Is there some special trick to getting a "Sintechi" FC1307A SD-to-IDE adapter working properly? \ VOGONS

Is there some special trick to getting a "Sintechi" FC1307A SD-to-IDE adapter working properly?

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First post, by NJRoadfan

Posted on 2023-10-23, 23:28

NJRoadfan Offline

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Picked up one of these on Amazon for projects. Tried a whole bunch of smaller SD cards from various brands I had on hand (mostly 8GB and 16GB). NONE of them work. The unit only intermittently detects the card with the correct size OR as 32MB. In either case I can't actually write anything to the card with the adapter. Doesn't matter what IDE controller I use either. I've tried onboard (Intel PIIX4), a Promise Ultra 133 PCI card, and even my USB-to-IDE adapter on a modern machine. All exhibit the same behavior of not being able to write to the card and/or not detecting the size correctly. I've tried blasting the SD card's formatting and any partition map that might be on them as well.

Anything else I should try before declaring this thing a dud and throwing it in the trash?

On a related note, the SATA-to-IDE bridge I bought worked perfectly fine with a random 250GB hard drive in a 440BX based system (albeit capped at the 28-bit LBA limit).

Reply 1 of 7, by kingcake

Posted on 2023-10-23, 23:58

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I use the "GINTOOYUN" brand ones off Amazon. Used probably 25 of them at least. No problem. If I do run into a PC not liking the card/capacity it's always the BIOS's fault and XT-IDE/Drive overlay fixes it.

Sorry I can't help much for your brand.

Reply 2 of 7, by NJRoadfan

Posted on 2023-10-24, 00:35

NJRoadfan Offline

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The "brands" are meaningless. Mine is branded KOOBOOK. They all use the same FC-1307A chip and come out of the same factory. This one is looking like its going in the trash.

Reply 3 of 7, by Horun

Posted on 2023-10-24, 02:38

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I would not say they all come from same factory, China has many electronic manu plants, some good some bad....🤣

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 4 of 7, by weedeewee

Posted on 2023-10-24, 04:58

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They do not all use the same firmware or pcb layout.
I tried one in a compaq armada m700 and it failed to work in udma mode together with the dvdrom drive, both are on the same channel.
I then bought another one, same chip, which looked more like a 2"5 drive, and that one worked like a charm.
It's a HUGE difference having the device running in PIO mode vs UDMA mode.

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Reply 5 of 7, by kingcake

Posted on 2023-10-24, 05:05

kingcake Offline

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weedeewee wrote on 2023-10-24, 04:58:
They do not all use the same firmware or pcb layout. I tried one in a compaq armada m700 and it failed to work in udma mode toge […]
Show full quote

They do not all use the same firmware or pcb layout.
I tried one in a compaq armada m700 and it failed to work in udma mode together with the dvdrom drive, both are on the same channel.
I then bought another one, same chip, which looked more like a 2"5 drive, and that one worked like a charm.
It's a HUGE difference having the device running in PIO mode vs UDMA mode.

How are you putting them in UDMA mode? Just using an 80 conductor UDMA ribbon cable?

Reply 6 of 7, by weedeewee

Posted on 2023-10-24, 15:08

weedeewee Offline

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kingcake wrote on 2023-10-24, 05:05:

weedeewee wrote on 2023-10-24, 04:58:
They do not all use the same firmware or pcb layout. I tried one in a compaq armada m700 and it failed to work in udma mode toge […]
Show full quote

They do not all use the same firmware or pcb layout.
I tried one in a compaq armada m700 and it failed to work in udma mode together with the dvdrom drive, both are on the same channel.
I then bought another one, same chip, which looked more like a 2"5 drive, and that one worked like a charm.
It's a HUGE difference having the device running in PIO mode vs UDMA mode.

How are you putting them in UDMA mode? Just using an 80 conductor UDMA ribbon cable?

Since it's a 2"5 adapter in a laptop, I couldn't tell ya. the drive works in udma33 mode and the dvdrom works in MWDMA mode... but yeah, I guess an 80 wire cable would be required.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 7 of 7, by NJRoadfan

Posted on 2023-11-10, 05:05

NJRoadfan Offline

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Picked up a "Gintooyun" branded adapter and it works fine. First one was likely a dud.

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