On Jun 16, 16:57, David V. Corbin wrote:
>
> >>> A problem is the braindamaged BIOS/mobo, which only handles
> >>> one floppy.
>
> Pete, altering the number of FDC/HDC from what the BIOS expects is
typically
> a significant problem as this is where all of the hardware access is
routed
> through.
Depends on the OS, but I believe DOS does so, for floppies at least,
unless you use a third party driver. However, I thought one of the
points of disabling an onboard device was to allow you to use one on
an additional card (other reasons exist, eg preventing startup errors
if you have removed floppies for security).
I think I've solved the problem, insofar as I've found a combination of
settings that works. I decided to make a list of the all possible
permutations of relevant links on the ISA controllers and
enable/disable/auto settings in the BIOS, work methodically through
them, and write down the results. Mainly because I couldn't remember
exactly what perms produced which problems last night! One combination
of disabling the onboard controller, using a particular card
(WDAT-240), having both floppies on that card, worked. Odd, because it
was an obvious one that I was sure I'd tried before; perhaps I did one
BIOS reset too few or something.
I've not tested single density yet. And I'm not sure about
reading/formatting/writing DD disks in the HD 5.25" drive. But it's
well after 1am here, and I've run out of time again...
> Please feel free to contact me off list if you want to discuss this
further.
> I do not think there are any "simple" answers [although someone else
may
> have an idea, which is why I am publicly responding].
Any other suggestions are welcome :-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Wed Jun 16 2004 - 19:30:57 BST