You're not wrong to expect the adapter to work without too much hassle. How confident are you that your IDE cable is good? Is it a 40 or 80 pin cable?

Ribbicipp wrote on 2023-11-06, 18:42:

I have two old PCs I dug out from the closet that were my childhood PCs. One "AST Advantage! 623E" (similair model to the one found here: Manual/Info for an AST Advantage! 624) with a Pentium 100mhz + 32mb RAM and a noname mid-tower build with a P3 800mhz and I think a Geforce 4 series card in it.

First i tried getting the old AST computer to run with the SD to IDE adapter, but it didn't even detect the adapter at boot-up. I tried formating and re-formating the SD card in different ways, everything from FAT16 to FAT32, 2GB up to 32GB. I noticed that the BIOS didn't detect any sectors or such, but then again, the computer didn't even detect the adapter at all on boot-up.
I gave up on getting it working and just installed everything on my old HDD instead that came with the PC.

It could be that the adapter is trying to request LBA mode or ECHS mode that your computer's BIOS can't handle.

Try configuring your BIOS to one of the default drive types to see if it works. If that works, you could look into adding an option rom like XTIDE Universal BIOS or a disk overlay like EZ Drive 9.09 that would correctly autodetect the drive at boot time.

douglar wrote on 2023-11-06, 21:17:

Ribbicipp wrote on 2023-11-06, 18:42:

I have two old PCs I dug out from the closet that were my childhood PCs. One "AST Advantage! 623E" (similair model to the one found here: Manual/Info for an AST Advantage! 624) with a Pentium 100mhz + 32mb RAM and a noname mid-tower build with a P3 800mhz and I think a Geforce 4 series card in it.

First i tried getting the old AST computer to run with the SD to IDE adapter, but it didn't even detect the adapter at boot-up. I tried formating and re-formating the SD card in different ways, everything from FAT16 to FAT32, 2GB up to 32GB. I noticed that the BIOS didn't detect any sectors or such, but then again, the computer didn't even detect the adapter at all on boot-up.
I gave up on getting it working and just installed everything on my old HDD instead that came with the PC.

It could be that the adapter is trying to request LBA mode or ECHS mode that your computer's BIOS can't handle.

Try configuring your BIOS to one of the default drive types to see if it works. If that works, you could look into adding an option rom like XTIDE Universal BIOS or a disk overlay like EZ Drive 9.09 that would correctly autodetect the drive at boot time.

Yep. Whenever I run into this problem it's usually the BIOS at fault, and XT-IDE or drive overlay fixes it.

Assuming you've connected the external power and connected the IDE cable the correct way round, I would say you just bought a dud.

ubiq wrote on 2023-11-06, 20:50:

You're not wrong to expect the adapter to work without too much hassle. How confident are you that your IDE cable is good? Is it a 40 or 80 pin cable?

I used the same IDE cable that I used for my HDD and since the HDD booted up no problem im assuming the cable isn't the issue.

Ribbicipp wrote on 2023-11-07, 14:47:

I used the same IDE cable that I used for my HDD and since the HDD booted up no problem im assuming the cable isn't the issue.

Manually configure your drive to be a 40MB (or whatever) device in your BIOS and then try installing one of these drive overlays. http://vogonsdrivers.com/index.php?catid=19&menustate=63,61

I'd suggest EZ drive 9.09 for your hardware.

douglar wrote on 2023-11-07, 14:51:

Ribbicipp wrote on 2023-11-07, 14:47:

I used the same IDE cable that I used for my HDD and since the HDD booted up no problem im assuming the cable isn't the issue.

Manually configure your drive to be a 40MB (or whatever) device in your BIOS and then try installing one of these drive overlays. http://vogonsdrivers.com/index.php?catid=19&menustate=63,61

I'd suggest EZ drive 9.09 for your hardware.

Ok, so I connected the HDD so I could at least boot up the computer, connected the SD to IDE adapter in the second IDE-slot on the motherboard and the computer still doesn't recognize it (no surprise there).
Can I use my primary HDD to install the drive overlay on that or does it need to be installed on the actual SD-card that the computer can't read? Or can I run the software from a floppy at startup? Also, what does this "EZ drive 9.09" software actually do?

Where in the bios can i configure the drive to be 40mb if it can't even find the adapter? In the menu where you change the sectors etc on a drive?

Sorry for the fumbling, but this is clearly beyond my knowledge.

My guess is that the Sintechi adapter is defective .

Can you try the Sintechi adapter through a USB to IDE adapter on a modern (or at least newer) PC, as a test ?

darry wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:16:

My guess is that the Sintechi adapter is defective .

Can you try the Sintechi adapter through a USB to IDE adapter on a modern (or at least newer) PC, as a test ?

Maybe i'll get myself one of those adapters to try it out before returning the device.

Please don't operate a HDD sitting on a metal surface like that. At least put something non-metal underneath to insulate.

jmarsh wrote on 2023-11-08, 02:50:

Please don't operate a HDD sitting on a metal surface like that. At least put something non-metal underneath to insulate.

+1 to that

jmarsh wrote on 2023-11-08, 02:50:

Please don't operate a HDD sitting on a metal surface like that. At least put something non-metal underneath to insulate.

will do. thx for the tip.

Ribbicipp wrote on 2023-11-07, 18:39:

Where in the bios can i configure the drive to be 40mb if it can't even find the adapter? In the menu where you change the sectors etc on a drive?

Sorry for the fumbling, but this is clearly beyond my knowledge.

Usually you can manually enter the drive parameters if the auto detect doesn't work. I've been soending time with older bios lately, but I noticed that there are triangle to the left of the drive table. Does that mean those sections can be expanded to see additional options?

Is the Sinitechi on its own cable? Some people have reported problems getting a Sinitechi device to autodetect the slave/master situation.