konc wrote:

Good to hear that it's working now. Out of curiosity, when you were choosing type 47, you were setting the correct drive parameters as values, right?

Well.... This is the strange part of it. There is no place in wich the parameters can be entered.
It is only the type numbers that can be entered, from 1 to 47.

I need to clear up how I am entering the BIOS. It is through an setup disk, much like old IBM's.
I think they are called IBM referance disk or something.

When I have entered the changes to the BIOS, I need to exit the program, using a menuitem.
Then it will write the changes to both the BIOS and for setting up the rest of the system.
In this disk, there are even a copy of MS Dos 3.3 and the head parking tool.
Guess the parking-tool are designed for MFM/RLL disks and the really early IDE disk's.
You can even use the system installer disk to lowlevel format a harddrive.

Well... No settings for any parameters on an Unisys PW/2 Series 300 computer.
Eighter it will autodetect heads, cylinders and such, or it is dependant on a controller BIOS.

I need to find a new BIOS battery now (3.6volt) and I need to max the mem and install a soundcard.
I think the BIOS disk "spoke" of 4mb max, just not shure if this requires a ISA-Card solution or not.

Ah, I thought so... A small details that no one caught yet 😉 That's your problem then, I asked you before if you were setting these values exactly as in the PC that could boot the drives.
Type 47 is not a customizable type, it's (I think) a 40MB drive. Customizable types are 48 & 49.

If you can't somehow select 48/49 to set the drive's parameters, this means that the BIOS only supports those specific types and nothing else. Not that uncommon for early 286s. So it's not going to work without a DDO (or by using a drive which can work with one of the predefined types, drive-specific and nothing guaranteed in this case).

Ahh... The manual states that 47 is a user defined drive. Even this website has 46, as the last pre-defined drive type.
The installation/BIOS disk, states the same thing, that 47 is user defined. I am really confused by now.
http://www.dewassoc.com/support/bios/amisetup.htm

Basically, I assumed that 47 was user defineable. My mistake. Ups. 😊

brostenen wrote:

I need to clear up how I am entering the BIOS. It is through an setup disk, much like old IBM's.
I think they are called IBM referance disk or something.

Try Ctrl-Alt-S on bootup/in dos or

debug
g=f000:ff60

Source: verycomputer.com

😀

( PS: Congratulations! I'm glad your problem is solved. (^_^) )

konc wrote:

If you can't somehow select 48/49 to set the drive's parameters, this means that the BIOS only supports those specific types and nothing else. Not that uncommon for early 286s. So it's not going to work without a DDO (or by using a drive which can work with one of the predefined types, drive-specific and nothing guaranteed in this case).

I used an 80MB Conner drive as a replacement for a 40MB drive some time ago. Worked on what I think was a Phoenix variant.
So I guess using fake geometry works fine, even without LBA, aslong as you stay within the limits of the HDD.

brostenen wrote:

The BIOS is indeed a Phoenix, version 1.7-something (or 1.6-something)

Where does this more modern AMI BIOS in the link you posted fit in your case? 😀 The above applies for Phoenix BIOS of that era. If fixed types reach up to 47, then user-defined types (if any -version dependent) are 48 & 49.
In case I didn't phrase this well enough, available fixed types and user-defined types are BIOS dependent. Maybe that's your source of confusion: user defined types are not always in every BIOS 47 or 48 or xx.

But of course no one knows exactly your BIOS better that you, if the installation disk for this computer is the correct one and says that type 47 is customizable, I believe it. Then there should be a way to define the drive's parameters, until you do though DDO is still your best friend 😉

Ahhhh.... They are different. Thought that HDD-Types were a predefined thing.
You know... From back in the age of the dinosaur's, were there were only so many drives.
Now that 47, being user defined, stated in the setup disk.
Would that not be a big manufactor error, not found in the erretra sheet's in my manual?
If so... Damn you Unisys corporation. 🤣