VST USB Floppy Drive

User’s Guide
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Copyright © 1999 El Gato Software LLC
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VST USB Floppy Drive
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Software installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
What gets installed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Connecting the drive to your Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Compatible USB Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Using your new VST USB FDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Formatting Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Erasing Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Ejecting Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

3
 Introduction
Congratulations on purchasing your new VST USB Floppy Drive. It allows you to
use standard 1.4 MB floppy disks on your USB-equipped Macintosh. Its handy
plug-and-play design means you can connect or disconnect it whenever you
want, without even having to shutdown.

Some VST USB Floppy

Drives have removable
cables, while others have
permanently attached
cables.

Models with removable

cables are clear on top,
while those with Þxed
cables are blue on top.

Please refer to the Read Me First file on the installation CD for important
information not available when this manual was printed.

System Requirements
For proper operation, the VST USB Floppy Drive requires:
¥ A Macintosh with USB support (iMac, B&W PowerMac G3, or any Power Macintosh
with Macintosh-compatible USB PCI card.)
¥ Mac OS 8.5.1 or higher recommended.

iMac computers running Mac OS 8.5.1 need to be upgraded with iMac

Firmware Update 1.2 and iMac Update 1.1 (these updates are included on
the VST USB Floppy Installer CD)

Technical Support
Technical support for the VST USB FDD is available by telephone at (978) 635-
8282, online at www.vsttech.com, via e-mail at support@vsttech.com, or by fax
at (978) 635-8283.

4 Introduction
Software installation
Before you can use the VST USB FDD, you must install special software so your
Macintosh can properly control the drive.
1) Start up your Macintosh
2) Insert the VST USB Floppy Installer CD in your CD drive.
3) Double-click the VST USB Floppy Installer application.
4) Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the software installation.
5) Restart your Macintosh when prompted.

What gets installed

The installer places this item in your Extensions folder:

If itÕs present, the installer also moves the file ÒUSB Floppy EnablerÓ to the
disabled extensions folder.

Connecting the drive to your Macintosh

Connecting the VST USB FDD to your computer is very simple.
1) If your floppy drive has a removable cable, be sure the smaller end is plugged
into the connector on the rear of the drive.

Plug the connector in

to the drive.

2) Locate an available powered USB port on your Mac.

Software installation 5
 3) Plug the opposite end of the floppy driveÕs cable into the USB port. The
connector only fits one way; if it doesnÕt fit, turn it around.

If you have an iMac,

youÕll Þnd the ports
inside the access door
on the right side of the
computer.

4) The drive is now ready to use.

! If you plug the drive in before you install its software, you will get an error
message telling you to install the software.

Compatible USB Ports

The USB ports on the Mac keyboard do not supply enough power for the VST
USB Floppy Drive. It must be connected to one of the ports on the Mac itself, or
to a powered USB hub.

The ßoppy drive will

not work from the USB
ports on the keyboard.

If you plug the drive into one of the keyboard ports (or a non-powered hub) you
will see this error message.

6 Connecting the drive to your Macintosh

Using your new VST USB FDD
The VST USB FDD can be plugged in at any time and is immediately fully
operational.
To use your new drive, just insert a floppy disk (label side up) until it is all the
way into the drive and the Eject button pops out.

Push the disk in

until it ÒdropsÓ into
place.

After a moment, the icon for the disk will appear on the Mac desktop. You can
then store or retrieve files from it just like any other disk.

Formatting Disks
To format a floppy disk:
1) Insert an unformatted disk into the floppy drive.
2) After a moment, this dialog will appear:

3) Specify a name for the disk and click Initialize to format the disk, or click
Eject to cancel.

Using your new VST USB FDD 7

 Erasing Disks
To reformat a previously formatted disk:
1) Insert the disk into the floppy drive.
2) Click on the diskÕs icon and then choose the Erase Disk... command from the
FinderÕs Special menu.

3) Specify a new name for the disk (if desired) and click Erase to completely
erase the disk, or click Cancel if you donÕt want to erase the disk.

Ejecting Disks
The preferred method for ejecting a disk is to first use the Put Away command
from the FinderÕs File menu, which will unmount the disk, or you can drag the
diskÕs icon to the trash to dismount it. Once it is unmounted, you can push the
Eject button to remove the disk from the drive.

The Eject button

You can also simply push the Eject button on the front of the drive. The disk will
automatically be unmounted and will eject. However, if you eject a disk which is
in use, you will see this error message.

If this happens, reinsert the disk and close any open files before ejecting again.

8 Using your new VST USB FDD

Compatibility
In general the VST USB FDD works just like any other floppy disk drive. Here are
a few instances where it differs.
Bootable disks
Booting from USB devices is not supported by the Mac OS, hence you can not
start your computer from a bootable floppy disk in the VST USB FDD.
Supported disk formats
The VST USB FDD reads and writes to 1.44 MB disks (both PC and Mac format)
and reads 720 KB PC format disks. 800 KB Mac formatted disks are not
supported.

Using your new VST USB FDD 9