386 BIOS does not allow to use a user defined hard drive. \ VOGONS

386 BIOS does not allow to use a user defined hard drive.

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First post, by jonesmacarrones

Posted on 2024-09-10, 17:58

jonesmacarrones Offline

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Hi all.

I found this motherboard (https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/micro- … sx-066-3.1-0889) inside a beaten 386 case, so I am trying to make a computer out of it.

The system posts and boots to dos normally using a floppy drive, but when I go into the BIOS I cannot get into type 46 or 47 to change the parameters and config my CF card. I used Type 4 just to test, it formats ok (only 64MB out of 245MB of the card) but it does not boot or install DOS successfully.

To make things worse I cannot find the manual for this MOBO, so I am not sure if there is a jumper I can change to change this.

FYI I got this CF card working on a Phoenix BIOS just like this on a 286, but in this case when I select type 47 the arrow key on the keyboard takes me to the Cylinders, Heads etc.. and I can set the values and boot with no issues.

I tried with different IO cards and no cards attached too, no difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJU4t4DsvaY

Does anyone face this before? Is there a way to fix it?

P166 MMX, 64Mb, S3 Trio64V+, Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 - DOS & W98
Athlon 1.3Ghz, 256Mb DDR, Voodoo 5 5500, SB Live! 5.1 0100 - DOS & W98
i5 3550 3.7Ghz, 16Gb, MSI GTX 980 Ti - WinXP & W7
5900X 4.7Ghz, 32 Gb, 3080 Ti FTW 3 - W11

Reply 1 of 5, by Many Bothans

Posted on 2024-09-10, 18:21

Many Bothans Offline

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This seems like a pretty good use case for XTIDE Universal BIOS or an IDE controller with its own BIOS such as the Promise EIDEmax.

If you have a floppy drive try this - XUBDisk - floppy disk XTIDE Universal BIOS booter

Zenith Z386SX-20, 8MB FPM, Video 7 1024i, Unhoused
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Reply 2 of 5, by douglar

Posted on 2024-09-10, 18:38

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Many Bothans wrote on 2024-09-10, 18:21:

This seems like a pretty good use case for XTIDE Universal BIOS or an IDE controller with its own BIOS such as the Promise EIDEmax.

If you have a floppy drive try this - XUBDisk - floppy disk XTIDE Universal BIOS booter

Xtide Universal Bios is very nice.

Drive overlays also work pretty well if you can get your hard drive to boot using one of the predefined hard drive sizes.

http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=1900

Reply 3 of 5, by jonesmacarrones

Posted on 2024-09-10, 19:23

jonesmacarrones Offline

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Many Bothans wrote on 2024-09-10, 18:21:

This seems like a pretty good use case for XTIDE Universal BIOS or an IDE controller with its own BIOS such as the Promise EIDEmax.

I have a XTIDE on a 8088, wanted to try something without having to buy any hardware first.

If you have a floppy drive try this - XUBDisk - floppy disk XTIDE Universal BIOS booter

I never knew this was a thing! So far so good, DOS is installing, will report later. Thanks!

Reply 4 of 5, by jonesmacarrones

Posted on 2024-09-10, 19:32

jonesmacarrones Offline

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It works!

I will try later booting from this with a predef type in BIOS as Douglar suggested, but this is already more than I needed, thanks a lot!

Reply 5 of 5, by jonesmacarrones

Posted on 2024-09-15, 21:00

jonesmacarrones Offline

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Progress update, I am making a period inaccurate machine on purpose with this motherboard so added a DVD drive (what I had lying around, just to read CDs) and I noticed that the CD driver hanged on boot when using XTIDE, so I started looking for other options, until I found EZDRIVE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LzCB6kDVC8

It was the best experience so far, boots fast, no conflicts and works flawlessly with a 32GB SD card (it only sees 8GB of course). I am going to use this in all my 286s and 386s machines from now on.

Thanks for all the replies!

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