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CD-ROM on a 286

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Tiberian Fiend

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I'm trying to connect a CD-ROM drive to my Deskpro 286's Winchester controller. I've tried the generic DOS CD-ROM installation routine (this one, specifically), and it doesn't recognize the drive. Does the computer have to be set to recognize a CD-ROM dirve in its BIOS? I don't have that option.

Also, would a 52x drive work in a 286? I've seen product specifications that have a Pentium 133 as a minimum requirement.
 
what os are you using? no it does not have to be setup in the bios.
 
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I think the Deskpro 286 has an IDE connection dating more than 5 years before the ATAPI spec which most 52x CDROMs need. You need either an ATAPI compliant ISA controller card or SCSI controller (and matching SCSI CDROM) or one of the very rare pre-ATAPI IDE CDROMs that connect up to early IDE with lots of unique drivers. Back then, the easy way was a sound card with CD-ROM attachment.

With the proper controller, the 52x CDROM will work; the speed will be severely limited. The AT bus moves data at about half the speed of 52x CD-ROM. Expect actual throughput to be lower. Getting better than 4x will be a challenge even with a good SCSI setup. IDE connections are CPU intensive which does not match the limited performance of a 286.
 
It's not really the speed I'm worried about; the only new drives are 52x and old black CD-ROM drives are about as rare as beige Blu-Ray drives. Would an 8x drive work? What drive should I use if I decide to go the sound card route with, say, a Sound Blaster 16?
 
You could also grab a DVD-ROM. I've used them on my 286-20 several times. :)
 
I've had good luck with a CD-ROM on my 286 in the past. Some of the SoundBlasters came with drives, I used to have several, and have been getting rid of them, but often a Panasonic or Sony drive would work. They were a pain in the butt so I started using IDE or SCSI for everything. I still have the drive that came with my SoundBlaster 16. I've swiched my 286 to SCSI mainly because it makes adding harddrives easier. I haven't connected a CD-ROM yet but will at some point. Sometimes you can find an old drive with a black face and a new drive that uses the same plastic mold, so the faces will interchange. I remember doing this with a Sony SCSI 4x that had a busted face :) I have several old drives around, PM me if there's anything you want me to look for.
 
I have an old black CD drive around here somewhere. If you want it, gimme a shout. It's IDE though but I also have an ESS AudioDrive around here that has an IDE interface on it.
 
Tiberian Fiend said:
It's not really the speed I'm worried about; the only new drives are 52x and old black CD-ROM drives are about as rare as beige Blu-Ray drives. Would an 8x drive work? What drive should I use if I decide to go the sound card route with, say, a Sound Blaster 16?
Click to expand...

The 52x should slow down to match the speed of the limited controller. But with all the lazy engineering, the drive might not be tested on much older hardware and not drop back correctly. If the software or hardware provides an option to set a lower speed or if a slower CD-ROM is available, I would set it up at a lower speed. 8x drive should be simpler to make work.

Sound card's came with specific matching CD-ROMs. Sound Blaster 16 with IDE is supposed to have an ATAPI functionality and should be the card most likely to work with the widest selection of CD-ROMs.

One other option that I forgot about is external parallel port drive enclosures for ATAPI CD-ROMs. I have seen some being remaindered for $5. Though I don't know if the specific models have drivers that would run on a 286. Hopefully, someone else can provide that information.
 
You wouldn't...you'd be using it as a CD-ROM drive.

On the topic as a whole, I thought it was semi-recently discussed that MSCDEX needed a 386 or higher to work at all?
 
Not that I am aware of. My NEC V20 equipped PCjr does just fine with MSCDEX.
 
hello
I did read DVD - rom with my 8088 ;)
.. dont think my setup did cover long filnames.. but it did read
dvd-rom .. :)
(DTC scsi card and HP scsi dvd-rom-drive)
/cimonvg
 
Tiberian Fiend said:
Oh? How does that work, softwarily speaking? What would I need to read DVD-ROMs in DOS?
Click to expand...


For me, it "just" worked. As far as I know, there is no difference when accessing a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM. Of course, UDF will not be readable. :D
 
SCSI or a IDE soundcard is the easiest way to go about it. MSCDEX works fine on a 286, but it does eat memory you might need for something else.
 
krebizfan said:
One other option that I forgot about is external parallel port drive enclosures for ATAPI CD-ROMs. I have seen some being remaindered for $5. Though I don't know if the specific models have drivers that would run on a 286. Hopefully, someone else can provide that information.
Click to expand...

i use an exterenal hp 7200 plus drive with my 286 and it works pretty good. it was not too hard to find drivers for but apparently hp does not make the drivers for dos.
 
I have a Backpack external CD-ROM, and it works fine, but I want an internal one, and couldn't get any of the ones I have to work.

TNC said:
For me, it "just" worked. As far as I know, there is no difference when accessing a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM. Of course, UDF will not be readable. :D
Click to expand...
What driver did you use?
 
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