We found the ZM-VE300 almost useless when we first received it as the firmware was really buggy.
- Zalman Updates Page
- Category: Storages
- Sub Category: External HDD/SSD Cases
- Product: ZM-VE300
The firmware available as of this writing is R1005N.
Once we reached a fairly stable firmware version a number of months back we were able to select the applicable OS ISO to load on a system then press the top button and hold it to “Save” the ISO setting.
We could then unplug the VE300, plug it into the new system, and boot to the ISO as though it were an attached optical drive with the OS DVD in it.
Having a few of these units around the shop for quick access to OS ISOs for installing a new system or re-installing an existing system is a huge time saver.
Plus, we don’t have a bunch of larger USB2 sticks that would otherwise be needed to hold all of the OS files that were extracted from the ISOs.
One of the benefits of having the ISO appear as an optical drive is for older BIOS setups that may or may not have an available Boot Option Menu or possibly no option to boot to an attached USB drive. Some systems, server boards, and laptops today are quite restrictive in what we can use for an external boot device. The Zalman makes this point moot.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
This is the most annoying problem with this device. The firmware versioning seems confusing, and Zalman's site appears to be pretty useless -- unless the last firmware update is from 2011.
ReplyDeleteIs there an easy way to track the firmware releases? Hopefully I just missed something.
We've downloaded a number over time so we have an idea if we are looking at a newer version or not.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is not the most helpful of sites. :(
Philip