First post, by popcalent
Hi,
I have a 386 DX-40 with a 520MB hard drive. I wanted to replace it with a disk on module (DOM) as master and a CF card (via adapter) as slave. Both the DOM and the CF are 512MB.
The original 520MB hard drive was configured in the BIOS as type 47 (cyl=1057, head=16, WPcom=65535, LZone=1057, Sec=63) [Picture 1]. I brought the sectors down to 62 to make it 512MB for the DOM/CF [Picture 2]. The IDE cable I was using has only two connectors, one goes to the motherboard and the other to the IDE device, in other words, only one IDE device can be connected. I had the intention to replace it with an IDE cable with three connectors to use both the DOM and the CF, but for now I'm using this cable. I mention this because there's no way I connect the IDE device in the wrong connector, as there is only one possibility.
The computer does not detect the DOM. After the memory check, there's an "FDD/HDD controller failure" message [Pitcure 3]. There's no indication on the DOM as to what is the correct pin orientation, but there are only two options. One option prompts that error message, the other option makes the computer fail altogether (as in it doesn't even show anything on the monitor). I don't know if the DOM is defective, or if I'm doing something wrong... The DOM can be seen connected to the IDE in [Picture 4].
Since I couldn't make anything work with the DOM, I moved to the CF card. I'm using a CF to IDE adapter as the one seen in [Picture 4]. I used the same BIOS configuration I used for the DOM because the CF is also 512MB. When I start the computer, after the memory check there's an error message that says "C: drive error, Press <F1> to RESUME" [Picture 5]. Nevertheless, I can boot from a floppy. I did a "format c: /s" to transfer the system to the CF, and reset the computer without the floppy, I get the"C: Drive Error" message, and the computer gets stuck after showing the system configuration (CPU, Memory, Floppy Drives, Ports, etc). I reset again and booted with the floppy drive and did a "fdisk /mbr" on the c: drive, which is the CF, and still I can't boot from the CF. If I boot from the floppy drive, I can access the CF, and write/read to/from it. I just can't boot from it. What can I do???
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