nfraser01 wrote on 2024-04-28, 18:26:TLDR ; some old IDE controllers just don't like bigger drives. […]
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TLDR ; some old IDE controllers just don't like bigger drives.
kaolinitedreams wrote on 2024-04-28, 18:06:
Problem: I formatted the SD card into FAT16 partitions of 2 gig each.
Do you mean partitioned and then formatted? In this machine or another? Using what software?
kaolinitedreams wrote on 2024-04-28, 18:06:
Bios was able to auto detect my hard disk as 1690mb.
What size it it actually? What brand of SD card. What brand of SD-IDE adaptor?
kaolinitedreams wrote on 2024-04-28, 18:06:
I am able to boot to the A Drive and start MSDOS installation. MSDOS says it needs to format the unallocated space for the installation. I only have the option to proceed, in which I do. After it gets to 100%, it gives me an error message saying that "The Format of drive C is incompatible with MSDOS 6.22" OR I get the message "An error was detected while formatting your primary hard disk partition. I get the same error message with Win95.
Boot the MS-DOS 6.22 installation floppy then exit Setup (F3). Run fdisk. Select option 4. Does what is on the scren meet with what you expected?
kaolinitedreams wrote on 2024-04-28, 18:06:
I have tried formatting to different hard drive sizes that are preset in Bios (and making sure Bios is set correctly)
Is the the BIOS not set to auto-detect? If not try that.If there is no auto option use IDEINFO to determine the actual reported CHS of the SD card and use those.
kaolinitedreams wrote on 2024-04-28, 18:06:
I have spent countless hours trying to screw around with drive sizes, reformatting and partitioning different SD cards to FAT ... I am at a loss.
Welcome to retro computing 😀
kaolinitedreams wrote on 2024-04-28, 18:06:
I think I am doing everything correctly to format my SD cards...but at this point I am second guessing myself. The only other thing I could possibly think is that my original IDE cable is bad (I had a bad FDD cable for my 3.5 Floppy drive in which I replaced and it ended up working with a new cable.)
Is it the orhginal IDE cable - the one that came in the machine originally? If not make sure it's not an 80 conductor cable - use a 40 conductor only.
I've had a very fussy Dell 486sx cause many problems with both CF and SD card adaptors. It only worked with an age/size appropraite IDE hard drive in the end.
I've recently had a success with an IDE->SATA adaptor and a small DOM (in a different machine).
Thank you for commenting! Here are some answers to your questions:
1. I popped in my SD card into my laptop using Windows 10. I tried doing one SD card partitioning, then Formatting to FAT16, with the part disk using cmd, etc. With another SD card, I tried using Disk Management partitioning, then formatting to FAT16.
2. With one of the SD cards, it was 32gig. Another SD card was 2gig. The brand is San Disk, and the IDE adapter was off Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/KOOBOOK-1Pcs-40Pin-Ada … /dp/B07YFPX7JB/
3. I have not tried that, but I will most definitely. I am really a newbie when it comes to this, and I couldn't figure out how to get to FDISK to try it.
4. I did try the Bios auto detect several times (it worked and found the drive sizes), but with each time, it still gave those error messages above. I did try one Bios hard drive preset, and it didn't work either.
5. 🤣. Yep. I expected it. The statement gave me a good chuckle.
6. It is the original cable that came with the machine. It does look pinched from being in close quarters with the old CDROM drive. If I can't get this all sorted out, I might be in the same boat as you were with your old fussy machine and get an NOS IDE hard drive.
I appreciate all your input and questions into this matter. 😄
