pleasenospam
asked on
Awarding points: CDROM not detected
Is the Delta 50Xmax CDROM identical to the one
made by ASUS? Both companies are in Taiwan, but
the label on my new Delta 50Xmax reads "Made in
China".
Anyway, is this unit compatible with a 486? It
is so fast that I wonder if there would be a
problem synchronizing with the 486 clock.
Will this unit work as a SLAVE to the hard drive
on the IDE bus?
How can I tweak or modify the IDE adapter to get
the system to detect the CDROM at startup? The
BIOS has very few options at startup (with F2).
I am quite familiar with the Control Panel stuff, including "Add New Hardware" (it doesn't work).
Config.sys won't set the driver because the computer won't detect the hardware.
made by ASUS? Both companies are in Taiwan, but
the label on my new Delta 50Xmax reads "Made in
China".
Anyway, is this unit compatible with a 486? It
is so fast that I wonder if there would be a
problem synchronizing with the 486 clock.
Will this unit work as a SLAVE to the hard drive
on the IDE bus?
How can I tweak or modify the IDE adapter to get
the system to detect the CDROM at startup? The
BIOS has very few options at startup (with F2).
I am quite familiar with the Control Panel stuff, including "Add New Hardware" (it doesn't work).
Config.sys won't set the driver because the computer won't detect the hardware.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Some of the newer CDROMS will not work on older boards, such as 486 and the early pentiums (ie non mmx)
There can be a conflict if the hdd is using one of the pio modes when the cdrom wants dma, udma, etc.
Use two IDE cables for best results!
Make the hdd master on the primary controller.
Make the cdrom master on the secondary controller.
This is the best way to make it all work together. If the CDROM won't work in this configuration it is unlikely that you will be able to get it to work. Go to a boot sale, 2nd user computer shop and get an old drive instead.
If you have windows 95 or 98 installed on your machine then there should be no need for drivers.
Use the boot disk as suggested above to test things out.
You shouldn't need to touch your bios.
If you only have one drive interface then you might need a newer hard drive which can then talk to the cdrom. But this is a big risk because the hdd could be too new for the motherboard too.
Why don't you buy a gigabyte ga5ax, k62-500, hs and fan. It fits AT cases and will cost you about 100 dollars / pounds inc tax. In the uk I have seen the boards in stock for 55 pounds, cpu for 32, hs for 5 (about 105 pounds inc vat)
There can be a conflict if the hdd is using one of the pio modes when the cdrom wants dma, udma, etc.
Use two IDE cables for best results!
Make the hdd master on the primary controller.
Make the cdrom master on the secondary controller.
This is the best way to make it all work together. If the CDROM won't work in this configuration it is unlikely that you will be able to get it to work. Go to a boot sale, 2nd user computer shop and get an old drive instead.
If you have windows 95 or 98 installed on your machine then there should be no need for drivers.
Use the boot disk as suggested above to test things out.
You shouldn't need to touch your bios.
If you only have one drive interface then you might need a newer hard drive which can then talk to the cdrom. But this is a big risk because the hdd could be too new for the motherboard too.
Why don't you buy a gigabyte ga5ax, k62-500, hs and fan. It fits AT cases and will cost you about 100 dollars / pounds inc tax. In the uk I have seen the boards in stock for 55 pounds, cpu for 32, hs for 5 (about 105 pounds inc vat)
ASKER
Here is a good reference on the PCI bus:
http://www.quatech.com/Application_Objects/FAQs/comm-over-pci.htm
However, I think this would "lead me down the country path". For now, I don't need high performance. It
would suit my needs to get the new CDROM to work at all.
The existing BIOS provides for a Primary and (slave?) Secondary IDE. The new CDROM is set up for E-IDE and Ultra-DMA. Again, this all sounds like high performance, and I just want it to work at SOME speed.
