urbanus wrote on 2022-02-14, 16:09:

I have been using SD to IDE adapters alot. Might be worth a try as well (have not tested on this specific machine yet. […]
Show full quote

I have been using SD to IDE adapters alot.
Might be worth a try as well (have not tested on this specific machine yet.

You should then be able to just write my image to a 1GB sd card in theory 🤔

Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Scheda-SD-Micro-SD-a … 5-/124439009261

Ah thanks, didn't know those existed too. But not sure if I want to keep investing more into this laptop, if the 512 MB industrial CF doesn't work I think I will just get rid of the laptop.

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-02-14, 20:37:

urbanus wrote on 2022-02-14, 16:09:

I have been using SD to IDE adapters alot. Might be worth a try as well (have not tested on this specific machine yet. […]
Show full quote

I have been using SD to IDE adapters alot.
Might be worth a try as well (have not tested on this specific machine yet.

You should then be able to just write my image to a 1GB sd card in theory 🤔

Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Scheda-SD-Micro-SD-a … 5-/124439009261

Ah thanks, didn't know those existed too. But not sure if I want to keep investing more into this laptop, if the 512 MB industrial CF doesn't work I think I will just get rid of the laptop.

Please sell or give it away, dont chuck it in the bin 😬

Do note that these IDE adapters should work on all laptops that use 44pin IDE which is most of then before sata.

Compaq LTE Elite (4/50cx) – how to get the PCMCIA working in Dos 6.2/windows 3.1

This laptop has a 486 dx2-50 cpu, 16 bit PCMCIA and an active TFT screen. They are also known for using the Citizen W1D belt-driven floppy drives (which need recap & belt) which have ALL died by this time unlike some of the other direct driven floppies.
I managed to get hold of a rare 16 bit PCMCIA sound card and have a CF-PCMCIA adapter that I’ve always had trouble getting to run. Finally, I have an old Type 1 SRAM PCMCIA storage card that I heard requires a 16 bit pcmcia slot to be recognized….

In the past, ATAENAB ran (on my Pentium 1 - Toshiba’s) but this didn’t seem to work for me this time around. I scoured vogons, vcfed and the internet and there is a lack of current instructions…

SO… Feb 18, 2022 – I got this working and I may end up doing a youtube tutorial; but I wanted to document this for my Vogons retro-colleagues.

Requirements
1) CompaqDos / softpaq drivers – for the LTE Elite, I used the factory disk image discussed here. It’s a bit of a hassle to write the image as the LTE Elites ONLY support 1gb CF cards and the stock hard drive was only 310 mb. BUT I got it working. I may do a directory extract; but the appropriate drivers are there. It’s just that autoexec/config is not configured properly.
https://archive.org/details/compaqlteelite475cxwindows3.1.7z

2) Config.Sys changes. I looked all over and finally found a document online that discussed it. Maybe it’s in the softpaq documentation but the softpaq requires you to actually create floppy images. And only runs on win98/xp systems. SO I will summarize the changes here. This link gives the most detailed instructions/explanations I’ve found.
http://penwin.stg.net/files/compaq%20concerto … A.1/READPCM.TXT

Config.sys changes => a “;” is the same as “rem” and comments out a line. You need to remove to ( ) comments as they are specific for the concerto. The last 2 lines (dblflash/msflash) is commented out but needs to be on if you use ATA-flash storage (? Compactflash adapter support)

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=D000-DFFF
DOS=HIGH
DOS=UMB
REM *** Begin PCMCIA Drivers
REM Warning: Do not move, re-order, or delete any of these lines.
REM
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\PCMSMIX.EXE (Not installed on Concerto – I found optional)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\SSVLSI.EXE (or SSCIRRUS.EXE for Concerto)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CS.EXE
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\CSALLOC.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\ATADRV.EXE (plus /D:1 parameter for Contura Aero)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.EXE C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.INI
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MEMDRV.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\DBLFLASH.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MS-FLASH.SYS

The above drivers take up quite a bit of low dos memory (I’ve found). Seemed to work without PCMSMIX for me.

