Can you use a Dos utility like speedsys, System Information, or HW Info to identify what ATA protocols are getting negotiated?

Perhaps the PCMCIA adapter is attempting a different UDMA or multiword IO mode that it can't support.

Do you have DMA enabled in windows 98 with both adapters?

Does dos see pcmcia?

I can't get access to any details due to crashing, if I cancel the driver install, it doesn't show up on device manager, if a refresh, it tries the driver again causing a crash.

I have read about conflicts with usb and pcmcia, nothing useful in the bios.
Via has used this set up previously on their old boards like EPIA MII but the chipsets a lot older.

the SD slot which is part of the PCMCIA fitment works fine.

i'll give speedsys a try when I get a mo, see what comes up

it very well could be the way the CF card is formated or it may have a damaged partition table that windows does not like or windows doesn't like the way its partition table is even if its not bad. Usually a program like partition magic can fix it.

it was amega formatted, formatted to Fat 32 using ide to CF, boots ok there, so would say cards fine, crashes with all my cf cards when using the PCMCIA including transend. recon on driver issue.

can check the port, with a Cardbus to SATA with supposed Win98 Drivers.

checked the adaptor and card on my laptop, no problems there.

Ok, Kinda got it sorted, need to have the CF card and adapter inserted during the initial windows OS installation, seems to work after that.