When I installed the external modem, I was forced to
add a printed circuit (PC) card to get the UART up to 16550. That board also has other ports, including one
for IDE, which can be configured (with jumpers) to
either Primary or Secondary or OFF. That was about 3
years ago. As I recall, I was never able to get that
port to work.
Anyway, the BIOS only provides for one Primary and one Secondary. If I switch the CDROM to that port on the
UART card, I suppose it would be set to Secondary and SLAVE.
As far as picking up a boot disk from Windows 98,
wouldn't that have to be used EVERY time? Or, would
the information be picked up in the Registry for future use...?
http://www.quatech.com/Application_Objects/FAQs/comm-over-pci.htm
However, I think this would "lead me down the country path". For now, I don't need high performance. It
would suit my needs to get the new CDROM to work at all.
The existing BIOS provides for a Primary and (slave?) Secondary IDE. The new CDROM is set up for E-IDE and Ultra-DMA. Again, this all sounds like high performance, and I just want it to work at SOME speed.
When I installed the external modem, I was forced to
add a printed circuit (PC) card to get the UART up to 16550. That board also has other ports, including one
for IDE, which can be configured (with jumpers) to
either Primary or Secondary or OFF. That was about 3
years ago. As I recall, I was never able to get that
port to work.
Anyway, the BIOS only provides for one Primary and one Secondary. If I switch the CDROM to that port on the
UART card, I suppose it would be set to Secondary and SLAVE.
As far as picking up a boot disk from Windows 98,
wouldn't that have to be used EVERY time? Or, would
the information be picked up in the Registry for future use...?
> wouldn't that have to be used EVERY time?
No, use it only as a "diagnostic-tool",
to see if the CD-ROM support on that diskette
can detect your hardware.
No, use it only as a "diagnostic-tool",
to see if the CD-ROM support on that diskette
can detect your hardware.
Putting the CD ROM by itself might give you some pointers.
Use the windows 98 startup disk as suggested earlier and see if you can access the cdrom.
With windows 9x it doesn't really matter if the bios does not support a CD ROM or secondary IDE ports because windows will do the work of the bios.
If you have another pc then you could network the two computers and access the cdrom from another one. It is rather stange that you are adding a CD ROM to a 486.
Are you using windows 9x or windows 3.11?
Because with windows 9x drivers in config.sys and autoexec.bat are not usually needed. They can actually slow things down for you.
Use the windows 98 startup disk as suggested earlier and see if you can access the cdrom.
With windows 9x it doesn't really matter if the bios does not support a CD ROM or secondary IDE ports because windows will do the work of the bios.
If you have another pc then you could network the two computers and access the cdrom from another one. It is rather stange that you are adding a CD ROM to a 486.
Are you using windows 9x or windows 3.11?
Because with windows 9x drivers in config.sys and autoexec.bat are not usually needed. They can actually slow things down for you.
ASKER
The 486 was under Windows 3.1 when I got it, but I upgraded it to Windows 95. As delivered from Microsoft, Windows 95 included a file named "adapter.inf" which is used to detect the hardware. The hardware manufacturer added a file named "oem0.inf" which referenced the original CDROM.
Within the past hour I copied the "oem0.inf" file and used it as a model to create one that referenced the new hardware. The computer noted what I had done and updated the data file used to add new hardware. BUT, it wouldn't accept the driver!
Anyway, as I looked through the driver with a text editor I noted references to "PCI" and Ultra-DMA. The only slots on the motherboard are "ISA". Now I am wondering if "PCI" is meant when the CDROM runs under "E-IDE".
In the good old days hardware was designed to be downward compatible. No more...
Within the past hour I copied the "oem0.inf" file and used it as a model to create one that referenced the new hardware. The computer noted what I had done and updated the data file used to add new hardware. BUT, it wouldn't accept the driver!
Anyway, as I looked through the driver with a text editor I noted references to "PCI" and Ultra-DMA. The only slots on the motherboard are "ISA". Now I am wondering if "PCI" is meant when the CDROM runs under "E-IDE".