This got my PCMCIA sound, sram storage, compactflash storage working in Dos 6. The PCMCIA sound required installation of their separate drivers of course but this enabled the PCMCIA slot to be recognized.

I haven’t played around with all the lines in the config sys see what is actually needed vs optional; but this should be helpful.

I did not run the softpaq install file and just made the changes manually. Additionally, I did not make the system.ini changes for windows documented in the above txt and it still seems to work. Just a FYI

Adding to the knowledge base.

*Presumably, the necessary pcmcia files are in the appropriate softpaq but I haven't done the floppy extract of the related softpaq. I believe it was softpaq1250

kleung21 wrote on 2022-02-19, 02:22:

Compaq LTE Elite (4/50cx) – how to get the PCMCIA working in Dos 6.2/windows 3.1 […]
Show full quote

Compaq LTE Elite (4/50cx) – how to get the PCMCIA working in Dos 6.2/windows 3.1

This laptop has a 486 dx2-50 cpu, 16 bit PCMCIA and an active TFT screen. They are also known for using the Citizen W1D belt-driven floppy drives (which need recap & belt) which have ALL died by this time unlike some of the other direct driven floppies.
I managed to get hold of a rare 16 bit PCMCIA sound card and have a CF-PCMCIA adapter that I’ve always had trouble getting to run. Finally, I have an old Type 1 SRAM PCMCIA storage card that I heard requires a 16 bit pcmcia slot to be recognized….

In the past, ATAENAB ran (on my Pentium 1 - Toshiba’s) but this didn’t seem to work for me this time around. I scoured vogons, vcfed and the internet and there is a lack of current instructions…

SO… Feb 18, 2022 – I got this working and I may end up doing a youtube tutorial; but I wanted to document this for my Vogons retro-colleagues.

Requirements
1) CompaqDos / softpaq drivers – for the LTE Elite, I used the factory disk image discussed here. It’s a bit of a hassle to write the image as the LTE Elites ONLY support 1gb CF cards and the stock hard drive was only 310 mb. BUT I got it working. I may do a directory extract; but the appropriate drivers are there. It’s just that autoexec/config is not configured properly.
https://archive.org/details/compaqlteelite475cxwindows3.1.7z

2) Config.Sys changes. I looked all over and finally found a document online that discussed it. Maybe it’s in the softpaq documentation but the softpaq requires you to actually create floppy images. And only runs on win98/xp systems. SO I will summarize the changes here. This link gives the most detailed instructions/explanations I’ve found.
http://penwin.stg.net/files/compaq%20concerto … A.1/READPCM.TXT

Config.sys changes => a “;” is the same as “rem” and comments out a line. You need to remove to ( ) comments as they are specific for the concerto. The last 2 lines (dblflash/msflash) is commented out but needs to be on if you use ATA-flash storage (? Compactflash adapter support)

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=D000-DFFF
DOS=HIGH
DOS=UMB
REM *** Begin PCMCIA Drivers
REM Warning: Do not move, re-order, or delete any of these lines.
REM
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\PCMSMIX.EXE (Not installed on Concerto – I found optional)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\SSVLSI.EXE (or SSCIRRUS.EXE for Concerto)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CS.EXE
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\CSALLOC.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\ATADRV.EXE (plus /D:1 parameter for Contura Aero)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.EXE C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.INI
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MEMDRV.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\DBLFLASH.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MS-FLASH.SYS

The above drivers take up quite a bit of low dos memory (I’ve found). Seemed to work without PCMSMIX for me.

This got my PCMCIA sound, sram storage, compactflash storage working in Dos 6. The PCMCIA sound required installation of their separate drivers of course but this enabled the PCMCIA slot to be recognized.

I haven’t played around with all the lines in the config sys see what is actually needed vs optional; but this should be helpful.

I did not run the softpaq install file and just made the changes manually. Additionally, I did not make the system.ini changes for windows documented in the above txt and it still seems to work. Just a FYI

Adding to the knowledge base.

