Problems with Zalman

Wow I considered purchasing one of these for convenience and broader compatibility, however seeing this thread changed my mind. I'll stick with SARDU until these flaws are resolved.
 
I finally got it to boot to a Win 7 iso, but then it wanted drivers. I said to heck with this and used the disc in which the iso came from with no issues.
 
Also have the 200 (for about a year now) with a 320gb drive in it and have had no issues. It's got D7 on it along with all my OS, app and LIVE .iso's and service packs. Wouldn't be without mine and wouldn't hesitat to buy another one.
 
I have a 300 and previously had a 200 for over a year, had absolutely no problems whatsoever other than the problem of not being able to boot from Dells. Three friends have also purchased on on the strength of my recommendation. I wouldn't be without it, an invaluable piece of kit.
 
The write-protect switch on mine just broke. Time for a new one (this one lasted just over a year).

The Dell boot issue still exists for me but disconnecting the CD drive works most of the time. If not, I have a bootable usb drive and I carry backup livecd's.

Good piece of gear.
 
Update

Zalman sent me a brand new VE-300. This experience with their support has been great being as I didn't even purchase the Zalman from them in the first place (Amazon). They could have easily told me that I had to deal with whoever I bought it from but they did not. That says something about their customer service IMO. Very pleased.

EDIT: Funny thing is I put my SSD into the new enclosure that they sent me (same SSD from the one that I RMA'd) and it is giving me the same error that I had before (bad or n/s HDD). I will be testing the SSD tonight. Looks like that may have been the culprit to begin with? :o

I know...I should have tested the drive first.
 
Last edited:
Scales said:
I just got the ZE-300 and I cannot get any iso's to boot :( a little puzzled.
Click to expand...

Heh heh.
I had a similar problem.
I bet you formatted the drive as NTFS. Zalman doesn't support it.

Try Fat32 or Exfat.
Not forgetting that _iso folder. :)
 
bertie40 said:
Heh heh.
I had a similar problem.
I bet you formatted the drive as NTFS. Zalman doesn't support it.

Try Fat32 or Exfat.
Not forgetting that _iso folder. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that little tidbit of info. You just saved me a lot of frustration, as I am just now getting ready to load mine up with a bunch of iso's after formatting NTFS! ;)

Why is there so little usable information out there on this unit? :rolleyes:

BTW, I also got that "bad or n/s HDD message" when I first connected the unit. It flagged the HD as being bad, yet all the tests I ran on the drive independently passed with flying colors.

I put another drive in & it worked, no problem.

Also, I notice that when I load an iso, it does not list them when I scroll through. I must disconnect the cable/reconnect in order for them to appear in the display.

Is that normal?
 
katz said:
...Also, I notice that when I load an iso, it does not list them when I scroll through. I must disconnect the cable/reconnect in order for them to appear in the display.

Is that normal?
Click to expand...

Don't know, I only got mine yesterday. :)

There has been chat concerning "loose fitting" within the case, so I'm going to put some foam in the bottom to "pack" secure the drive.

Also I take it you connect the drive to the circuit board first, and not simply slide the drive into the case, then insert the circuit board and hope for a good connect.

I also suspect some variability in production.

Oh, don't forget to flash the drive with the latest firmware.

Ps. Also try plugging the Zalman into another USB socket. The socket you are using may not be delivering enough power to fully run the device.

Also I take it you are using the short connect cable. I've found longer ones suffer powering USB3 devices
Regards.
 
Last edited:
There has been chat concerning "loose fitting" within the case, so I'm going to put some foam in the bottom to "pack" secure the drive.

Yes, I did that.

Also I take it you connect the drive to the circuit board first, and not simply slide the drive into the case, then insert the circuit board and hope for a good connect.

Did that too.

I also suspect some variability in production.

Oh, don't forget to flash the drive with the latest firmware.

Didn't yet, but will.

Ps. Also try plugging the Zalman into another USB socket. The socket you are using may not be delivering enough power to fully run the device.

I have found that my Win XP PC is the one that gives me problems recognizing/using the Zalman. If I connect it to my Vista laptop I don't have too many issues.

Also I take it you are using the short connect cable. I've found longer ones suffer powering USB3 devices
Regards.

I only have the cable that came w/ it.
 
bertie40 said:
Heh heh.
I had a similar problem.
I bet you formatted the drive as NTFS. Zalman doesn't support it.

Try Fat32 or Exfat.
Not forgetting that _iso folder. :)
Click to expand...

Mines NTFS? Works fine for me.

Only problem I had was when I accidently kept switch held in and locked the mode so I couldnt load ISOs. Took me AGES to figure out what I'd done!
 
Ah, the plot thickens.

I saw in the firmware update notes, that only FAT32 and ExFat were mentioned.

It does make sense though that NTFS should be supported.
It's just that I only got the thing to work after I formatted as FAT32.

I'll have another try. :)
 
bertie40 said:
Ah, the plot thickens.

I saw in the firmware update notes, that only FAT32 and ExFat were mentioned.

It does make sense though that NTFS should be supported.
It's just that I only got the thing to work after I formatted as FAT32.

I'll have another try. :)
Click to expand...

If it works now, don't fix it 'till it's broke! :D
 
The latest firmware date is 2012-01-26. Nothing like updating their product capability/etc., on a regular basis.

Even the DVD burner manufacturers came out with updates more frequently than that. :rolleyes:

Are there any alternative products to the Zalman, considering all the issues that techs seem to have with it?
 
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