In the good old days hardware was designed to be downward compatible. No more...
I didn't notice the type of machine you have........but if it's a compaq you'll need to press F10 during boot to access bios and enable the secondary ide if you use it.....if' yu cant access the F10 function then goto compaq and get the 'softpaq' ....is downloadable software for accessing bios setup....
ASKER
On my machine F2 calls up the BIOS setup routine.
ASKER
The boot disk from Windows 98 doesn't detect the CDROM as a slave on the primary controller bus. Will try to get the secondary controller operational now.
ASKER
The secondary controller failed to establish
good contact, so I am ready to throw in the
towel. I tried multiple settings of the various
jumpers.
Also note that the boot disk for Win 98 from the
other computer didn't help even after I moved
the new driver to A:\ and modified the CONFIG.SYS
file to recognize it.
One last question: The *.inf files reference
SCSI while this new 50X CDROM is good for
E-IDE. All of the 5 slots are ISA, but there
are references to PCI in the control files.
Comments before I call it quits?
good contact, so I am ready to throw in the
towel. I tried multiple settings of the various
jumpers.
Also note that the boot disk for Win 98 from the
other computer didn't help even after I moved
the new driver to A:\ and modified the CONFIG.SYS
file to recognize it.
One last question: The *.inf files reference
SCSI while this new 50X CDROM is good for
E-IDE. All of the 5 slots are ISA, but there
are references to PCI in the control files.
Comments before I call it quits?
The IDE interface is connected to the computer via the PCI interface. (historically anyway - bus mastering probably permits some shortcuts)
You can't see the PCI card nowadays because it is all wired up on the motherboard. The early pentiums used to have a card which used the PCI slots and then the drive cables were plugged onto the card instead of the motherboard.
If your computer has no PCI slots then your IDE interface will be via ISA and not PCI. (and could all be wired up ont the motherbard without the need for a card)
Have you tried the CD ROM drive in another computer to make sure that the CD ROM is not broken? With windows 95 and higher, you don't need to load any drivers to access the cdrom drive - it should just work.
If you really want to get a cdrom working on your 486 then I would suggest looking for a drive which is 8 speed or lower. Old stuff for old computers, new stuff for new computers. There's some phrase about wineskins that people use but I can't remember it.
You could buy a new IDE card for the computer - but getting an ISA card would be nearly impossible.
You can't see the PCI card nowadays because it is all wired up on the motherboard. The early pentiums used to have a card which used the PCI slots and then the drive cables were plugged onto the card instead of the motherboard.
If your computer has no PCI slots then your IDE interface will be via ISA and not PCI. (and could all be wired up ont the motherbard without the need for a card)
Have you tried the CD ROM drive in another computer to make sure that the CD ROM is not broken? With windows 95 and higher, you don't need to load any drivers to access the cdrom drive - it should just work.
If you really want to get a cdrom working on your 486 then I would suggest looking for a drive which is 8 speed or lower. Old stuff for old computers, new stuff for new computers. There's some phrase about wineskins that people use but I can't remember it.
You could buy a new IDE card for the computer - but getting an ISA card would be nearly impossible.
ASKER
The 50X is BRAND NEW! It will play music from the front panel controls.
I like your explanation of the PCI bus.
Maybe you could comment about E-IDE and SCSI.
The whole migration from 8 to 16 to 32 bits has me confused, because the Windows versions have not stayed in sync with the hardware evolution. Sort of like the change
in automobile controls, such as generator to alternator.
I like your explanation of the PCI bus.
Maybe you could comment about E-IDE and SCSI.
The whole migration from 8 to 16 to 32 bits has me confused, because the Windows versions have not stayed in sync with the hardware evolution. Sort of like the change
in automobile controls, such as generator to alternator.
> It will play music from the front panel controls.
That's good. It shows that it can read "music" CDs,
and send the audio-output to the "headphones" jack
on the front panel.