*Presumably, the necessary pcmcia files are in the appropriate softpaq but I haven't done the floppy extract of the related softpaq. I believe it was softpaq1250

Good job 😁
Glad you made useful progress for your laptop!

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-02-14, 20:37:

urbanus wrote on 2022-02-14, 16:09:

I have been using SD to IDE adapters alot. Might be worth a try as well (have not tested on this specific machine yet. […]
Show full quote

I have been using SD to IDE adapters alot.
Might be worth a try as well (have not tested on this specific machine yet.

You should then be able to just write my image to a 1GB sd card in theory 🤔

Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Scheda-SD-Micro-SD-a … 5-/124439009261

Ah thanks, didn't know those existed too. But not sure if I want to keep investing more into this laptop, if the 512 MB industrial CF doesn't work I think I will just get rid of the laptop.

One last thought. I bought a bunch of cf cards yesterday and none would boot out of the box.

From a working system. I fdisk partitioned and formatted the cf to transfer the system and dos 6 files over.

This still won't boot. So I went back into the cf card (c drive) and ran the command fdisk /MBR

Then it worked. You'll need to install the cf card as the c drive using the ide adapter and have a bootable CD or floppy to do this procedure. Maybe that's all you need

Thanks again - my 512 MB industrial CF card just arrived today from China, so I will give this a try when I get home, will let you know how I get on.

hope it works. I have some other ideas about what might be the problem, so we'll see.

So just finished following the same instructions from the video as before to fdisk, format and install DOS 6 onto the "industrial" 512 MB CF card. I also did the FDISK /MBR.

Still not booting, however, after the memory check and "1790-Disk 0 Error" (note I still only have the "F1 Boot" option on this screen, nothing to do with the settings automatically updating the disk type or anything like that), when I press F1 - instead of showing "missing operating system" as normal I just see a blinking cursor on the top left. But DOS still does not boot.

My guess is that (ignoring hardware failure) it has to be related to the CF/IDE adapter at this point.

Edit: after some time of blinking it now says "Non-System disk or disk error replace and striek any key when ready" - I guess it was trying to boot from the dead floppy drive.

this is not meant to be critisism in anyway, but more my thinking. Compaq Bios is so terrible, that non system disk or disk error can mean anything. Copy Pasta If you plan to do a fresh installation you must start with a blank hard drive and then install and partition it for the Compaq BIOS via "sp2054.exe Computer Setup and Diagnostics for Portables 1.12B". Otherwise you must run the BIOS config utility from floppy and the F10 key to enter the BIOS won't work. Additionally I warn you to execute "sp1454.exe Hard Disk Partition Restoration Utility 1.00" on your Elite, as it destroys your partitions without a prior warning.

Besides that you mentioned your floppy drive doesn't work? I would addess that issue before attempting to restore the computer, becasue you never know that could be throwing the error.

https://archive.org/details/lte-elite-475-cx

Warlord wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:22:

this is not meant to be critisism in anyway, but more my thinking. Compaq Bios is so terrible, that non system disk or disk error can mean anything. Copy Pasta If you plan to do a fresh installation you must start with a blank hard drive and then install and partition it for the Compaq BIOS via "sp2054.exe Computer Setup and Diagnostics for Portables 1.12B". Otherwise you must run the BIOS config utility from floppy and the F10 key to enter the BIOS won't work. Additionally I warn you to execute "sp1454.exe Hard Disk Partition Restoration Utility 1.00" on your Elite, as it destroys your partitions without a prior warning.

Besides that you mentioned your floppy drive doesn't work? I would addess that issue before attempting to restore the computer, becasue you never know that could be throwing the error.

https://archive.org/details/lte-elite-475-cx

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I have tried two different new belts in each drive, with no luck. So that's not an option for me otherwise I probably could have sorted this out very easily with the rompaqs. One of these drives was actually bought on eBay as the original was broken, but this was also broken on arrival, so I don't really want to buy another especially given that now they are over £60. That's why my only option is to create the drive on a different machine.

