Use ESS1868 IDE port for hard disk in 286 with MFM support only? \ VOGONS

Use ESS1868 IDE port for hard disk in 286 with MFM support only?

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First post, by psoma

Posted on 2021-04-16, 12:55

psoma Offline

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Hiya,

I have an HP Vectra/ES 12 286 which has 16-bit ISA slots but does not support IDE (tried with multiple controller cards). I can get the machine booting off the MFM hard drive, but want the convenience of a removable CF via. IDE as a D: for file transfer.

I have an ESS1868 Audiodrive in the machine as well with a "secondary" IDE port. I found the DOS drivers for this IDE port and can enable it but I'm wondering if there's some kind of BIOS extension that will allow an IDE hard drive to appear in DOS using a sound card IDE port?

I guess XT-IDE is an option, but given I have a working IDE port there already, I'd like to exhaust my "free" options first.

Cheers!

Reply 1 of 4, by schlomoe99

Posted on 2021-04-16, 13:10

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I wonder if you might not have some success with a SCSI controller. If SCSI works, and you purchased a SD2SCSI card, it would achieve the sort of convenience you’re looking for since you could now use SD cards in much the same way as you would a CF card in your machine.

Reply 2 of 4, by bakemono

Posted on 2021-04-16, 13:47

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Yes, you don't need the XT-IDE interface card but just the XT-IDE BIOS: http://www.xtideuniversalbios.org/

With that you should be able to use the sound card or any other card with an IDE interface. You just need somewhere to place the BIOS ROM (eg. an ethernet card with socket)

again another retro game on itch: https://90soft90.itch.io/shmup-salad

Reply 3 of 4, by psoma

Posted on 2021-04-17, 00:51

psoma Offline

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Thanks guys - should be able to find a NIC with a BIOS option ROM... I do have a SCSI card but SD2SCSI presents a more expensive option than an XT-IDE card.

I'm guessing with an XT-IDE Universal BIOS, I'd actually be able to boot straight to the IDE CF adaptor from the sound card?

Reply 4 of 4, by appiah4

Posted on 2021-04-22, 14:20

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psoma wrote on 2021-04-17, 00:51:

Thanks guys - should be able to find a NIC with a BIOS option ROM... I do have a SCSI card but SD2SCSI presents a more expensive option than an XT-IDE card.

I'm guessing with an XT-IDE Universal BIOS, I'd actually be able to boot straight to the IDE CF adaptor from the sound card?

Some sound cards' IDE interface may not be set as primary/secondary and may not be bootable, so don't get your hopes up too much.

In my experience ES1868 IDEs can be set as Primary and be booted from, but it may well not work.

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