It all depends on how thr adapter translates between card addresses and cylindes, heads and sectors.

You might have to find docs on the adapter. Some BIOS can autodetech & configure ... or It may come to lots of "Trial and Error"

If the rom on the ide card is firing, it should be setting up the int13 table, and installing its handler though?

Sorry I’m a bit confused by your last message

The way dos knows about hard drives, is through a data structure, that gets initially populated by the system bios, from data stored in the cmos memory.

DOS uses another, different structure called the interrupt vector table, to handle things like disk accesses. This is a small numbered list, with a stored memory address where the numbered service's handling program gets stored.

Initially, the vector table will point to the disk service routine contained in the main system bios. The slot in the table for disk servicing is slot #13, (in hexidecimal).

Addon disk controllers contain a rom with a few magic bytes at the start, that the main system bios looks for after it completes the power on self test. If the system bios finds these magic bytes in the adapter rom region, it knows that an executable option rom is present there, then executes that code. This rom contains a new service routine to service disks with, but also a small program that populates the drive information table, and which updates the memory address for interrupt vector 13, so that it points at the new handler.

The autodetection routine is typically this initial program. It probes the disks, collects the drive's reported data, populates the drive table with that data, then updates the interrupt vector table.

Since this routine usually never bothers with reading the cmos, these kinds of controller bioses dont care what is stored there. They populate the drive table themselves every boot.

Thanks for all that information it’s very interesting and helpful

Your 286 deserves a scsi controller and a bluescsi or a scsi knife module.I am now building my olivetti 286 and this is the route i chose fornmy 286.

DaveDDS wrote on 2026-07-11, 14:56:

It all depends on how thr adapter translates between card addresses and cylindes, heads and sectors.

You might have to find docs on the adapter. Some BIOS can autodetech & configure ... or It may come to lots of "Trial and Error"

I did find the manual for that card.
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/3397366/Sii … l?page=4#manual

It says in the manual that the bios supports ATA-2 LBA mode, up to 8.4gb in size.

An SDcard smaller than that size should be reportable/detectable by this option rom.

But I know that at least with *my* sintechi adapter, it does strange things (like hang) if you do faster than multiword dma mode 1.

The manual proudly proclaims that this option rom uses mutliword dma modes, but doesnt say which one.

Thanks for the link to the manual I found it very interesting and helpful

Just a quick update I downloaded XTIDE and tried that in my 286 pc in dos
But when I tried to run the program it say won work in dos mode

Hi a nother update I got xtide to work in dos it say choose a file to be flushed
It shows a option to choose a drive it shows the a drive but when I try to choose
Another drive it says loading and nothing happens I can’t choose the c drive
I don’t know whether I’m doing something wrong I can only choose the a drive

Xtide from floppy? The c drive will only show if xtide can talk to the controller and detect the drive.
You might need to run the xtcfg app to select the right controller type.
I also imagine the bios on the controller needs to be disabled

Hi does that mean I have to put xtide on my sd ide adapter card and how would I disable my bios
When you say on the controller do you mean my ide data card witch has the adapter attached to
It

I expect the xtide and eide bios on the ide card would be conflicting with each trying to detect the ide drives. I dont think they would work together.
typically i just use the standard io cards that are lacking any bios or its a builtin controller in the motherboard by leaving the drive options in the mb bios as none.

Hi would I be better to take the ide data card out and is there any other way to use the
Sd IDE adapter like could I put it straight into the motherboard or
Somewhere else maybe

Or do you think I should just invest in a actual old hard drive that works in a 286 pc
And use it instead

I would try an actual compact flash adapter, that uses compact flash cards.

Say, something like this..

https://www.amazon.com/SaiDian-Adapter-Compac … t/dp/B097XS4SXP

With something like this..

https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-TS8GCF100I-I … h/dp/B000XH2CS8

That would allow you to get access to the card without opening the system, (there are usb adapters for compact flash cards, for putting files on with), and would have far fewer issues.

(Transcend is a proper, well-known, quality maker of compact flash modules. i see amazon is flooded with knockoffs made to look like sandisk, transcend, and pny, without actually being from those makers. Knockoff flash memory is a very mixed bag. I'd stick to reputable makers. Those are the most likely to correctly follow the compsct flash specification, and be fully ATA compatible.)

A proper compact flash module is electronically compatible with IDE drives. The adapter bracket is just a passive pass-thru device in most cases.

Spinning rust is useful as a diagnostic aid.

I WOULD AVOID SD->CF ADAPTERS.

SDCards are cheaper, for sure, but they are not at all IDE compatible. They use an entirely different signalling method and command set. The adapters that claim to work with them are NOT geared for ATA compliance, and usually only work inside cameras. (There are old dslr cameras that use compact flash modules)

The 'sintechi' adapter you have, is a combination of an SD->CF adapter, (using a hacked knockoff version of a Sintech adapter module's firmware), and a CF->IDE adapter, on the same board. The SD->CF portion 'translates' IDE signals and commands into something that an SDCard can understand. An actual CF card knows how to speak IDE signals and commands all on its own.

'Sintechi' adapters come in a variety of iterations on the hardware that are hard to identify between at time of purchase, but all of them identify themselves on ATA Identify command, as 'Sintechi xxxxxxx', where xxxxxx is information about the adapter and its firmware version.

These are known to behave strangely, and to have compatibility problems in certain circumstances.

A lengthly article on them can be found here.

https://goughlui.com/2019/02/03/tested-generi … dapter-sd35vc0/

Again, given that the eide rom on the ide card wants to use multiword dma modes, (a thing sintechi adapters have problems with), I'd stick with a real compact flash card, from a reputable manufacturer, with a passthru IDE adapter.

There is no 'translation' or 'emulation' or any strange hacky firmwares involved that way.

Thanks that’s a great help I might have better luck with this option thanks for sharing the links as well

Pickle wrote on 2026-07-13, 03:49:

I expect the xtide and eide bios on the ide card would be conflicting with each trying to detect the ide drives. I dont think they would work together.
typically i just use the standard io cards that are lacking any bios or its a builtin controller in the motherboard by leaving the drive options in the mb bios as none.

My initial suggestion of purchasing the card in question, was with the implication that the rom chip would get removed, and replaced with a flashed XTIDE eeprom chip. (The card supports 32kb size, which would allow the fully featured version of xtide) This would make the card into a 16bit xtide, with user-enableable isa DMA features. A very nice bit of retro kit. (No need to mess with abusing a vintage network card for hosting the rom.)

However, OP likely does not have the tools or requisite experience to do that. 🙁

So if I got this card would I have to do anything to it would I use it instead of the ide data card witch
Has the bios chip on it or would I leave the ide data card in as well as this card that you show
In the link I’m a bit confused

The actual compact flash card I suggested is an industrial one. Those have very stringent QA processes in place to *ensure* they are compliant with the specification, as they get used in envionments where human lives may depend on proper operation.

Cutting corners is not permitted in this device class category.

That CF card should work on any IDE controller you throw it at.

The adapter bracket is just a passive passthru device.