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My finally working "Project 98" computer !!!

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Reply 40 of 63, by FFXIhealer

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Ok, let's just stop and take a systematic approach to diagnosing the issue.

FIRST, check the drives themselves, like you did...but this check, we want to set the jumpers properly. For that, we'll need to know the EXACT MODEL of both of your hard drives. I looked up the first one from the code on the Primary. Your Windows 98 install is on a Samsung Voyager 6 SV0844A. Here is the log sheet link, but for details:
samsung-sv0844a-8.4gb-3.5-ide-hard-drive-3.20.jpg
Notice the SYL 16383, HD 16, SEC 63 ? This is the info your MB needs if you stuck the IDE detection on MANUAL, like stated above.
Notice the jumpers on the left just under it? Well, you want that 8.4GB drive to be MASTER at all times, so you might as well just set the jumper and be done with it. Don't bother with Cable Select unless you have an 80-pin IDE cable and are SURE it will work properly. When you have issues, always take questionable settings out of the equation where possible to narrow down the issue.

The OTHER hard drive, you set it to SLAVE. Don't leave it on Cable Select either.

I also looked up the user manual for that version of the BIOS identified on your screenshots, so check this out. Page 3 of 8 literally has instructions on how to set your IDE drives. If the IDE HDD Auto-Detection works, good. If not, you have to put the data in manually.

If you can get us either a picture of the other hard drive's sticker or at least a model number, we can look the info for that up too. But you're getting advice from people who haven't used what you gave us to do actual research. Your screenshots showed the model number of your Windows 98 drive AND the Phoenix Award BIOS revision. Both documents you need I've given you above.

And YES, your CMOS battery should have a charge. It doesn't really matter as long as you have the MB hooked up to ATX power, even if it's "off" because the power supply still feeds a low-level voltage to the MB. The battery is there in case you lose ALL power (power failure) to keep settings.

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Reply 41 of 63, by Elia1995

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The jumpers are all set correctly on both hard drives, the Samsung has the jumpers in "master" and the Maxtor has it in cable select, here are the pictures.

This is the second hardisk, for Windows XP and extra space for 98:

1d4bf1f68e604fbc9df12cb5aac20760.png

These are the jumpers as currently set in the Maxtor hardisk:

0015815094e24c0abad3c9f1e98fccc9.png
I have no idea what's that extra plastic ring on the last pin on the right.

These are the jumpers of the Samsung hardisk:
49c44b95e5074f2b99f74206584cda82.png

as you can see, the Samsung has 8 pins, the Maxtor only 7 plus an extra plastic bit on the 4th pin.

Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

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Reply 42 of 63, by Jorpho

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Jorpho wrote:

Using the "cable select" option is inadvisable.

FFXIhealer wrote:

Don't leave it on Cable Select either.

Elia1995 wrote:

the Maxtor has it in cable select

Come on, seriously?

...In case it's not obvious, you need to remove the jumper entirely to set the Maxtor drive as "slave".

Reply 43 of 63, by FFXIhealer

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Jorpho wrote:
Come on, seriously? […]
Show full quote
Jorpho wrote:

Using the "cable select" option is inadvisable.

FFXIhealer wrote:

Don't leave it on Cable Select either.

Elia1995 wrote:

the Maxtor has it in cable select

Come on, seriously?

...In case it's not obvious, you need to remove the jumper entirely to set the Maxtor drive as "slave".

Also, now that I have the model of that 2nd HDD to work with, I found this:

Model - 6B200P0
Max CYL - 16,383
Heads - 16
Sectors - 63

Probably need to set it to LBA mode in the BIOS as well. Remove the jumper from the 2nd hard drive completely, hook it back up to the PC, then enter those numbers as the drive information manually and see if the system boots properly.

Also, verify if you're using a 40-wire IDE cable or an 80-wire IDE cable.
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Reply 44 of 63, by Elia1995

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I think it's an 80-wire cable from the thickness, not sure though. (I'm too lazy to count them, too thin)

I'm using this one: 705c4f70b1384bf990e40fa9359590ad.png

Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard

Reply 45 of 63, by FFXIhealer

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Yeah, that's an 80-wire cable all right. So that's good. Make the changes I suggested above and let's see how it works.

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Reply 46 of 63, by Elia1995

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I removed the plastic jumper entirely from the Maxtor hardisk, but nothing changed, it still doesn't pop up... even though it spins just fine.

Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard

Reply 47 of 63, by Jorpho

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And did you change the BIOS options appropriately, as suggested?

(I still think that if the drives can't be auto-detected, then manually entering the cylinders/heads/sectors data is only going to cause different problems.)

At this point I would also be inclined to suggest making sure the cable is fully plugged in.

Reply 48 of 63, by FFXIhealer

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I'd also like to point out that my first HDD on my first PC was a 10GB Maxtor drive whose controller board went bad on me and I lost all my data and the drive stopped working. Since then, I've never bought a Maxtor drive again. Nope nope nope. Western Digital and Seagate are my friends.

But the reason I suggest manually entering the data is because A, it doesn't waste your time trying to auto-detect the settings during POST and B, it's possible the controller board on the HDD is not reporting any data on the detect request, but could otherwise be functioning properly. Not likely, I know, but possible.

I had this happen to me on a 21" 1080p monitor hooked up via HDMI cable. The system would just display at 640 x 480 or something until I TOLD the system how to display at 1080 manually in the nVidia Display properties. And every 4-5 days, it would lose those settings and go back to 480. So I changed from HDMI-HDMI to DVI-VGA and the monitor has worked perfectly ever since.

If he puts the manual values in and STILL can't access the drive, then it must be the drives' fault and not the motherboard. If the cables are fully seated, it's probably not the cable. The only SURE way to test the cable is to get a DMM with very narrow test probe pins and try out every single corresponding pin. I'm pretty sure that's more effort than the OP wants to get into.

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Reply 49 of 63, by Elia1995

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In Manual the things are greyed out and I can't change them...

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Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard

Reply 50 of 63, by FFXIhealer

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Ok, found the manual for your specific motherboard and it does indeed say those values are not configurable, yet it gives you a Manual setting. This confuses me.
Try to go back up to where it says Primary IDE Slave [Manual] and see if there's any other options on the right (Select menu) where you can maybe ENTER data there or something. Or at least show us the screenshot of that.

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Reply 51 of 63, by Elia1995

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Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard

Reply 54 of 63, by FFXIhealer

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agent_x007 wrote:

Change Access Mode (or al least let us see what options you got there).

According to the manual, he'll only have [CHS] [LBA] [Large] and [Auto]. None of these help us I think.

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Reply 55 of 63, by Carlos S. M.

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Werid that manual doesn't let you type the HDD parameters on the BIOS, most BIOS can do without issues though

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Reply 56 of 63, by Elia1995

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The stranger thing is that it worked just fine as it was, in cable select… then it just stopped working on its own… the hardisk works, I tried somewhere else… in cable select.

Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard

Reply 57 of 63, by FFXIhealer

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Then I'd suspect an issue with the motherboard or the power supply. It's possible the 12+V rail is dipping below tolerance and the drive isn't responding correctly...or that the motherboard itself is having issues querying the drive for the data. The only way to rule out the PSU is to replace it with a known good one and see if the problem persists. If it does, it's the motherboard. If not, it's the PSU.

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Reply 58 of 63, by Jo22

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These drive parameters on that 8gig Maxtor HDD are for Large (aka E-CHS, 8GB max). LBA is normally handled automagically.

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Reply 59 of 63, by Elia1995

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8gig Maxtor ?

Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard