First post, by Swiego
I am using a Promise EIDE MAX IDE controller (ISA) in my 486 - without it, the computer struggles to recognize drives over ~500MB. It's one of those HBA type cards - the drives remain connected to the motherboard connector and this card seems to substitute its own controller for the on-board one. During POST it says it's version 1.14.
I'm having some various troubles with this card. While DOS and W311 work perfectly, including the latter with 32-bit disk access when I use some old Promise W311 .386 drivers, I have not been able to install Windows 95 or 98 (tried many versions of each) without locks late in the setup process (usually during device detection) that I suspect is related to either detection of this card or enabling 32-bit disk access. Within DOS, generally things are OK but some utilities like Norton Sys Info's disk benchmark hang, while others like NDD pause for ~120 seconds before starting. This all goes away when I remove the controller and switch to a smaller older drive, which is why I think the controller is the culprit.
Before I look to another solution (XT-IDE is something I'm reading up on now) I want to give this card a little more of a chance. Is there an updated firmware for this card? Any W95 or later drivers? I have looked, on Promise's site and elsewhere and come up short. Anyone else using this recently and have advice?
Note, I gather there is an EIDE MAX II whereas mine is the original. Maybe I need to upgrade.
One other note: my computer is a slim form factor desktop with limited ISA slots. It does have one low profile slot which the Promise fits into perfectly when I remove the bracket. That's one reason I'd like to keep trying with it, since a replacement will require some musical chairs.
