FDISK /MBR?

Boot record might have gone screwy. Happens sometimes with fresh cards.

What brand/model is the card?

I have a few cards that will not work with "standard" settings. I had to install them in a newer computer to autodetect the settings, write the settings down and then install in the older computer with those settings.

kikendo wrote on 2020-06-18, 21:58:

First of all there was the issue of geometry. I found a post here where someone said the settings for a 512MB card should be 993 cyls, 16 heads and 63 sectors.

Not necesserily. You need to run IDEINFO.EXE on the CF-IDE adapter/card combination, possibly on another PC where the controller can read the geometry. Then and only then will you know how you manually have to set it up so that it works properly.

SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-06-18, 22:05:

FDISK /MBR?

I'll try that!

appiah4 wrote on 2020-06-18, 22:31:

Not necesserily. You need to run IDEINFO.EXE on the CF-IDE adapter/card combination, possibly on another PC where the controller can read the geometry. Then and only then will you know how you manually have to set it up so that it works properly.

Where do I get IDEINFO?

Do a googlesearch for IDEINFO.EXE

I also like https://archive.org/details/whatide

Doing this myself soon for the first time on a 386 (I've done it on other systems) so I'm reading about any problems and solutions with interest.

Ok as always, teh simplest solution was the one that worked!

SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-06-18, 22:05:

FDISK /MBR?

This fixed it. thanks so much!

Pierre32 wrote on 2020-06-19, 15:10:

I also like https://archive.org/details/whatide

Doing this myself soon for the first time on a 386 (I've done it on other systems) so I'm reading about any problems and solutions with interest.

Thanks for that info, I'll try it! And good luck. Let me know if I can help you in any way.
At this point, I am pretty much done with my 386 restoration, save for one repair. I can't wait to post teh finished, restored build!

I have installed an IDE 40-pin/44-pin to compact flash card adapter in my 386 PC. Inside, I used two adapters: CF to SD card, and SD card to a 64GB microSD.

The BIOS cannot detect the 'HDD parameters,' so I made an MS-DOS boot disk and added the WhatIDE program to it.

If I select that no HDD is installed, the system manages to boot from the disk and starts up. However, when I run WhatIDE, the program says that no fixed disks are installed, so I cannot identify the microSD card parameters to manually enter them into the BIOS.

If I specify that a HDD is installed and choose any of the 46 options in the BIOS, the system will not boot from the MS-DOS disk. It just freezes on the screen.

The IDE to CF card adapter is set to Master/Single IDE.

When I select a HDD in the BIOS, I get two errors. Here is a picture.

I also cannot identify which component is the CMOS battery.

What should I do?

One more thing.

The IDE to CF card is connected to the second (last) IDE connector. The cable has three connectors: one on the motherboard and two others. I used the last one.

If I use the first (middle) IDE connector, the computer doesn't start. After I turn it on, the screen stays black.

Update:

With any HDD selected in the BIOS, I managed to boot from the floppy into MS-DOS.

Both WhatIDE and FDISK give me errors, unable to identify the IDE card.

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-20, 09:51:

I have installed an IDE 40-pin/44-pin to compact flash card adapter in my 386 PC. Inside, I used two adapters: CF to SD card, an […]
Show full quote

I have installed an IDE 40-pin/44-pin to compact flash card adapter in my 386 PC. Inside, I used two adapters: CF to SD card, and SD card to a 64GB microSD.

The BIOS cannot detect the 'HDD parameters,' so I made an MS-DOS boot disk and added the WhatIDE program to it.

If I select that no HDD is installed, the system manages to boot from the disk and starts up. However, when I run WhatIDE, the program says that no fixed disks are installed, so I cannot identify the microSD card parameters to manually enter them into the BIOS.

If I specify that a HDD is installed and choose any of the 46 options in the BIOS, the system will not boot from the MS-DOS disk. It just freezes on the screen.

The attachment IMG_20241020_120624.jpg is no longer available

The IDE to CF card adapter is set to Master/Single IDE.

When I select a HDD in the BIOS, I get two errors. Here is a picture.

The attachment IMG_20241020_121302.jpg is no longer available

I also cannot identify which component is the CMOS battery.

The attachment IMG_20241020_113254.jpg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_20241020_113306.jpg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_20241020_113315.jpg is no longer available

What should I do?