But, you can do the above *without* having the ribbon-cable
connected to the CD-ROM, and *without* the 3-strand wire
which connects the CD-ROM directly to the sound-card.
> E-IDE and SCSI.
Different interfaces, with a different number of pins on the connector on the back of the CD-ROM.
If the ribbon-cable connecting to your hard-drive is compatible with the pins on your CD-ROM, then your CD-ROM is not SCSI.
(Of course, if your hard-drive is SCSI, then "compatibility" of connectors would mean that your CD-ROM also is SCSI.)
That's good. It shows that it can read "music" CDs,
and send the audio-output to the "headphones" jack
on the front panel.
But, you can do the above *without* having the ribbon-cable
connected to the CD-ROM, and *without* the 3-strand wire
which connects the CD-ROM directly to the sound-card.
> E-IDE and SCSI.
Different interfaces, with a different number of pins on the connector on the back of the CD-ROM.
If the ribbon-cable connecting to your hard-drive is compatible with the pins on your CD-ROM, then your CD-ROM is not SCSI.
(Of course, if your hard-drive is SCSI, then "compatibility" of connectors would mean that your CD-ROM also is SCSI.)
ASKER
With the jumper set to Master: I got the CDROM drive to work today as a stand-alone on the Primary IDE connector. I used the boot disk from Windows 98 to get the operating system.
The computer still won't recognize the CDROM as a SLAVE on the Primary IDE connector, with the Hard Drive set to MASTER.
Evidently there is some sort of DMA or UDMA conflict on the Primary IDE connector.
There is no Secondary IDE connector on the Motherboard.
There is an IDE connector on the 16550 UART card. It can be set to Primary or Secondary, but it has defeated my
efforts to use it in either role.
BTW: I swapped the cable today, so I know that isn't the problem. That was FUN, what with dropping the Hard Drive when I took the retention screws out (it only dropped about an inch). Then, of course I got the pin orientation wrong and thought the jig was up...
The computer still won't recognize the CDROM as a SLAVE on the Primary IDE connector, with the Hard Drive set to MASTER.
Evidently there is some sort of DMA or UDMA conflict on the Primary IDE connector.
There is no Secondary IDE connector on the Motherboard.
There is an IDE connector on the 16550 UART card. It can be set to Primary or Secondary, but it has defeated my
efforts to use it in either role.
BTW: I swapped the cable today, so I know that isn't the problem. That was FUN, what with dropping the Hard Drive when I took the retention screws out (it only dropped about an inch). Then, of course I got the pin orientation wrong and thought the jig was up...
There is no conflict, here is your problem.....
IDE stands for Integrated Drive Electronics.
What this means in plain english is that the control of the hard drive is done by a special circuit on the drive.
When you select a drive as master it means that you want that drive to control the devices on that cable.
When you select a drive as slave you are disabling the controler.
Your CD rom is very new.
Your hard disc drive is old.
The controler in the hard drive cannot support the CDROM.
You have three choices....
1) You need to try setting the CDROM as master with the HDD as slave. However the controller in the CDROM may only be able to cope with UDMA HDD drives.
2) You get an older CDROM which can work in one of the pio modes. If you have another computer with another CDROM, try that as the secondary. But you will probably need a CDROM with 8x or less.
3) Install a new hard drive which is udma and can cope with your CD ROM.
Of the three above, number 2 is the most likely to work.
If you want to enable the IDE interface on your 16550 card you need to see if there are some jumpers. You will probably need to set io and irq as well as primary/secondary. You also need to check that no other hardware is using the same interrupts or io.
Anthong
Anthony
IDE stands for Integrated Drive Electronics.
What this means in plain english is that the control of the hard drive is done by a special circuit on the drive.
When you select a drive as master it means that you want that drive to control the devices on that cable.
When you select a drive as slave you are disabling the controler.
Your CD rom is very new.
Your hard disc drive is old.
The controler in the hard drive cannot support the CDROM.
