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Should I get a 286, 386, or 486 computer?


Zap!

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2 hours ago, wierd_w said:

Not worth it IMO.  Just use the CF adapter.

That CF adapter did not work. When it's inserted and I turn the computer on, it doesn't show anything at all on-screen and it's not powering on. I have tried three different SD cards, and even tried with no SD card. Tried every jumper setting too, and also both Master and Slave. Nothing. The moment I remove the TF to SD adapter, I can power on the computer just fine. It powers on with this just fine, as long as the TF to SD card isn't in.

 

Could be that it only works with true TF cards, I'll try to get one later. Or could be a defective IDE cable (doubt it), TF to SD, or interface. We'll see.

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19 minutes ago, wierd_w said:

Is your cdrom jumpered to slave like it should be?

Is the CF adapter jumpered master?

 

19 minutes ago, wierd_w said:

Is your cdrom jumpered to slave like it should be?

Is the CF adapter jumpered master?

The CD-ROM is connected to the slave, but I will check the CD’s jumpers in the afternoon. I even tried disconnecting the IDE from the CD, and still nothing. Probably defective CF adapter. Not sure why the computer wouldn’t power on but I’ll mess around in later in the day. The CF lights light up by the way. 

 

Edit: have you tried this personally with the CF to SD adapter?

Edited by Zap!
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1 hour ago, wierd_w said:

He picked up the CD->IDE adapter, and also an SD->CF adapter.  It sounds like the latter is not working well in the former. (I have heard tell of them working but apparently not in this case. I have a used lexar 2gb one (CF) sitting around, contemplating sending to him.)

Thanks, but later today I will actually be getting a 2gb one. I'll update then. Could also be the CD->IDE adapter.

 

I tried a 2gb SD card, then 32, then 64 micro with SD card adapter.

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fdisk /mbr just overwrites the master boot record with the DOS default one.

 

It's useful for removing malicious code that can live there, but it can also remove useful code that lives there, like DDOs.

 

In this case, it sounds more like a bus communication error than any of those other issues. I have seen this kind of thing with incompatible IDE devices before.  Investigating if the SD->CF adapter is the cause is worthy.

If push comes to shove, I happen to have some old IDE devices sitting around that I know for sure work. I'm not using them, but the OP could probably use them. I think I even have an old maxtor 500mb someplace, but I am thinking more the 500gb WD Caviar I have sitting right in front of me. :P

 

EDIT:

 

I cannot find that 500mb maxtor, but I dug out a 30gb WD Protoge (3.5" full size), and a 30gb Hitachi Travelstar (2.5" laptop size) IDE, and an unloved SATA->IDE bridge. If Zap! wants them, I can send him a care package.

 

 

Edited by wierd_w
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It was likely a defective card. I contacted the seller, waiting on his/her reply. It started smoking. I quickly turned off the PC but the damage was done to the CD->IDE adapter. There is damage to the back.

 

In the meantime, I'm going to look for a an old IDE hard drive. I have one somewhere, thanks for that offer weird_w. I'll keep you posted.

 

Also, in regard to changing boot order of the 5 1/4" and 31/2?": This is done in BIOS, correct?

 

Finally, I have tried a few floppy programs of both drives. None ran. Is this because I need a boot disk, or should they load anyway? That old "abort, retry, fail" keeps showing up...

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If you are getting read errors from your diskettes--

 

1) Clean the heads with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab.

2) Clean, then apply fresh white lithium grease to the worm gears and head-sled rails.

 

We are talking nearly half a century old tech here. It needs a little maintenance, and it probably got none in that guy's garage. :P

 

So far the tests with the 30gb Protoge' are going well.  Ran it through 2 passes of zero filling, and am now running an extended SMART test.  It has a "past threshold" value for reallocated sectors, which is troubling, but considering the drive's age, this is not terrible.

Edited by wierd_w
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9 hours ago, wierd_w said:

No, PC floppies have a twist in the cable.

 

Before the twist == Drive B.

After the twist == Drive A.

 

 

Thanks, it's been so long I had forgotten. :) I found an excellent pic that I included, I'm gonna go change the cables around after I eat something. I think they are wrong anyway, since the A: drive light always stays on. I'm going back like 27 years, but I think that means backwards.

 

7 hours ago, wierd_w said:

If you are getting read errors from your diskettes--

 

1) Clean the heads with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab.

2) Clean, then apply fresh white lithium grease to the worm gears and head-sled rails.

 

We are talking nearly half a century old tech here. It needs a little maintenance, and it probably got none in that guy's garage. :P

 

So far the tests with the 30gb Protoge' are going well.  Ran it through 2 passes of zero filling, and am now running an extended SMART test.  It has a "past threshold" value for reallocated sectors, which is troubling, but considering the drive's age, this is not terrible.

 I have a good disk cleaner that I used with 91% isopropyl alcohol last night on my Pentium II laptop. After that I made a boot disk with a brand new 3 1/2" floppy. Gonna try it soon with the floppy cables correctly inserted. If I get any read errors on the 386, I'll try the same. The 5 1/4 appears to be insanely loud. I'm gonna have to give it maintenance.

 

I tried two old IDE HD's that were in my drawer. One was insanely loud, and both didn't work. They tried to read, but didn't. Too bad, one was from that era or so, 1.2gb. The problem can also be in my bios. To set the HD, there are only 47 choices. Here's another pic. Notice the disk drive order there too. Then again, both drives may be dead. That might be why I replaced them in the first place. :)

 

 

fddcable.jpg

IMG_1504.jpg

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Btw, I opened and cleaned the floppy. When promoted for a disk, when I press a key it’ll spin, but that center thing won’t move up and down. It also appears to be spinning very slowly, and is very quiet. The message on screen is “DISKETTE BOOT FAILURE.” I guess add a floppy drive to the list of things I’ll be needing lol.

05A94E77-302C-45BE-8F59-2377B2855526.jpeg

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The cable may be bad. 

 

The symptoms you are giving about "drive light is always on" sounds like either cable upside down (which you already looked into), or bad cable.  The motor select lines might be damaged in your cable.

 

Also, that drive looks pretty clean inside.  I would try manually turning the screw-gear (worm gear) that drives the head sled. See if it is stuck.  I also note that it looks dry. Put a small dollop of white lithium grease on it, then turn it manually to move the head sled forward and backward, so that the grease gets where it needs to be.

 

During POST, the drive head should move forward and backward. During boot, the head seeks to the outermost track to catch sector 0, on track 0.  If you are booting from a vintage boot diskette, consider the possibility that the diskette is bad first.

Edited by wierd_w
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Fantastic!

 

I am going to go shopping for groceries and the like.  I will pick up packing goodies while I am out. 

 

In the meantime, if you have multiple diskettes laying around, and games that fit on single diskettes, you can pretend it is 1982.  Boot on your boot diskette, pop in your game diskette, and play. :D

 

You can also play around with that hardware UMB/EMS driver I sent a link to. See if it likes your C/T chipset. (If it works, it will allow you to have EMS and UMBs without going into virtual 86 mode. Some old games are very angry about that, and need actual real-mode. That driver gives UMBs (and if the right chip is available in the chipset) EMS, without going into protected mode to do it. It does that by leveraging the C/T chipset's ability to make shadow ram mapped into the adapter ROM region. Worth a shot. :D

 

Edited by wierd_w
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