v2.08.01 (latest stable version at the moment). Yasm and old versions of Nasm cannot be used at the moment. Nasm 2.xx automatically converts near (16-bit offset) conditional jumps to short (8-bit offset) conditional jump + unconditional jump for 286 and older that do not support near conditional jumps. I don't like the automatic conversion at all. I found out about the conversion too late so now i need to fix the few remaining near conditional jumps (and maybe switch back to Yasm).
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XTIDE Universal BIOS
- Thread starter aitotat
- Start date
v2.08.01 (latest stable version at the moment). Yasm and old versions of Nasm cannot be used at the moment. Nasm 2.xx automatically converts near (16-bit offset) conditional jumps to short (8-bit offset) conditional jump + unconditional jump for 286 and older that do not support near conditional jumps. I don't like the automatic conversion at all. I found out about the conversion too late so now i need to fix the few remaining near conditional jumps (and maybe switch back to Yasm).
k2x4b524[
Veteran Member
Da-Bump
I read the start of the thread but i could not figure out how your XT ide bios is working, is this a replacement bios for mothercards with ide?
My XT have no onboard ide, is there even such monsters?
But my XT have an ADP50L idecontroller could your bios replace the bios on the ADP50L?
I also have an 8-bit networkcard with empty socket but the connector is on the ADP50L?
Could your XTide bios be of any use for me using bigger CF on ide port?
Right now i think my ADP50L support up to 520 MB using ide to CF converter.
JT
My XT have no onboard ide, is there even such monsters?
But my XT have an ADP50L idecontroller could your bios replace the bios on the ADP50L?
I also have an 8-bit networkcard with empty socket but the connector is on the ADP50L?
Could your XTide bios be of any use for me using bigger CF on ide port?
Right now i think my ADP50L support up to 520 MB using ide to CF converter.
JT
hargle
Veteran Member
First and foremost, it's a BIOS for the XTIDE controller card. I'm surprised you've not heard about it.
http://www.wiki.vintage-computer.com/index.php/XTIDE_project
However, the BIOS can easily be changed to support 16 bit IDE controllers too. The zip file containing the BIOS images have both XT and AT (8 bit and 16 bit) BIOS images.
I know I did a disassembly of that controller's BIOS, but I don't remember if that's the one that uses memory mapped IO, or standard IO. I think it was memory mapped, thus the universal BIOS would *not* work on that card. The source code is available though, so it could be modified to work.
Please note I could be totally wrong about the ADP50L.
That's a perfectly fine solution, in fact, it's a great solution for IDE controllers that are on the motherboard (on the AT based machines-very few XT machines have onboard IDE)
You would need to disable the BIOS on the ADP50L and put the XTIDE BIOS on a chip and put it in the network card. I've done this on a 386 machine of mine with a 3com NIC and an old promise IDE controller.
Yes. This bios supports drives up to 137GB, although DOS is only going to see 8.4G of it. Either way, that's more than enough! :D
There is now a wiki page for XTIDE Universal BIOS instructions on google code. There is also a wiki page containing drive compatibility tables.
I hope to receive results from CF cards and microdrives since some of them do not work as slave drives and some of them requires MBR to be re-created before they can be booted. These are drive limitations and not issues with XTIDE Universal BIOS. I hope that the compatibility list could eventually be used for finding best possible drive to use with XTIDE.
I hope to receive results from CF cards and microdrives since some of them do not work as slave drives and some of them requires MBR to be re-created before they can be booted. These are drive limitations and not issues with XTIDE Universal BIOS. I hope that the compatibility list could eventually be used for finding best possible drive to use with XTIDE.
k2x4b524[
Veteran Member
Aitotat, looking back at the revisions to the bios in the last page of this thread, it implies that the XT-IDE program can burn ANY image to a blank chip of our choosing. That an accurate statement?
I see you've changed the code to assemble with Yasm again.
What version of Yasm are you using for the latest in SVN?
Thanks, Bill
Yasm 1.0.1 (latest at the moment).
By the way, there is now modified reset function (AH=00h, Disk Controller Reset) on the SVN. It should now allow booting on IBM 5150 when no floppy drives are present.
Previously any floppy or hard disk controller error halted booting since AH=00h returned error code. Now it returns error code for requested drive only and the requested drive is the one DOS tries to boot from.
