPPM1 SYS /INFO FILE=NIBBLE ILM SPEED= 1
ASPI=ASPIPPM2 SYS /INFO FILE=NIBBLE2 ILM SPEED= 1
Save the file Now go to the section titled Setting Up Your Centroid Control
Setting up your Centroid control
To enable you to use the Zip drive with the control you must edit your control's config sys file to include the
line LASTDRIVE=Z
Power up your control and when the system says 'starting MS DOS' press the F5 key
This should make the control skip loading any software and leave you at the DOS prompt If it does not simply
exit the CNC7 software by pressing Ctrl
Alt
and X
Type edit config sys
at the DOS command prompt Go
to the end of the file make a new line and type in LASTDRIVE=Z
then save the file press Alt F S Reboot
your control and you will be ready to use the Zip drive with the Iomega Guest floppy you created earlier
To actually get the zip drive working just hook it up to the control the thick parallel cable connects to the zip
drive and to the parallel port of the control that is the plug which has 25 holes in it not 25 pins The 25 pin
port is the serial port and plug it into the power supply Insert a zip disk You will hear the drive spin up If it
does not and the light on the front eject button does not come on your Zip drive may be bad
Then start up the control you must reset it after editing the config sys since the commands in config sys are
only read by the system during startup Exit the CNC software using Ctrl Alt X Insert the Guest disk you
created earlier Type a \guest
In five to ten seconds you should see the message Zip drive is letter H
or
any other letter Then you can copy files to the zip disk as if it were a floppy disk in drive H Thus you can
either use the CNC program's 'export' command to copy files to it or you can exit to DOS mode by pressing
Ctrl Alt X and use the copy
or xcopy
commands If you need help on either of these commands you can
enter DOS help by typing help
at the command prompt
Document History
Rev1 Created on 1999 09 22