Regarding the HDD images from archive.org, I have also tried those numerous times in different ways. The only thing I noticed from writing those to a CF card (regardless of size, tried 1 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB) is that the solid square flashes on the top right, which indicates the diags partition has been recognized. But pressing F10 while it is flashing to access the BIOS still leads to "missing operating system". My new "industrial" CF card is 512 MB so I can no longer use that image as it is around 800 MB, but exactly followed kleung21's steps from his video which clearly shows it working. The only difference is the CF-IDE adapter I am using

At this point the only other option I have is to try a different CF adapter, and if that also fails then it's likely just an issue with the hardware.

Issue is with how compaq is so stupid. If its not done in a very specific way it wont work. The hardware is likely not to blame. More or less the process. What i was trying to say earlyer with error messages is they are not helpful at all. No operating system found can mean no BIOS.

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-02-25, 10:34:

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I […]
Show full quote

Warlord wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:22:

this is not meant to be critisism in anyway, but more my thinking. Compaq Bios is so terrible, that non system disk or disk error can mean anything. Copy Pasta If you plan to do a fresh installation you must start with a blank hard drive and then install and partition it for the Compaq BIOS via "sp2054.exe Computer Setup and Diagnostics for Portables 1.12B". Otherwise you must run the BIOS config utility from floppy and the F10 key to enter the BIOS won't work. Additionally I warn you to execute "sp1454.exe Hard Disk Partition Restoration Utility 1.00" on your Elite, as it destroys your partitions without a prior warning.

Besides that you mentioned your floppy drive doesn't work? I would addess that issue before attempting to restore the computer, becasue you never know that could be throwing the error.

https://archive.org/details/lte-elite-475-cx

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I have tried two different new belts in each drive, with no luck. So that's not an option for me otherwise I probably could have sorted this out very easily with the rompaqs. One of these drives was actually bought on eBay as the original was broken, but this was also broken on arrival, so I don't really want to buy another especially given that now they are over £60. That's why my only option is to create the drive on a different machine.

Regarding the HDD images from archive.org, I have also tried those numerous times in different ways. The only thing I noticed from writing those to a CF card (regardless of size, tried 1 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB) is that the solid square flashes on the top right, which indicates the diags partition has been recognized. But pressing F10 while it is flashing to access the BIOS still leads to "missing operating system". My new "industrial" CF card is 512 MB so I can no longer use that image as it is around 800 MB, but exactly followed kleung21's steps from his video which clearly shows it working. The only difference is the CF-IDE adapter I am using

At this point the only other option I have is to try a different CF adapter, and if that also fails then it's likely just an issue with the hardware.

Well, that's disappointing to hear. Sorry about that.

If you add your location to your profile; maybe one of the board members can send you a working cf / cf-ide adapter.

I'm in Canada and it sounds like you're in europe so it would be too expensive for shipping problably. I'm sure one of the other member can help.

Also, look into the facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/260545191229736

It's dedicated to Compaq LTE series laptops. I know we have some european members there.

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-02-25, 10:34:

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I […]
Show full quote

Warlord wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:22:

this is not meant to be critisism in anyway, but more my thinking. Compaq Bios is so terrible, that non system disk or disk error can mean anything. Copy Pasta If you plan to do a fresh installation you must start with a blank hard drive and then install and partition it for the Compaq BIOS via "sp2054.exe Computer Setup and Diagnostics for Portables 1.12B". Otherwise you must run the BIOS config utility from floppy and the F10 key to enter the BIOS won't work. Additionally I warn you to execute "sp1454.exe Hard Disk Partition Restoration Utility 1.00" on your Elite, as it destroys your partitions without a prior warning.

Besides that you mentioned your floppy drive doesn't work? I would addess that issue before attempting to restore the computer, becasue you never know that could be throwing the error.

https://archive.org/details/lte-elite-475-cx

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I have tried two different new belts in each drive, with no luck. So that's not an option for me otherwise I probably could have sorted this out very easily with the rompaqs. One of these drives was actually bought on eBay as the original was broken, but this was also broken on arrival, so I don't really want to buy another especially given that now they are over £60. That's why my only option is to create the drive on a different machine.