You have three choices....
1) You need to try setting the CDROM as master with the HDD as slave. However the controller in the CDROM may only be able to cope with UDMA HDD drives.
2) You get an older CDROM which can work in one of the pio modes. If you have another computer with another CDROM, try that as the secondary. But you will probably need a CDROM with 8x or less.
3) Install a new hard drive which is udma and can cope with your CD ROM.
Of the three above, number 2 is the most likely to work.
If you want to enable the IDE interface on your 16550 card you need to see if there are some jumpers. You will probably need to set io and irq as well as primary/secondary. You also need to check that no other hardware is using the same interrupts or io.
Anthong
Anthony
> The controller in the hard drive cannot support the CDROM.
Huh? The controller in the hard-drive has _ONLY_ to support the hard-drive.
The CD-ROM, also being an IDE/ATAPI device, has its _OWN_ controller inside of it, which supports only the CD-ROM.
Also, note that the CD-ROM worked when it was jumpered as "master" (and the hard-drive was disconnected).
Enter BIOS-setup, and "disable" the primary IDE interface.
Set the jumpers on that add-on card to enable both the "primary" and "secondary" IDE interfaces.
Jumper the hard-drive as "master" and connect it to the "primary" connector.
Jumper the CD-ROM as "master" and connect it to the "secondary" IDE interface.
Then, boot again from the Windows 98 boot-disk,
and see if you have both 'C:' (hard-drive) and 'E:' (CD-ROM) -- 'D:' will be the virtual tools drive.
Huh? The controller in the hard-drive has _ONLY_ to support the hard-drive.
The CD-ROM, also being an IDE/ATAPI device, has its _OWN_ controller inside of it, which supports only the CD-ROM.
Also, note that the CD-ROM worked when it was jumpered as "master" (and the hard-drive was disconnected).
Enter BIOS-setup, and "disable" the primary IDE interface.
Set the jumpers on that add-on card to enable both the "primary" and "secondary" IDE interfaces.
Jumper the hard-drive as "master" and connect it to the "primary" connector.
Jumper the CD-ROM as "master" and connect it to the "secondary" IDE interface.
Then, boot again from the Windows 98 boot-disk,
and see if you have both 'C:' (hard-drive) and 'E:' (CD-ROM) -- 'D:' will be the virtual tools drive.
ASKER
Unfortunately, there is only one IDE port on the 16550 UART communications card. It can be enabled or disabled with a jumper and designated primary or secondary with another jumper. I would have no objection to changing the card, but now I wonder if the motherboard would support two ports.
The single IDE port on the Motherboard is "enabled" and "primary" all the time. There is no jumper to disable it, and there is no jumper to change it to secondary.
By the way: On some of the older computers there was mention of "terminating resistors" at the end of a connection cable (bus). I suppose that was intended to prevent ground loops or stray current/voltage. Does anybody know if this is still a consideration? Does it only apply when there is no other device connected at the end of the cahle? I am confused about this one.
The single IDE port on the Motherboard is "enabled" and "primary" all the time. There is no jumper to disable it, and there is no jumper to change it to secondary.
By the way: On some of the older computers there was mention of "terminating resistors" at the end of a connection cable (bus). I suppose that was intended to prevent ground loops or stray current/voltage. Does anybody know if this is still a consideration? Does it only apply when there is no other device connected at the end of the cahle? I am confused about this one.
> It can be enabled or disabled with a jumper and designated primary or secondary with another jumper.
OK. Just "enable" it, and designate it as "secondary".
Leave the hard-drive jumpered as "master" on the motherboard's IDE connector.
Set the CD-ROM jumper to "master", and connect it to the add-on IDE port.
> There is no jumper to disable it, and there is no jumper to change it to secondary.
Just for reference, i.e., don't do this to your computer,
reboot and enter BIOS-setup, and there should an option to "disable" the motherboard's IDE port.
OK. Just "enable" it, and designate it as "secondary".
