Reply 20 of 40, by darry
pentiumspeed wrote on 2021-03-31, 22:23:Jmicron chipset still had issues back then when I was watching this as well. Currently I have not found one that is using gen […]
darry wrote on 2021-03-31, 22:18:I agree that the Marvell one is likely the best and most compatible. The real Jmicron ones are good, IMHO, when they are compati […]
pentiumspeed wrote on 2021-03-31, 22:10:Have you tried Startech PATA to SATA adapters? This use marvell chipset bridge and is supposed to work properly regardless, for this reason I specifically purchased at little more expense. All others is junk jmicon chipset clone of clones with compatibility and reliability issues.
Secondly, do not use USB controller card till you are sure your computer working right first especially if you get the Startech adapters first.
Cheers,
I agree that the Marvell one is likely the best and most compatible. The real Jmicron ones are good, IMHO, when they are compatible .
My experience so far is resumed in this post:
darry wrote on 2020-11-21, 17:16:My experience with SIL3114 based cards has been good, both functionally and compatibility-wise, in 440BX boards (Asus P3B-F and […]
My experience with SIL3114 based cards has been good, both functionally and compatibility-wise, in 440BX boards (Asus P3B-F and Biostar M6TBD OEM) .
On a board of such vintage, because of LBA issues, I too prefer using either a PCI SATA controller or a PCI IDE controller that works well with IDE to SATA converters (Promise Ultra133 and JM20330 works well together, but not on my P3B-F).
IDE to SATA adapter compatibility varies widely .
The two best ones are, IMHO, those based on
- Marvell 88SA8052 (rather expensive and harder to find but reported as working on Intel ICH4 and Via 686B IDE controllers)
- Jmicron JM20330 (inexpensive and easy to find, but has issues on Intel ICH4 and Via 686B IDE controllers, works fine on Promise Ultra133 and can work fine on ICH2, depending on driver)I have never tested either of those in DMA mode on a 440BX's 82371EB (PIIX4E). I have done limited testing with a JM20330 in such a setup, but only in PIO mode under DOS . It did seem to work in that scenario .
Jmicron chipset still had issues back then when I was watching this as well. Currently I have not found one that is using geniune chipset sold by other brands not chinese.
DOS does not support anything except the int13 calls hard ware motherboard compatibility is important means adapters and cards has to be designed correctly. Even the motherboard had detected as DMA mode or PIO. It comes down to the quality of adapter design than anything else.
Again, that is why I say try to get startech's marvell chipset based adapter first and try again.Cheers,
My experience with JMicron based Sin Loon brand adapters from Amazon has been good enough in DMA mode (on compatible controllers) that I would buy another one if needed . The Marvell based ones are much more compatible, but also significantly more expensive (to the tune of 35+ CAN$ for a Startech one ) versus 14ish CAN$ dollars for a Sin Loon brand JMicron one .
For the record, I am currently using a Marvell based converter in my main retro machine, but I previously a JMicron one . My reason for changing was due to having bought a Marvell one for testing in a project where the issue was eventually found to be one of hard disk incompatibility rather than adapter incompatibility (VS-880EX multitrack recorder), so I decided to stick with the Marvell adapter in my retro rig since I had no other use for this adapter .
It would be nice if we had a compatibility matrix based that details
a) absolute incompatibilities/issues between a given adapter chipset versus a given IDE controller or southbridge (for integrated controllers) .
b) Implementation based incompatibilities/issues due to a given adapter's design/construction even when there is no know incompatibility of type a
Unfortunately, distinguishing cases of a from cases of b might prove difficult, especially with statistically small sample sizes (at least initially). Additionally, BIOS LBA issues could cause false failure impressions that are not related to the adapter itself .
I agree that if you need only one adapter, getting a Marvell one is probably best, despite the cost . However, if you need several, taking a chance on a JMicron one (and eventually several) would be worthwhile, IMHO, unless this would imply using it on an Intel ICH4 or VIA 686B (and possibly other ones).