Windows 98 PC - Inconsistent SSD Detection? \ VOGONS

Windows 98 PC - Inconsistent SSD Detection?

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First post, by letsgome

Posted on 2024-11-22, 21:59

letsgome Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: 2024-11-22, 21:12

Hello, I'm a first time poster, but I've been using this site religiously for advice in setting up my older PCs. I have been using this slightly modified Dell Dimension 4100 for my Windows 98 PC and it has been working very well for me. For storage, I have been using a 256GB SATA SSD with the recommended(?) Startech IDE to SATA Adapter. The SSD will boot into windows 98 and works fantastic, but the problem is that the bios on this PC seems to only detect the SSD about half the time.

When the SSD isn't being detected the computer will display the message:
"Invalid Boot Diskette
Insert BOOT diskette in A:"

After receiving that message, if I go into the bios, the drive is not displayed as active under primary IDE, but the disk drives are always detected every time without fail and listed under secondary IDE. That being said, it does display the SSD under primary IDE when it is being detected by the bios. I have tried switching the SSD to the secondary IDE port on the board, but I couldn't get it to boot at all when doing this.

I tried another cheap IDE to SATA and it was still exhibiting the same behavior when using that adapter as well. Both adapters work fine on my Windows XP computer and they boot every time without fail. I have also tried multiple different 80 pin and 40 pin IDE cables and the issue is still present on all of them.

At this point, I am kind of at a loss at how to solve this issue. I haven't recapped the motherboard because I saw posts online dated the release year of the Dimension 4100 that reported the same issue. This made me think it wasn't related to the age of the hardware, but if anyone thinks otherwise, I have the ability to recap it. I thought about potentially picking up a PCI to IDE card like the Promise Ultra100 TX2 in attempt to circumvent the IDE controller on the board's detection, but I am not sure if that is a viable method of fixing this.

TL;DR: My Dell Dimension 4100 only detects my SSD every other boot despite other hardware detecting it fine. Can I use a PCI to IDE card like the Promise Ultra100 TX2 to circumvent the onboard detection method? If not what are some other avenues of repair I can explore.

Reply 1 of 2, by rasz_pl

Posted on 2024-11-23, 08:03

rasz_pl Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 4208
Joined: 2017-06-04, 00:57

maybe try another ide ribbon cable

https://github.com/raszpl/FIC-486-GAC-2-Cache-Module for AT&T Globalyst
https://github.com/raszpl/386RC-16 memory board
https://github.com/raszpl/440BX Reference Design adapted to Kicad
https://github.com/raszpl/Zenith_ZBIOS MFM-300 Monitor

Reply 2 of 2, by Renaissance 2K

Posted on 2024-11-25, 21:14

Renaissance 2K Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 35
Joined: 2020-06-28, 18:16

I don't have anything to contribute other than to say I've had the same issues with a SSD and the StarTech adapter. It's especially common after a reset. From a code boot, I rarely have an issue with drive detection, but after hitting th reset button or restarting from Windows, it manifests probably 50% of the time.

I tried different drives, ribbons, and SATA adapters, but couldn't get any consistent results. The only permanent fix was to switch from an SSD to a IDE-to-CF adapter (in other words, stop using SSD as a boot drive) and use a hotswap drive bay adapter to only use the SSD when it was really needed.

I also found this adapter on Amazon. I haven't used it myself yet, I don't know if it's any good, but it accepts an mSATA SSD and connects to IDE directly, so you wouldn't need the StarTech adapter if that's the point of failure.

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