Leave the hard-drive jumpered as "master" on the motherboard's IDE connector.
Set the CD-ROM jumper to "master", and connect it to the add-on IDE port.
> There is no jumper to disable it, and there is no jumper to change it to secondary.
Just for reference, i.e., don't do this to your computer,
reboot and enter BIOS-setup, and there should an option to "disable" the motherboard's IDE port.
ASKER
Otta...
I tried your suggestion a few days ago. It didn't work.
By the way: Here are the specifications for the
Digital Starion 200:
http://www4.support.compaq.com/support_database/index/epid46.htm
PleaseNoSpam
I tried your suggestion a few days ago. It didn't work.
By the way: Here are the specifications for the
Digital Starion 200:
http://www4.support.compaq.com/support_database/index/epid46.htm
PleaseNoSpam
> I tried your suggestion a few days ago.
Huh? Did you try the suggestion I made earlier today?
> It didn't work.
Hmmm -- that's very vague.
Exactly what did you try?
Exactly what was the response?
What happened?
What did not happen?
Interesting URL, but I don't see how it applies to your problem.
Huh? Did you try the suggestion I made earlier today?
> It didn't work.
Hmmm -- that's very vague.
Exactly what did you try?
Exactly what was the response?
What happened?
What did not happen?
Interesting URL, but I don't see how it applies to your problem.
ASKER
I have not been able to get the single IDE port on the 16550 UART board to work as either a primary or a secondary port. In fact, as a secondary it locked up the primary on the motherboard (failed in boot test). As a primary it didn't work at all.
The URL above provides a technical bulletin for my computer (Digital Starion 200) which shows a picture of the motherboard. In that picture it is clear that there is no secondary port.
Also shown are specification settings for the BIOS. On this machine there isn't anything complex about the BIOS.
Now, here is what I suspect: I think the IDE port on the motherboard is "frozen" as a primary, with IRQ 14. That would indicate that a primary jumper setting on the communications board (16550 UART) would simply provide a useless parallel IDE connection.
Also, there is no way to specify either IRQ 14 or IRQ 15 on the comm board for its IDE port.
Finally, that would seem to say that the motherboard could not support a secondary port at all, no matter how one might add PC boards.
At this point I lack the hands-on experience to make any kind of guess.
There is a source that claims to sell a board that would supposedly "walk on water" for DMA and UDMA, for this particular machine. I tend to doubt the claim, because the blurb talks about hooking it to a PCI port. All of my ports are ISA. Any PCI features for the single IDE port must be hard-wired in the motherboard.
The board sells for about $70 as I recall, so I wouldn't shell out that kind of money unless there was some guarantee that it would work.
PleaseNoSpam
The URL above provides a technical bulletin for my computer (Digital Starion 200) which shows a picture of the motherboard. In that picture it is clear that there is no secondary port.
Also shown are specification settings for the BIOS. On this machine there isn't anything complex about the BIOS.
Now, here is what I suspect: I think the IDE port on the motherboard is "frozen" as a primary, with IRQ 14. That would indicate that a primary jumper setting on the communications board (16550 UART) would simply provide a useless parallel IDE connection.
Also, there is no way to specify either IRQ 14 or IRQ 15 on the comm board for its IDE port.
Finally, that would seem to say that the motherboard could not support a secondary port at all, no matter how one might add PC boards.
At this point I lack the hands-on experience to make any kind of guess.
There is a source that claims to sell a board that would supposedly "walk on water" for DMA and UDMA, for this particular machine. I tend to doubt the claim, because the blurb talks about hooking it to a PCI port. All of my ports are ISA. Any PCI features for the single IDE port must be hard-wired in the motherboard.
The board sells for about $70 as I recall, so I wouldn't shell out that kind of money unless there was some guarantee that it would work.
PleaseNoSpam
> there is no way to specify either IRQ 14 or IRQ 15 on the comm board for its IDE port.
