So recently, my Iomega Network Hard Drive (DHD250-N2) started goofing up - not crashing 
- but turning off in the middle of transfers, locking up until unplugged, etc. I 
have since discovered on-line that Iomega is notorious for squirrelly DOS firmware.

I had picked this drive about 2 years back because it could be connected remotely 
by 10-BaseT Ethernet to my 98SE laptop, and provided a means for file redundancy, 
should my laptop crash. So I simply wanted to replace this drive with a new one that 
could do the same thing, and found nothing but problems.

All new drives indicate no compatability with 98SE. Even Iomega wasn't supporting 
it, and I had had enough of Iomega anyway. I bought a unit from Buffalo Systems, 
hoping there was a special patch, but no go; I had to return it.

I finally decided to give up the ethernet idea, and went for a USB Network hard drive, 
figuring that USB is Operating System-independent, I was USB 2.0 compatible, and 
I have no trouble plugging in memory sticks this way. So I got a Western Digital 
My Book Essential drive. STILL no go. I found a "My Book 98SE USB" driver, installed 
it, and STILL no go!

I finally solved the problem by swapping the My Book with my roommate's old Maxtor 
Personal Storage 5000V  USB drive, and after finding a very helpful webpage and driver 
download on Maxtor's website, finally found joy. My roommate btw, has Vista on his 
computer, and was able to plug in the My Book with instant success.

So by way of the old Maxtor drive, I have at least for the moment, solved the problem, 
but every time I want to back up files, I must set up a place to set the Maxtor near 
my laptop, set up power cords to run it, and plug in a USB cord to do the transferring 
- a major pain in the booty.

I cannot see why a technology that can connect every computer in the world together 
suddenly can't handle two computers in the same room with different operating systems! 
:/

For the future, does anyone have a solution to this? What currently-sold external 
hard drive can plug into ethernet and connect to a 98SE system? Since it no doubt 
will not work turn-key for 98SE, what are the patches I'll need and where will I 
find them? Has anyone else solved this frustrating issue?

Many Thanks.

Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 6:27 pm Posted by gewg_ (4444 messages posted) Kit wrote: |So recently, my Iomega Network Hard Drive (DHD250-N2) started goofing up[...] |I simply wanted to replace this drive |with a new one that could do the same thing, and found nothing but problems. |All new drives indicate no compatability with 98SE. | Doesn't surprise me greatly, given 9x's current market share. Manufacturers have also gotten fat and lazy. (For the flip-side of the coin, see "The Linux Driver Project", below). |Even Iomega wasn't supporting it, and I had had enough of Iomega anyway. |I bought a unit from Buffalo Systems, hoping there was a special patch, but no go; |I had to return it. | If a device's specification sheet (and the packaging for the device) don't EXPLICITLY say the device supports a specific operating system, you can make book on the fact that IT DOESN'T. (That would be **a selling point**, after all --and it doesn't cost the vendor an extra penny to print that on the box once he has actually written that device driver.) |[instead] went for a USB Network hard drive, |figuring that USB is Operating System-independent, | ...if the OS comes with complete USB support --or partial support and the hardware manufacturer provides a device driver. |[. . .]I found a "My Book 98SE USB" driver, installed it, and STILL no go! | If the driver's docs **specifically** state it supports the device, you're golden. If it doesn't contain in its lookup table the USB ID number of a manufacturer, that brand is out in the cold. OTOH, Nathan Lineback, for example, took an existing driver and added more IDs in an attempt to make a universal/generic mass storage device driver for 9x. cache of http://toastytech.com/files/cruzerwin95.html |[. . .]My roommate btw, has Vista on his computer, |and was able to plug in the My Book with instant success. | See "comes with complete USB support" (above). Wikipedia has the timeline for the USB Specification. Notice the skewed intersection with its implementation and Win9x's timeline. Gotta say, M$ really dropped the ball here; BillG could have done a much better job. |[USB under Win98 is] a major pain in the booty. | In the year 2009, yup. ...especially if you ignore the spec sheets and the labels on the product packaging. |I cannot see why |a technology that can connect every computer in the world together |suddenly can't handle |two computers in the same room with different operating systems! | See "timeline" and "BillG" (above). M$ has a habit of ignoring disruptive technologies--or doing them half-assed (until they get smacked by them); Win95 shipped without a Web browser. |For the future, does anyone have a solution to this? |What currently-sold external hard drive can plug into ethernet |and connect to a 98SE system? | My advice has always been to give money ONLY to those vendors who support you (and your OS of choice) and who STATE THAT ON THE PACKAGING. I have moved on and don't put much effort into finding hardware that is compatible (e.g. HDDs >137GB are incompatible) with a >10 year old OS which its own vendor has long since forsaken. Going to that well-known Web site and buying something used is an option. Make sure it comes with media containing the appropriate driver. Linux has the best out-of-the-box hardware support of ANY OS --and there's a REASON for that. **The Linux Driver Project** by Greg Kroah-Hartman cache of http://lwn.net/Articles/276973 ...and, of course, Linux is FREE. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7:43 am Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) Maybe its not the drive as such but the file system on it ? W98 can only read FAT-based file systems, whereas W2K and beyond can read both FAT32 and NTFS. So, if the HDD is formatted NTFS your W98 box won't be able to see it, if its in FAT32 then both can. You could re-format to FAT32 . . . [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 1:25 pm Posted by Kit (14 messages posted) You might very well be right about this, but I can't seem to connect to the drives at all. If I can get it to reformat, I probably could use it anyway... ? On Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7:43 am, MartinM wrote: >Maybe its not the drive as such but the file system on it ? > >W98 can only read FAT-based file systems, whereas W2K and beyond can read both FAT32 >and NTFS. > >You could re-format to FAT32 . . . [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 1:30 pm Posted by Kit (14 messages posted) I agree that the whole solution is to use other operating systems such as Linux, but I was seeking a solution to my existing 98SE Operating System (which is why I posted this in the Windows 98SE Discussion Group). But I suppose I could change over to a different OS; I'll just back up my files and- oh... yeah... :/ Thanks for the buyer advice and the tip about Nathan Lineback tho. On Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 6:27 pm, gewg_ wrote: >(For the flip-side of the coin, see "The Linux Driver Project", below). > >I have moved on and don't put much effort >into finding hardware that is compatible (e.g. HDDs >137GB are incompatible) >with a >10 year old OS which its own vendor has long since forsaken. > >Going to that well-known Web site and buying something used is an option. >Make sure it comes with media containing the appropriate driver. > >Linux has the best out-of-the-box hardware support of ANY OS >--and there's a REASON for that. >**The Linux Driver Project** by Greg Kroah-Hartman >cache of http://lwn.net/Articles/276973 > >...and, of course, Linux is FREE. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE (Follow-Up) Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:02 pm Posted by Kit (14 messages posted) This is a follow-up to my original question on Network Hard drives, as I now see this is a knotty little problem. I spotted on-line recently a hub-like adapter that connected to ethernet but distributed to USB devices. Note that this is NOT those little adaptor cords that have a USB connector on one end, and an ethernet RJ-45 jack on the other. The blurb on the website said this unit was to distribute out to USB devices by way of the ethernet. Has anyone had any experience with these devices, and could I concievably connect a USB-compatible hard drive to this, then talk to it through my ethernet connection instead of the USB port? I know I probably should ask the manufacturer of the device, but frankly, I trust the answers from this group more than them. On Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 1:13 pm, Kit wrote: >I finally solved the problem by swapping the My Book with my roommate's old Maxtor >Personal Storage 5000V USB drive. > >So by way of the old Maxtor drive, I have at least for the moment, solved the problem, >but every time I want to back up files, I must set up a place to set the Maxtor near >my laptop, set up power cords to run it, and plug in a USB cord to do the transferring >- a major pain in the booty. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:04 pm Posted by gewg_ (4444 messages posted) MartinM wrote: Maybe its not the drive as such but the file system on it ? W98 can only read FAT-based file systems, whereas W2K and beyond can read both FAT32 and NTFS. Linux beats Win98 again. For more than 2 years http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.ntfs-3g.org/ Linux has had stable NTFS read/write support. cache of http://www.ntfs-3g.org Note also that this works on all POSIX-compliant platforms (aka Unix-like OSes). It's hard to find a Linux distro today that doesn't include this by default. cache of http://www.ntfs-3g.org/distributions.html ...and Linux supports DOZENS of filesystems: cache of http://www.math.uni-wuppertal.de/~buhl/teach/exercises/OS2008/Betriebssysteme.pdf (page 47) ...including some really SMART ones that don't require defragging. cache of http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/items/defragment/index.php from the Usenet Archive -- mozilla.support.seamonkey -- user "NoOp" Have I mentioned yet that Linux is FREE? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:34 pm Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) Probably, but you'll have to format to FAT32 it from a W2K or WXP machine I think. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:47 pm Posted by Kit (14 messages posted) Yes - this is making sense. From the general responses I'm getting, the main issue is that they changed FATs along the way, and THAT is my chief problem with the newer drives. On Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:34 pm, MartinM wrote: > >Probably, but you'll have to format to FAT32 it from a W2K or WXP machine I think. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: New Network Hard Drives compatible with 98SE (Follow-Up) Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 8:54 am Posted by C K (6910 messages posted) It should say what types of devices it supports. Without that knowledge, it is impossible to tell.. Supporting a HDD is different than supporting a printer for example. On Win 9X, there is not the same support built in thus, the need for extra installable support. On top of that, the software needs to know that it should be looking for a USB interface first, to get to the network protcols at the tail end. If the programmer didn't code that scenerio into the program, then the drive won't be found at the end of the line so to speak.. Every consumer level network drive I have installed, needed it's own software to operate at the tail end, whether it was passed through USB first or not. That is where you get into difficulty with the operating system and the software's support thereof. When no one codes for it, it won't work. Realize also that the way in which Win 9x was designed, is night and day different than NT (which is NT3, NT4, W2K, XP and beyond) so drivers and most programs/applications (that are not standalone) must be rewritten for NT, and in some cases the hardware is simply incompatible with the way new code that would have to be written to work on an NT operating system. Bottom line as Gewg says, if it doesn't specifically say Win 9X, don't give them your money. [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows 98 Discussion Forum