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VL/I-486SV2GX4 Rev 1.8 and Fujitsu 5.2GB HardDrive (MPA3052AT)

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First post, by Malik

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I've received the Winbond ISA-16-bit Multi-I/O controller card to use with this motherboard.

I'm not sure if the hard disk is not being recognized or I have to set the settings in CMOS correctly.

I know the Cylinders, Heads and Sectors but no idea of the Precomp and Landzone attributes.

There's IDE Block mode in the BIOS but no option of LBA attribute.

Any idea about the latest bios version available for this motherboard?
And if that will support newer/LBA hard disks?

This is the smallest capacity and oldest harddrive I have.
I've tried changing the HDD Type but still cannot recognize any types.

What I see on the screen is a few seconds pause after Floppy drive check and the message Hard Disk(s) fail (80) appears after that.

The cable is aligned properly to the no.1 pin accordingly.

Using a 40-wire cable.

I can use the 80-wire cable but then, I have to bend or break off the 19th pin on my controller card. But don't want to do that unless I have every reason to believe that this is the cause.

Are there any latest bios versions to fix this problem?

Or am I limited to the following options -

1) Get a LBA supported I/O card?

2) Get a smaller and still older HDD?

3) Wait for my yet to arrive 486SP3 mobo?

Waiting for the SP3 seems to be the most easiest way, but just wanted to know if there any other methods.

(As I said before, tinkering with the hardware begins even BEFORE we play a Dos game. Aaah! I feel the good old days of DOS is coming back!) 😀

Thanks a lot for any ideas.

Reply 1 of 6, by Amigaz

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There's no BIOS upgrades available...only for rev 2.x and newer mobo's

Did you try HD Auto detection in the BIOS?

I would get a VLB SCSI card to get around this problem......and go all SCSI instead

Grab this http://cgi.ebay.com/Adaptec-AHA-2842VL-SCSI-C … Q2em118Q2el1247

With this controller you can say bye-bye to hd size limits and get a nice speed up and DMA transfers 😎

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 2 of 6, by GL1zdA

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Malik wrote:

I know the Cylinders, Heads and Sectors but no idea of the Precomp and Landzone attributes.

Try '-1' for Precomp and Landzone equal to Cylinder count. (This worked for me). The Landzone seems to rarely be different more than -1/+1 the Cylinder count, the Precomp other popular values are: 0/128/256/300/512 (or a value like N/A, None, ALL, if you BIOS has such option).

getquake.gif | InfoWorld/PC Magazine Indices

Reply 3 of 6, by Malik

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GL1zdA wrote:

Try '-1' for Precomp and Landzone equal to Cylinder count. (This worked for me). The Landzone seems to rarely be different more than -1/+1 the Cylinder count, the Precomp other popular values are: 0/128/256/300/512 (or a value like N/A, None, ALL, if you BIOS has such option).

Thanks a lot. I'll try the settings.

Amigaz wrote:

Grab this http://cgi.ebay.com/Adaptec-AHA-2842VL-...18Q2el1247

That's a good one. Only thing I've to get a scsi hard drive too.

5476332566_7480a12517_t.jpgSB Dos Drivers

Reply 4 of 6, by Amigaz

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Malik wrote:
Thanks a lot. I'll try the settings. […]
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GL1zdA wrote:

Try '-1' for Precomp and Landzone equal to Cylinder count. (This worked for me). The Landzone seems to rarely be different more than -1/+1 the Cylinder count, the Precomp other popular values are: 0/128/256/300/512 (or a value like N/A, None, ALL, if you BIOS has such option).

Thanks a lot. I'll try the settings.

Amigaz wrote:

Grab this http://cgi.ebay.com/Adaptec-AHA-2842VL-...18Q2el1247

That's a good one. Only thing I've to get a scsi hard drive too.

Or get a SCSI-->IDE Adapter and use an IDE drive

I'm using these sort of adapters in my 486 EISA system and Amiga computers...works perfect!

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 6 of 6, by Amigaz

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Malik wrote:
Amigaz wrote:

Or get a SCSI-->IDE Adapter and use an IDE drive

Whoa! Now I'm spoilt for choice! 😁

If you want speed and reliability you go with SCSI but it might cost a bit extra in the end but imho it's worth it
SCSI was king back then when IDE was buggy and slow

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

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