vintage, so it cannot handle disks larger than 504 MB. It does not
have an "autotype" choice. It does not support LBA. No BIOS upgrades
are available for systems that are this old. The BIOS is not
flashable. That's why I bought the EIDEMAX.
* I did try connecting the drive to the EIDEMAX IDE connector. It
did not work. That was before I discovered that the drive type should
be set as type 0 or type 1.
* The legacy hard disk IRQ was IRQ14, not IRQ15.
* I also found lots of Google references to EIDEMAX. I read through
many pages of results. But, none of them were useful in solving my
problems. I could exclude results for EIDEMAX II by searching for
EIDEMAX -ii -II. Amazon lists a copy of the EIDEMAX owner's manual
for sale, but says that they are out of stock.
* My EIDEMAX appears to be Rev C. That's what is printed on the
card.
* The EIDEMAX box states:
"Give your existing IDE controller an enhanced IDE boost."
"Keep your existing standard IDE disk controller and plug EIDEMAX
into any 16-bit ISA slot. EIDEMAX will manage all disk functions of
your existing IDE controller."
"EIDEMAX gives you a second ISA EIDE drive/device channel. You can
connect either two EIDE drives (3rd & 4th) or IDE CD-ROM/Tape drive to
the EIDEMAX."
"Devices supported: 2 EIDE drives on existing IDE card + 2 EIDE HDD
or CD-ROM/Tape on EIDEMAX."
I interpret all of this to mean that the proper way to connect my one
IDE drive is through the existing IDE controller; that the IDE
connector on the EIDEMAX is only needed if I have more than two IDE
devices.
BTW, the EIDEMAX card is a descendant of the Promise DRIVEMAX card,
which had no IDE connectors. I would have bought a DRIVEMAX rather
than EIDEMAX if I could have found one.
The only truly baffling feature of the EIDEMAX is that it seems to be
unable to auto-sense the true drive CHS parameters if the true values
are already available in CMOS setup. It seems reasonable to me that
it should always be able to auto-sense the true parameters. But,
evidently, the designers did not design it that way.
What I really need is a copy of the EIDEMAX user's manual. I hoped
someone would have one stashed somewhere, and could send me a copy
electronically.
On Sep 11, 1:23 pm, KwikOne <kerryku...@gmail.com> wrote:
> First off, since setting the correct CHS parameters for disk type has
> a problem
> this then seems to indicate that the major problem you have is with
> your BIOS
> (not the BIOS in the EIDEMAX). ALso, since the EIDEMAX does have an
> IDE
> interface - did you try connecting the drive to it? According to the
> doc at
> stason.org the interface is enabled by default and it is the primary
> IDE
> controller plus the on-board BIOS is enabled. Next, since the legacy
> MF card would have it's IDE set to IRQ 15 you should change the
> EIDEMAX
> to IRQ 14.
>
> Now, as for googling... I found over 1300 references - for
> "promise eidemax" (though a very good portion of them are
> for the EIDEMAX II). And, which revision of the EIDEMAX do you
> have? Original, or REV B? (there are two docs on stason.org;
> 1 for each rev.) The Rev A can have the on-board BIOS disabled,
> the REV B can't.
>
> And, in reference to hard disk limitations in DOS, etc, see:http://www.computing.net/answers/dos/limitation-in-hard-disk-drive-si...
> It has a very good description on limitations within the software and
> BIOS and may
> explain what is going on with your system. And, within your system,
> it is 0, or 1 which is the 'auto-type' setting, unless there is a
> specific
> one that says 'auto'. You may have to upgrade your systems BIOS
> (if there is an upgrade)
>
> I have not been able to locate a 'user' manual for the EIDEMAX (only
> for the II)
>
> Now, you need to understand that the EIDEMAX was originally meant as
> a primary controller (as evidenced by the REV A default jumpers), or
> as
> a secondary controller. You MUST connect the drives it is to control
> to it which is what you are NOT doing. You are still using your
> original IDE controller as evidenced by the cable from the drive!
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