The cmos battery is in the chip package right underneath the CF card adapter, right next to the bigger chip that has MEGATRENDS on it.

You should've started your own thread on this.

I'm fairly certain that whatide should work without any hdd bios parameters set.

Here you'll find another program you can try http://www.ata-atapi.com/atact.html

Just my 2 cents to make life easier.

I've found that RMPrepUSB on modern machine is the best way to partition and format your CF and SD cards for old computers. It aligns, as much as it is reasonable, FAT16 and FAT32 with the SSD blocks, too. So no need to play around with moving partition around after creating partitions on old machine. (FAT16 and FAT32 alignment is very problematic anyways and the result from RMPrepUSB is as good as it can be, but FAT and SSD just doesn't play well together)

After using RMPrepUSB, boot the machine from floppy and run "sys c:" and you are good. 😀

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-20, 13:18:

The cmos battery is in the chip package right underneath the CF card adapter, right next to the bigger chip that has MEGATRENDS […]
Show full quote

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-20, 09:51:

I have installed an IDE 40-pin/44-pin to compact flash card adapter in my 386 PC. Inside, I used two adapters: CF to SD card, an […]
Show full quote

I have installed an IDE 40-pin/44-pin to compact flash card adapter in my 386 PC. Inside, I used two adapters: CF to SD card, and SD card to a 64GB microSD.

The BIOS cannot detect the 'HDD parameters,' so I made an MS-DOS boot disk and added the WhatIDE program to it.

If I select that no HDD is installed, the system manages to boot from the disk and starts up. However, when I run WhatIDE, the program says that no fixed disks are installed, so I cannot identify the microSD card parameters to manually enter them into the BIOS.

If I specify that a HDD is installed and choose any of the 46 options in the BIOS, the system will not boot from the MS-DOS disk. It just freezes on the screen.

The attachment IMG_20241020_120624.jpg is no longer available

The IDE to CF card adapter is set to Master/Single IDE.

When I select a HDD in the BIOS, I get two errors. Here is a picture.

The attachment IMG_20241020_121302.jpg is no longer available

I also cannot identify which component is the CMOS battery.

The attachment IMG_20241020_113254.jpg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_20241020_113306.jpg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_20241020_113315.jpg is no longer available

What should I do?

The cmos battery is in the chip package right underneath the CF card adapter, right next to the bigger chip that has MEGATRENDS on it.

You should've started your own thread on this.

I'm fairly certain that whatide should work without any hdd bios parameters set.

Here you'll find another program you can try http://www.ata-atapi.com/atact.html

Could it be the microSD card? I formatted it on my Mac as MS-DOS. I don't understand why WhatIDE isn't working in my case.

Thanks for your help!

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-10-20, 13:29:

Just my 2 cents to make life easier.

I've found that RMPrepUSB on modern machine is the best way to partition and format your CF and SD cards for old computers. It aligns, as much as it is reasonable, FAT16 and FAT32 with the SSD blocks, too. So no need to play around with moving partition around after creating partitions on old machine. (FAT16 and FAT32 alignment is very problematic anyways and the result from RMPrepUSB is as good as it can be, but FAT and SSD just doesn't play well together)

After using RMPrepUSB, boot the machine from floppy and run "sys c:" and you are good. 😀

My main computer is a Mac, and all my other PCs don’t have card readers. I’ve ordered a USB card reader, so I’ll give it a try with RMPrepUSB.

I’ll provide feedback tomorrow.

Thank you!

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-20, 13:58:

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-20, 13:18:

The cmos battery is in the chip package right underneath the CF card adapter, right next to the bigger chip that has MEGATRENDS […]
Show full quote

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-20, 09:51:

I have installed an IDE 40-pin/44-pin to compact flash card adapter in my 386 PC. Inside, I used two adapters: CF to SD card, an […]
Show full quote

I have installed an IDE 40-pin/44-pin to compact flash card adapter in my 386 PC. Inside, I used two adapters: CF to SD card, and SD card to a 64GB microSD.

The BIOS cannot detect the 'HDD parameters,' so I made an MS-DOS boot disk and added the WhatIDE program to it.

If I select that no HDD is installed, the system manages to boot from the disk and starts up. However, when I run WhatIDE, the program says that no fixed disks are installed, so I cannot identify the microSD card parameters to manually enter them into the BIOS.