Regarding the HDD images from archive.org, I have also tried those numerous times in different ways. The only thing I noticed from writing those to a CF card (regardless of size, tried 1 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB) is that the solid square flashes on the top right, which indicates the diags partition has been recognized. But pressing F10 while it is flashing to access the BIOS still leads to "missing operating system". My new "industrial" CF card is 512 MB so I can no longer use that image as it is around 800 MB, but exactly followed kleung21's steps from his video which clearly shows it working. The only difference is the CF-IDE adapter I am using

At this point the only other option I have is to try a different CF adapter, and if that also fails then it's likely just an issue with the hardware.

You can shrink the partition on the image.
1. Mount with OSF Mount
2. Shrink partition to less than 512 mb with https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
3. Write with utility that allows writing even when hdd is to small (we only shrank the partition, not the entire image)

urbanus wrote on 2022-02-28, 17:39:

You can shrink the partition on the image. 1. Mount with OSF Mount 2. Shrink partition to less than 512 mb with https://www.part […]
Show full quote

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-02-25, 10:34:

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I […]
Show full quote

Warlord wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:22:

this is not meant to be critisism in anyway, but more my thinking. Compaq Bios is so terrible, that non system disk or disk error can mean anything. Copy Pasta If you plan to do a fresh installation you must start with a blank hard drive and then install and partition it for the Compaq BIOS via "sp2054.exe Computer Setup and Diagnostics for Portables 1.12B". Otherwise you must run the BIOS config utility from floppy and the F10 key to enter the BIOS won't work. Additionally I warn you to execute "sp1454.exe Hard Disk Partition Restoration Utility 1.00" on your Elite, as it destroys your partitions without a prior warning.

Besides that you mentioned your floppy drive doesn't work? I would addess that issue before attempting to restore the computer, becasue you never know that could be throwing the error.

https://archive.org/details/lte-elite-475-cx

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I have tried two different new belts in each drive, with no luck. So that's not an option for me otherwise I probably could have sorted this out very easily with the rompaqs. One of these drives was actually bought on eBay as the original was broken, but this was also broken on arrival, so I don't really want to buy another especially given that now they are over £60. That's why my only option is to create the drive on a different machine.

Regarding the HDD images from archive.org, I have also tried those numerous times in different ways. The only thing I noticed from writing those to a CF card (regardless of size, tried 1 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB) is that the solid square flashes on the top right, which indicates the diags partition has been recognized. But pressing F10 while it is flashing to access the BIOS still leads to "missing operating system". My new "industrial" CF card is 512 MB so I can no longer use that image as it is around 800 MB, but exactly followed kleung21's steps from his video which clearly shows it working. The only difference is the CF-IDE adapter I am using

At this point the only other option I have is to try a different CF adapter, and if that also fails then it's likely just an issue with the hardware.

You can shrink the partition on the image.
1. Mount with OSF Mount
2. Shrink partition to less than 512 mb with https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
3. Write with utility that allows writing even when hdd is to small (we only shrank the partition, not the entire image)

Ah nice, I didn't know you could mount these images. I resized using Minitool to about 450 MB then tried rewriting the image using both HDD Raw Copy and Win 32 Imager but the main partition keeps writing back corrupt (see attachment).

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-03-01, 10:23:

urbanus wrote on 2022-02-28, 17:39:

You can shrink the partition on the image. 1. Mount with OSF Mount 2. Shrink partition to less than 512 mb with https://www.part […]
Show full quote

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-02-25, 10:34:

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I have tried two different new belts in each drive, with no luck. So that's not an option for me otherwise I probably could have sorted this out very easily with the rompaqs. One of these drives was actually bought on eBay as the original was broken, but this was also broken on arrival, so I don't really want to buy another especially given that now they are over £60. That's why my only option is to create the drive on a different machine.