Good point. So, disable the "primary" on the add-on card,
and enable the "secondary", and, by convention, it will grab IRQ 15, and _NOT_ interfere with IRQ 14 which the motherboard has grabbed.
Good point. So, disable the "primary" on the add-on card,
and enable the "secondary", and, by convention, it will grab IRQ 15, and _NOT_ interfere with IRQ 14 which the motherboard has grabbed.
ASKER
Thank you, Otta...
I had tried your final suggestion earlier, and the computer still did not recognize the CDROM.
Anyway, I was pushing the two week limit on returns, so I returned the unit to Circuit City today for a full refund.
There is still an open question from an earlier date concerning the original Philips CDROM. I will go back and review that again.
I owe everybody here for helping me understand this stuff a little better. So, I must award "A for effort" points to many of those who responded, but I don't really know how to allocate the points. Perhaps those who responded could give me suggestions on how to divide the cake.
By the way, by accident today I noted that pin 20 on the communications board (UART 16550) board was actually there. Everyplace else it is missing. Can anybody think of a reason why?
I had tried your final suggestion earlier, and the computer still did not recognize the CDROM.
Anyway, I was pushing the two week limit on returns, so I returned the unit to Circuit City today for a full refund.
There is still an open question from an earlier date concerning the original Philips CDROM. I will go back and review that again.
I owe everybody here for helping me understand this stuff a little better. So, I must award "A for effort" points to many of those who responded, but I don't really know how to allocate the points. Perhaps those who responded could give me suggestions on how to divide the cake.
By the way, by accident today I noted that pin 20 on the communications board (UART 16550) board was actually there. Everyplace else it is missing. Can anybody think of a reason why?
ASKER
Here is the earlier question that I mentioned above:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/jsp/qManageQuestion.jsp?qid=20124567
https://www.experts-exchange.com/jsp/qManageQuestion.jsp?qid=20124567
ASKER
Many of the responses hinted at protocols with which I was not familiar. Here is a VERY GOOD reference that clarifies some of those responses. In my opinion it is a MUST READ for anyone working with computer configurations:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable-c.html
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable-c.html
> With the jumper set to Master:
> I got the CDROM drive to work today as a stand-alone on the Primary IDE connector.
> I used the boot disk from Windows 98 to get the operating system.
That's the frustrating part -- to have it work _ONCE_ but only that one time.
> dividing the points
I decline to accept any points.
> I got the CDROM drive to work today as a stand-alone on the Primary IDE connector.
> I used the boot disk from Windows 98 to get the operating system.
That's the frustrating part -- to have it work _ONCE_ but only that one time.
> dividing the points
I decline to accept any points.
ASKER
Under Windows 95 this Delta 50X Ultra-DMA CDROM drive was not compatible with the BIOS and MOTHERBOARD on my old Digital Starion 200 with a 486 CPU, so I returned it to Circuit City for FULL CREDIT. During attempts to get it to work, I was able to validate that the drive did function for both data and music, but had no way to judge the speed of operation.
Music was validated from the front panel controls, and data was validated by connecting the unit as a primary master. To do that I used a floppy containing a startup operating system prepared with Windows 98 on my newer computer. One thing I did notice was that the Windows 98 operating system complained that a compression driver was faulty, but I don't think that had anything to do with the CDROM.
It is apparent that the motherboard was not designed to support a secondary IDE port, and the drive would not function as a slave on the primary IDE port. I did not try to run the hard drive as a slave.
Unless I can come up with a rabbit, I will be forced to locate an old CDROM drive of the same vintage as the original.
Since all of the respondents provided some insight to help me here, I am awarding partial points, using the old school teacher's trick of throwing the exam papers down the stairs to see which ones go the furthest, depending on the weight of the responses.
I will open new questions addressed to each of the respondents. To claim your points, just make any comment on the new question addressed to you. The points will be:
15 points to margarity
60 points to otta
30 points to kneea
5 points to drcspy
I will ask the monitors here to close out this question and credit the 200 points back to my account.