If I specify that a HDD is installed and choose any of the 46 options in the BIOS, the system will not boot from the MS-DOS disk. It just freezes on the screen.

The attachment IMG_20241020_120624.jpg is no longer available

The IDE to CF card adapter is set to Master/Single IDE.

When I select a HDD in the BIOS, I get two errors. Here is a picture.

The attachment IMG_20241020_121302.jpg is no longer available

I also cannot identify which component is the CMOS battery.

The attachment IMG_20241020_113254.jpg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_20241020_113306.jpg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_20241020_113315.jpg is no longer available

What should I do?

The cmos battery is in the chip package right underneath the CF card adapter, right next to the bigger chip that has MEGATRENDS on it.

You should've started your own thread on this.

I'm fairly certain that whatide should work without any hdd bios parameters set.

Here you'll find another program you can try http://www.ata-atapi.com/atact.html

Could it be the microSD card? I formatted it on my Mac as MS-DOS. I don't understand why WhatIDE isn't working in my case.

Thanks for your help!

Try using the SD-CF adapter without any SD card in it and running whatide.
Other option would be getting a real CF card.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-20, 14:03:

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-20, 13:58:

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-20, 13:18:

The cmos battery is in the chip package right underneath the CF card adapter, right next to the bigger chip that has MEGATRENDS […]
Show full quote

The cmos battery is in the chip package right underneath the CF card adapter, right next to the bigger chip that has MEGATRENDS on it.

You should've started your own thread on this.

I'm fairly certain that whatide should work without any hdd bios parameters set.

Here you'll find another program you can try http://www.ata-atapi.com/atact.html

Could it be the microSD card? I formatted it on my Mac as MS-DOS. I don't understand why WhatIDE isn't working in my case.

Thanks for your help!

Try using the SD-CF adapter without any SD card in it and running whatide.
Other option would be getting a real CF card.

This is what I get with and without the CF adapter connected. I also tried with the CF adapter connected but without the SD adapter and microSD card inserted.

I ordered a CF memory, I will get it tomorrow.

I've never seen a CMOS battery like this before. How do I change it, and what is it called since it's so different from the usual barrel-style battery?

Update: I managed to ruin the IDE to CF card when I inserted the adapter the wrong way. 😐 The card started smoking and is probably dead.

Tomorrow, I will install an IDE to SD memory card, and hopefully, I'll be able to get it working.

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-21, 06:11:

This is what I get with and without the CF adapter connected. I also tried with the CF adapter connected but without the SD adap […]
Show full quote

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-20, 14:03:

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-20, 13:58:

Could it be the microSD card? I formatted it on my Mac as MS-DOS. I don't understand why WhatIDE isn't working in my case.

Thanks for your help!

Try using the SD-CF adapter without any SD card in it and running whatide.
Other option would be getting a real CF card.

This is what I get with and without the CF adapter connected. I also tried with the CF adapter connected but without the SD adapter and microSD card inserted.

The attachment IMG_20241021_090624.jpg is no longer available

I ordered a CF memory, I will get it tomorrow.

I asked to test the SD-CF adapter without an sd card inserted, which implies the CF-IDE adapter hooked up to the mainboard IDE, and the SD-CF adapter inserted, without a microsd card inserted.

for the RTC battery, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBvw1TLHyqM

Good luck.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-21, 15:09:

I asked to test the SD-CF adapter without an sd card inserted, which implies the CF-IDE adapter hooked up to the mainboard IDE, […]
Show full quote

retropc999 wrote on 2024-10-21, 06:11:

This is what I get with and without the CF adapter connected. I also tried with the CF adapter connected but without the SD adap […]
Show full quote

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-20, 14:03:

Try using the SD-CF adapter without any SD card in it and running whatide.
Other option would be getting a real CF card.

This is what I get with and without the CF adapter connected. I also tried with the CF adapter connected but without the SD adapter and microSD card inserted.

The attachment IMG_20241021_090624.jpg is no longer available

I ordered a CF memory, I will get it tomorrow.

I asked to test the SD-CF adapter without an sd card inserted, which implies the CF-IDE adapter hooked up to the mainboard IDE, and the SD-CF adapter inserted, without a microsd card inserted.

for the RTC battery, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBvw1TLHyqM

Good luck.

I did that, but I wasn't clear in my writing.

Thanks for the video!