Regarding the HDD images from archive.org, I have also tried those numerous times in different ways. The only thing I noticed from writing those to a CF card (regardless of size, tried 1 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB) is that the solid square flashes on the top right, which indicates the diags partition has been recognized. But pressing F10 while it is flashing to access the BIOS still leads to "missing operating system". My new "industrial" CF card is 512 MB so I can no longer use that image as it is around 800 MB, but exactly followed kleung21's steps from his video which clearly shows it working. The only difference is the CF-IDE adapter I am using

At this point the only other option I have is to try a different CF adapter, and if that also fails then it's likely just an issue with the hardware.

You can shrink the partition on the image.
1. Mount with OSF Mount
2. Shrink partition to less than 512 mb with https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
3. Write with utility that allows writing even when hdd is to small (we only shrank the partition, not the entire image)

Ah nice, I didn't know you could mount these images. I resized using Minitool to about 450 MB then tried rewriting the image using both HDD Raw Copy and Win 32 Imager but the main partition keeps writing back corrupt (see attachment).

I can see if I can make a smaller version.
You can also try yourself with this guide which is how I would also do it to make a proper smaller image.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200602173912/ht … images-on-linux

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-03-01, 10:23:

urbanus wrote on 2022-02-28, 17:39:

You can shrink the partition on the image. 1. Mount with OSF Mount 2. Shrink partition to less than 512 mb with https://www.part […]
Show full quote

djsubtronic wrote on 2022-02-25, 10:34:

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried two different floppy drives. Both had their original belts completely worn out and I have tried two different new belts in each drive, with no luck. So that's not an option for me otherwise I probably could have sorted this out very easily with the rompaqs. One of these drives was actually bought on eBay as the original was broken, but this was also broken on arrival, so I don't really want to buy another especially given that now they are over £60. That's why my only option is to create the drive on a different machine.

Regarding the HDD images from archive.org, I have also tried those numerous times in different ways. The only thing I noticed from writing those to a CF card (regardless of size, tried 1 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB) is that the solid square flashes on the top right, which indicates the diags partition has been recognized. But pressing F10 while it is flashing to access the BIOS still leads to "missing operating system". My new "industrial" CF card is 512 MB so I can no longer use that image as it is around 800 MB, but exactly followed kleung21's steps from his video which clearly shows it working. The only difference is the CF-IDE adapter I am using

At this point the only other option I have is to try a different CF adapter, and if that also fails then it's likely just an issue with the hardware.

You can shrink the partition on the image.
1. Mount with OSF Mount
2. Shrink partition to less than 512 mb with https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
3. Write with utility that allows writing even when hdd is to small (we only shrank the partition, not the entire image)

Ah nice, I didn't know you could mount these images. I resized using Minitool to about 450 MB then tried rewriting the image using both HDD Raw Copy and Win 32 Imager but the main partition keeps writing back corrupt (see attachment).

I don't remember how I initially did it. (I believe i used diskimager as well) as I also had only a 512 mb card

It just ended up writing as much as it could and then errored out but ironically, there's only about 50 mb of data in the actual drive (most of it's empty but they did a disk image/dd I believe).
I don't remember if it actually booted up as I think I just made a CF with dos 6 and just xcopied all the files over using an intermediary computer.

(remember, windows 3.11 - which is what is on that image; is just a dos overlay and doesn't have the bootable flags/configuration that happened after win95).

The main thing you'll find is that windows has the drivers/compaq bios config utility installed. Nothing earth shattering or necessary as there is a Compaq softpaq/driver utility with a dos equivalent (but you do need access to a machine with a floppy drive).

urbanus, wondering how you made out. I've been struggling with the exact same issues as you and have tried two different CF adapters and five CF cards ranging from 256mg to 2gb. All the effort results in the same "missing operating system" message. I initially tried the raw image file that urbanus posted, first to the original Hard Drive, then the CF cards. Looking at them on Win98 you can see all the files created correctly and from MSDOS6 Fdisk, you can also see that the diagnostic partition was created.

kleung21 wrote on 2022-02-07, 08:02:

This is a late reply but the Compaq LTE Elite only support 1gb CF cards or smaller. Anything larger than that will give you trouble/not boot.

