VOGONS


First post, by tokyoracer

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I hate asking for help here all the time, I feel like a scrub but I'm out of ideas and Google hasn't come to fruition this time, sorry...

So, I managed to bag an old AT mini tower from a car boot sale (flea market in the US?) with a Pentium I @ 100Mhz installed and also came with a bunch of other random RAM modules and even a busted up 120 MHz version of the CPU that I straightened the pins on and it works despite it's original state. Just found a sound card and video card to plug in temporarily to test. Soon as I powered it on it booted into a fairly fresh install of 98SE, not really ideal or fun to use for this CPU so I'd like to revert it back to 95 OSR2. However, something that has completely stumped me is that neither the floppy drive or CD Drive seems to be reading in 98SE, crashing the OS when trying to view either (sometimes with a graphical mess on the screen). Everything resumes soon after if you remove the media or force close with Task Manager.
Didn't think much of this initially since I wanted to install a bigger HD anyway, so after some tinkering I installed a larger HD and inserted a boot disk. Made sure it booted from A: first and C: second but although it seeks both and the drive makes a noise it makes no attempt at reading at all. All I get is a Disk I/O error shortly after posting. Everything appears to be recognised during post with no prior errors.

I've tried resetting CMOS, different CPU, different floppy drives and playing with jumpers but never got any further or anything different.

Anyone know where else I might look? Could the IDE controller be fubarred?

Thanks in advance anyway.

P.S. Forgot technical HW specs!

• P51430VX250DM EXPLORER II V2.0(S2.1) Socket 7 mobo.
• Intel Pentium I A80502120
• ATi Radeon 9250 PCI (It's all I got for PCI video!)
• Sound Blaster AWE64
• Maxtor 20GB drive
• 1.44MB Floppy drive
• Quad speed CD-ROM
• 200W PSU

Reply 1 of 13, by Jorpho

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
tokyoracer wrote:

Soon as I powered it on it booted into a fairly fresh install of 98SE, not really ideal or fun to use for this CPU so I'd like to revert it back to 95 OSR2.

FYI, OSR2 isn't going to make much of a difference.

Anyone know where else I might look? Could the IDE controller be fubarred?

Even if the IDE controller had a problem, the floppy drive ought to work. Does booting from the floppy drive still not work if you unplug the hard drive completely? Have you been able to test the boot floppy on other computers? Perhaps the cable is plugged in upside-down at one end or the other.

Reply 2 of 13, by tokyoracer

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Thanks for the suggestions, il have a play with the cables and get back to you.

To answer some questions, I know the drives work fine on other computers. Just for some reason, the CD-ROM and floppy drives won't read on my PI setup.

Reply 3 of 13, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I agree with Jorpho. Check the cable for proper orientation, and also try swapping the floppy cable if you have spares. That does sound to me like the cable is upside down. Usually the red stripe goes toward the power connector on the floppy drive, and toward the 1 on the mobo.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 4 of 13, by nforce4max

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Try some other drives and cables if that doesn't solve it better really start digging in the bios for anything odd or you got a board level issue. I have run into this a few times sadly and the only easy fix when all else fails is to go with a pci controller.

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 5 of 13, by tokyoracer

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Tried all the methods suggested here, different drives and cables. The cables are definitely the right way round, but alas, still the same outcome. Il have to see if eBay yealds anything for a PCI solution. Thanks anyway guys.

Oh and there's no BIOS option I can see that might alter the A: drive in any way other than boot sequence.

Last edited by tokyoracer on 2016-07-21, 17:03. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 6 of 13, by Jorpho

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

To be quite clear, I would expect the floppy drive and the IDE controller to be pretty much entirely independent one one another. If both components are starting to randomly fail, then your motherboard probably has serious problems and there is no point in trying to patch it up with a "PCI solution" – it's time to get a new motherboard.

Reply 7 of 13, by tokyoracer

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Jorpho wrote:

To be quite clear, I would expect the floppy drive and the IDE controller to be pretty much entirely independent one one another. If both components are starting to randomly fail, then your motherboard probably has serious problems and there is no point in trying to patch it up with a "PCI solution" – it's time to get a new motherboard.

Considered this, I did try an ISA ccontroller I have spare just to try and I get the usual "DISK BOOT FAILURE". The fact it detects the drives fine but doesn't want to read from them suggests to me an issue with a hardware component responsible for handling data transfer.

Sad as it does boot and run well with an OS pre-installed but no good if I can't run CD-ROMs and floppys. I think I will just replace it with a 386 mobo I have somewhere laying about looking for a home, and it's a pretty cool case that suits the more pre Pentium era. 😀

Il post it up on here when I'm done. Hopefully that will end better than this!

Reply 8 of 13, by nforce4max

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Just find another board, AT socket 5/7 boards are often dirt cheap on eBay at least in the states if you give it some time. VX boards are very very low demand so your odds of getting a new one are good even nos, HX and TX they can be a little more expensive but not by much.

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 9 of 13, by Sammy

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Maybe just clean the floppy-drive-head?

Can you try the floppy drive in another computer?

Can you set type of floppy drive in bios? 720KB 1,2, 1,44, 2,88 MB? (1.44 should be right)
Can you enable or disable floppy mode 3 in Bios?

Reply 10 of 13, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
Sammy wrote:
Maybe just clean the floppy-drive-head? […]
Show full quote

Maybe just clean the floppy-drive-head?

Can you try the floppy drive in another computer?

Can you set type of floppy drive in bios? 720KB 1,2, 1,44, 2,88 MB? (1.44 should be right)
Can you enable or disable floppy mode 3 in Bios?

He said he tried different floppy drives and the problem is there with all of them.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 11 of 13, by candle_86

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

try cleaning the board

Reply 12 of 13, by Sammy

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

that reminds me of a P III Machine i bought years ago...

It works but has read errors on the CD-Drive.

After long search i found out it was Flashed with the wrong bios version.
i flashed the bios with the Version for this board revision and its rock solid since then.

That story was just an idea what can be the error too

Reply 13 of 13, by Jo22

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
clueless1 wrote:

He said he tried different floppy drives and the problem is there with all of them.

Hmm, did he also try different cables ? I often had trouble with cables. Changing them or connecting them in the reverse order or upside-down sometimes worked for me.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//