If you think the points awarded to you are unfairly low, mention that in your response to your individual question and I will make an adjustment.
Thanks a bunch!
PleaseNoSpam
Music was validated from the front panel controls, and data was validated by connecting the unit as a primary master. To do that I used a floppy containing a startup operating system prepared with Windows 98 on my newer computer. One thing I did notice was that the Windows 98 operating system complained that a compression driver was faulty, but I don't think that had anything to do with the CDROM.
It is apparent that the motherboard was not designed to support a secondary IDE port, and the drive would not function as a slave on the primary IDE port. I did not try to run the hard drive as a slave.
Unless I can come up with a rabbit, I will be forced to locate an old CDROM drive of the same vintage as the original.
Since all of the respondents provided some insight to help me here, I am awarding partial points, using the old school teacher's trick of throwing the exam papers down the stairs to see which ones go the furthest, depending on the weight of the responses.
I will open new questions addressed to each of the respondents. To claim your points, just make any comment on the new question addressed to you. The points will be:
15 points to margarity
60 points to otta
30 points to kneea
5 points to drcspy
I will ask the monitors here to close out this question and credit the 200 points back to my account.
If you think the points awarded to you are unfairly low, mention that in your response to your individual question and I will make an adjustment.
Thanks a bunch!
PleaseNoSpam
As requested by pleasenospam the question points are refunded, however, I would like to keep this question in the knowledge base, so accepting the first comment as the answer.
RedCCameleon
Community Support Moderator @ Experts Exchange
RedCCameleon
Community Support Moderator @ Experts Exchange
RE IDE controllers
The controler inside a drive (CDROM or HDD) not only controls the device, but also controls the IDE bus. There is some handshaking which occurs so that both devices don't use the bus at the same time.
Using an old device with a new device on the same cable can result in timing and communication problems on the control lines. The master can pass control to the secondary which then either can't recognise it or can't understand it. In other words, new devices are not always backwards compatible.
Early versions of udma drives were VERY bad at sharing with any CD drive and for about a year or two EVERY manufacturer would use two separate IDE cables to avoid this problem. It was not until udma 66 was introduced and udma support was added to CD drives that this problem was fixed. However, old stuff which had the problems in the past still has a problem today. I expect that this computer has one of the early udma-33 and a 16-dma or 33-udma IDE bus.
You can sometimes fix this problem by setting the IDE bus to PIO mode 4 for both master and slave. Disabling the bus mastering in the bios (if available) can also help.
Anthony
The controler inside a drive (CDROM or HDD) not only controls the device, but also controls the IDE bus. There is some handshaking which occurs so that both devices don't use the bus at the same time.
Using an old device with a new device on the same cable can result in timing and communication problems on the control lines. The master can pass control to the secondary which then either can't recognise it or can't understand it. In other words, new devices are not always backwards compatible.
Early versions of udma drives were VERY bad at sharing with any CD drive and for about a year or two EVERY manufacturer would use two separate IDE cables to avoid this problem. It was not until udma 66 was introduced and udma support was added to CD drives that this problem was fixed. However, old stuff which had the problems in the past still has a problem today. I expect that this computer has one of the early udma-33 and a 16-dma or 33-udma IDE bus.
You can sometimes fix this problem by setting the IDE bus to PIO mode 4 for both master and slave. Disabling the bus mastering in the bios (if available) can also help.
Anthony
Find a colleague with Windows 98 installed.
Use:
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Windows setup -> make boot disk.
Insert a blank diskette into 'A:'.
Make a bootable diskette.
Take this diskette to your 486, and boot from it.
It should detect your CD-ROM.
If not, check the master/slave jumpers on your hard-drive and your CD-ROM.
Some hard-drives need to change a jumper from "master-only" to "master-with-slave-present
Then, reboot from the diskette.
Tell us how it goes.