There's a seller on EBay that has listings for both 512mb and 2gb CF cards for this system https://www.ebay.com/itm/324971948373?hash=it … =1&isGTR=1#shId so looks like it can support the larger size.

Warlord wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:22:

....Besides that you mentioned your floppy drive doesn't work? I would addess that issue before attempting to restore the computer, becasue you never know that could be throwing the error.

I agree about having a working floppy. My floppy is also dead and I'm still struggling trying to get it going as I know with it operational, all of this will be much easier. My Citizen W1d would not function at all, no disk motor or stepper movement and of course, the belt was disintegrated. Testing showed only 3.3v on pins 1/3/5 so I tapped 5v from another source and now the spindle and stepper motors work! 😀 My attempt at using an elastic band unfortunately failed. Even though it was tight, with a disc inserted it slips. Next step I'm going to try is using a VHS tape https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/mak … py-drive.42701/ for the belt.

I hope this adventure ends well for all who try as I think their great machines to keep alive. A labour of love for sure.

AndrettiGTO wrote on 2022-03-16, 01:15:

urbanus, wondering how you made out. I've been struggling with the exact same issues as you and have tried two different CF adap […]
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urbanus, wondering how you made out. I've been struggling with the exact same issues as you and have tried two different CF adapters and five CF cards ranging from 256mg to 2gb. All the effort results in the same "missing operating system" message. I initially tried the raw image file that urbanus posted, first to the original Hard Drive, then the CF cards. Looking at them on Win98 you can see all the files created correctly and from MSDOS6 Fdisk, you can also see that the diagnostic partition was created.

kleung21 wrote on 2022-02-07, 08:02:

This is a late reply but the Compaq LTE Elite only support 1gb CF cards or smaller. Anything larger than that will give you trouble/not boot.

There's a seller on EBay that has listings for both 512mb and 2gb CF cards for this system https://www.ebay.com/itm/324971948373?hash=it … =1&isGTR=1#shId so looks like it can support the larger size.

Warlord wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:22:

....Besides that you mentioned your floppy drive doesn't work? I would addess that issue before attempting to restore the computer, becasue you never know that could be throwing the error.

I agree about having a working floppy. My floppy is also dead and I'm still struggling trying to get it going as I know with it operational, all of this will be much easier. My Citizen W1d would not function at all, no disk motor or stepper movement and of course, the belt was disintegrated. Testing showed only 3.3v on pins 1/3/5 so I tapped 5v from another source and now the spindle and stepper motors work! 😀 My attempt at using an elastic band unfortunately failed. Even though it was tight, with a disc inserted it slips. Next step I'm going to try is using a VHS tape https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/mak … py-drive.42701/ for the belt.

I hope this adventure ends well for all who try as I think their great machines to keep alive. A labour of love for sure.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2605451912297 … ?q=compactflash

2gb works but is finicky and described only for the transcend 2gb cf card and you have to find a specific model.

i'm in richmond hill if you need a hand.

Created several belts using VHS tape and no more slippage but it still fails to read even with the stepper activity. I think it’s related to the loss of full 5v at the ribbon. Even though I’ve supplied it, I think other parts of the controller must be bad too.

So I now have the disc image working on an 810mb 3 1/2” mechanical drive but no access to the diagnostic portion at all. She just hangs with a flashing cursor if I attempt access with F10 at the flashing block cursor.
A smaller IBM 310mb drive will not boot at all with this image even though both partitions are created.
And still zero luck with any of my CF cards.
Think I’ll just live with the noisy 810mb drive and windows 3.1 for now. I’d originally wanted to recreate the Windows’95 environment it had on it and use my Backpack Bantam CD and sound.

Thanks for the offer of help kleung21.
An update on my attempts to create a "correct" dual partitioned CF card. For now, I've created a fresh Win95 install on a Transcend2GB 133x card with no diagnostics partition. I'm aware many people say this particular card is not compatible (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158242 … 260545191229736 ). I want it to have the original Diagnostics partition available on boot so I've ordered the recommended 2gb Transend card from EBay and I'll try again with the posted image file.