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SD to IDE adapters with older BIOSes?

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mbbrutman

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Has anybody tried something like this on an old machine using CHS mode?

https://www.amazon.com/Optimal-Shop-Secure-Digital-Adapter/dp/B00BANFDWG/

I'm replacing a dead Connor hard drive in an L40SX. This seems to be a much simpler way to do it than what I did last time, which involved using a Disk On Module and a custom cable. For the price of the custom cable I can use an SD card, which might not be as robust as the Disk on Module but it will be more than adequate for a vintage machine.

Compact Flash is also a possibility. In both cases I'm worried about if the machine will be able to recognize and boot from it. (The BIOS might be trying to use CHS mode, so maybe only a Disk On Module will work.)
 
CompactFlash is the most compatible choice since they directly implement the ATA-2 command set in full, not via some emulation.
 
It's an old laptop ... there is no place to add a BIOS.

I need to figure out what level of ATA the L40SX supports. That will help me make the decision. The safe and easy route is to do the Disk On Module again, but those are getting more expensive as time passes. I really doubt that the product I linked to supports CHS addressing. :-(
 
mbbrutman said:
IThe safe and easy route is to do the Disk On Module again, but those are getting more expensive as time passes.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by more expensive?

I'm using a 2 GB DOM in my tweener and it costs under $15.

How big a DOM are you thinking about using?
 
That looks a little too generic for me. I've used Transcend, Hyperdisk, PQI and KingSpec in the past. It might work fine for you, but I don't mind paying a bit more to get something that I don't have to debug later on.

And besides, this is getting off topic ... I asked because SD cards are far more plentiful. I might just by the adapter to see what it does and report back here.
 
mbbrutman said:
That looks a little too generic for me. I've used Transcend, Hyperdisk, PQI and KingSpec in the past. It might work fine for you, but I don't mind paying a bit more to get something that I don't have to debug later on.
Click to expand...

Same here. M-Systems, PQI, and Axiomtek (all industrial suppliers) seem to have very good emulation.

mbbrutman said:
And besides, this is getting off topic ... I asked because SD cards are far more plentiful. I might just by the adapter to see what it does and report back here.
Click to expand...

Probably the best course of action. I've wanted to check out those mSATA to 44-pin IDE adapters, too...like this:

https://www.amazon.com/mSATA-SSD-Adapter-Inch-Volt/dp/B009BA8V4M

Not so much for "vintage" computers, but for things that take laptop-size IDE drives and are still new enough to be useful (mostly embedded hardware). No idea how good the IDE emulation is. I've got a few small mSATA take-out modules from old netbooks (4 and 8 GB iirc), just haven't had time/motivation to buy one and test.
 
I have found boards with Sintech chips (no doubt something else rebranded) work with old IDE, XTIDE, etc.
 
Some good news ...

The machine is happy using a relatively generic CF to 44 pin IDE adapter and every CF card I've tried on it. (Transcend and Kingston). It suffers from the 1024 BIOS limit, but that's easily worked around with drive overlay software.

The machine originally came with a 60 or 80MB drive, so I'll probably just put a 512MB CF card in it and not bother with the drive overlay software. But it's good to know I can use larger CF cards if I need to, either with the overlay software or by just dealing with the wrap around at 1024 cyls.


Mike
 
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