Previously any floppy or hard disk controller error halted booting since AH=00h returned error code. Now it returns error code for requested drive only and the requested drive is the one DOS tries to boot from.
I did see that, thanks.../Bill
Today I modified my XTIDE card to hold an ATMEL 28C256 32k EEPROM, and with jumpers to address 1/4, 1/2, or all of it.
A small change is needed in idecfg.com to program it properly. I have that working. When it's tested more I'll send it along for your consideration.
By the way -- your code is really nice. Very impressive piece of work!
Bill
k2x4b524[
Veteran Member
Howd you mod the XTIDE for the 28C256 32k EEPROM and put jumpers to address it selectively AND chenge the idecfg.com program?
I'm going to post all that after it's rung out and I send it to the project principals.
I finally tested v1.1.1 with IBM 5150 and the boot problems are now fixed. It is now possible to boot from hard disks without floppy drives or floppy controller. v1.1.1 is now officially released and it can be found at google code.
That is the only change for v1.1.1. I'm currently rewriting all my library functions to save some space. It takes a lot of time so don't expect new features anytime soon.
wrljet, how hard is it to modify existing XTIDE card for 16 kiB or 32 kiB EEPROM? Can it be done with only extra wires and maybe resistors? I could really use more space and 16 kiB should be enough (for now).
That is the only change for v1.1.1. I'm currently rewriting all my library functions to save some space. It takes a lot of time so don't expect new features anytime soon.
wrljet, how hard is it to modify existing XTIDE card for 16 kiB or 32 kiB EEPROM? Can it be done with only extra wires and maybe resistors? I could really use more space and 16 kiB should be enough (for now).
I'll PM you on that, schematic, etc. The mod involves cutting two traces, and adding wires to jumpers. Unfortunately I haven't touched it since last weekend -- so no new progress or testing.
/Bill
Please do not update to v1.1.1 if you have hard disks that are not controller by XTIDE Universal BIOS! I broke booting from foreign drives when i fixed the 5150 boot problem. I already fixed it but another problem came up.
I have one question that i hope someone can answer: does MS-DOS 3.30 support more than two hard disks? I have MFM drive as 80h and XTIDE Universal BIOS drives as 81h and 82h. MFM drive has MS-DOS 3.30 installed but i cannot boot from it when i have two IDE drives present. Booting is possible after i remove IDE slave drive.
I'd like to know if this is a DOS limitation and not a bug in XTIDE Universal BIOS.
I have one question that i hope someone can answer: does MS-DOS 3.30 support more than two hard disks? I have MFM drive as 80h and XTIDE Universal BIOS drives as 81h and 82h. MFM drive has MS-DOS 3.30 installed but i cannot boot from it when i have two IDE drives present. Booting is possible after i remove IDE slave drive.
I'd like to know if this is a DOS limitation and not a bug in XTIDE Universal BIOS.
k2x4b524[
Veteran Member
I don't know about that Aitotat, My knowledge of 3.3 is limited, but it's old enough it may not want to deal with more than 2 drives. That or the bios on the mfm card hates XTIDE
Hello,
First I want to thank you for this masterpiece of work, is really cool!
I instaled xtide universal bios 1.1.0 as option rom in a ne2000 isa nic on a IBM PS/2 Model 30-286, to manage the ide port of a sb 16 sound card. It recognizes the 512 mb microdive attached to a cf-ide adaptor and works totally reliable.
The only issue i have found is that if I boot from the original IBM hard drive (non ide) the microdrive dissapears and i can access only to the ibm drive as C: but if I boot from the microdrive, the IBM hard drive appears as D:
Is there a way to solve this behaviour?
Thanks again!
First I want to thank you for this masterpiece of work, is really cool!
I instaled xtide universal bios 1.1.0 as option rom in a ne2000 isa nic on a IBM PS/2 Model 30-286, to manage the ide port of a sb 16 sound card. It recognizes the 512 mb microdive attached to a cf-ide adaptor and works totally reliable.
The only issue i have found is that if I boot from the original IBM hard drive (non ide) the microdrive dissapears and i can access only to the ibm drive as C: but if I boot from the microdrive, the IBM hard drive appears as D:
Is there a way to solve this behaviour?
Thanks again!