(technically related to a previous thread, posting new topic as advised - Help with CF to IDE setup on Toshiba 430CDT)

Hi all, just want to chronicle my experience so far trying to get my Toshiba 430CDT laptop running with a CF card solution. I picked it up back in high school (2002-ish?) and while the original 3.8GB HDD is still booting and running, its also misbehaving, so I'm hoping to get it sorted with something more convenient. So far the experience has been bizarre and frustrating.

Initially, I tried the cheapest adapters available [cfadapter1.jpg]. When a prepared CF card is inserted with the adapter, the 430 seems to just sit idle for 1~2 minutes before going to BIOS (the CMOS + Resume batteries have been removed). The HDD access light stays on the entire time, but the 430 just doesn't see it. Eventually it will prompt for a system disk, but given it can't see the adapter I can't really use FDISK or anything. I've tried two different CF cards (Transcend 4GB and Sandisk 1GB), both flashed using a VirtualBox VHD with a DOS install, several times. I also tried a more robust looking adapter that cost more [cfadapter2.jpg], but encountered the same problem.

Interesting things to note: if the CF adapter is set to Master, the laptop will not boot at all. The screen won't even come on! To get any response at all, it needs to be set to Slave. In addition, the 430 seems to "partially" see the adapter in BIOS if I switch between options, alternating between "No Disk" and "Enhanced IDE." Annoyingly, that's the only sign of life I get. The IDE socket on the 430 seems fine, and it works perfectly after reconnecting the original HDD. At this point I'm a bit stumped!

In the previous thread linked above, the OP seemed to have success with a "Syba" branded CF to IDE adapter [https://www.amazon.com.au/Syba-Compact-Flash- … /dp/B0036DDXUM/]. Does anyone have any info on what makes this adapter any different from the rest, or if it's a matter of quality? I'm hesitant to grab one given the trouble I've already had. I'm also in Australia and it seems like importing one at a premium from the US is the only way to get it. Failing that, I'd appreciate any ideas on what could be going wrong. And, of course, I'll update if I find out anything new.