Question about prehistoric hardware :)

Dee-ehn 2005-01-10 15:34:26 UTC #1

I have this old 468 machine (DX-50) that I'm reinstalling so my dad can play his retro games. There's one problem though: to get my CDROM to work, I have to figure out at what I/O adress the interface card is running. I know there are software tools to do so, but I don't recall any names...

Who can help me?

Oh btw... the system doesn't support PnP. Neither does the interface card. But, as the interface card doesn't read any brand or type, I can't figure out how to set the unnamed jumpers on the card.
Even the (important) chips on that card are blank. Must have been cheap back in 94...

stonent 2005-01-10 18:03:45 UTC #2

You could start by telling us what kind of cdrom it is. Any info on the card can help. Pictures would be even better.

xtacydima 2005-01-10 18:34:50 UTC #3

wasnt most default drivers set the cd-rom to like 220h or something like that

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 01:07:04 UTC #4

@stonent: it doesn't matter what CDROM it is, since the interface card that came with it doesn't really belong to the drive. I know it worked in the PC it came from, but the documentation of the card is lost...

@xtacydima: I believe it was 320.... but I tried all adresses from 200 to 400 and they all didn't work (so it has to be another one)

DiiZzY 2005-01-11 01:41:21 UTC #5

Interface card --> Sound Card?
//Danne

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 02:03:00 UTC #6

No it's not a soundcard. Hooking this CDROM up to the soundcard's IDE controller makes the system crash...

These cards were sold as interface cards back then... I guess they are just plain E-IDE controllers that can handle ATAPI devices. Standard ISA HDD/FDD controller cards couldn't do that back then.
The card is also equipped with a socket to fit the analog audio cable from the CDROM. It has a stereo output.

DiiZzY 2005-01-11 02:09:18 UTC #7

If they're plain E-IDE controllers you don't need any drivers (at least mine didn't which was back in 92-93) and you're most likely looking at a custom interface btw. Many Sound Blaster models features these proprietary interfaces. As for I/O address it's not 220h, that address is/was used (99% of the times) for sound cards. May I ask what drive it is? Brand and model may be helpful in this case.
//Danne

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 02:23:29 UTC #8

I doubt if it's a custom inferface as the interface card also supports floppy drives and hdd's. Seems like it is a simple controller card (without com/lpt ports) with the additional CDROM audio feature.

I/O address 220 is used by the Soundblaster card in the system (SB16). That was indeed the stardard setting for those cards.

The drive: Aztech CDA 268-01A IDE (2x). Yes, that's strange: hooking an IDE CDROM up to an IDE controller makes the system crash.

Oh btw... my SB16 only has the IDE/ATAPI interface. The print does have holes for Panasonic/Creative CDROM drives, but there aren't any pins soldered in. On the other hand, this Aztech drive should be a regular IDE one, despite of the controller card that came with it (makes sense as the card/CDROM came from a 386 and those didn't support >508MB fs).

DiiZzY 2005-01-11 03:38:22 UTC #9

A plain CD-ROM drive will work fine unless the mainboard is crap, it does work fine on my parents old IBM 486DX266 (formely DX33). A new cd-rom is like 10 bucks anyways.
//Danne

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 03:50:50 UTC #10

This is an old 468 without an onboard IDE controller; it requires an additional controller card (that one's working fine btw).

10 bucks is more than that entire computer is worth

DiiZzY 2005-01-11 04:11:06 UTC #11

Get another 486/Pentium comp that works, it's not really possible to give any hints since there are quite a numbers of solutions available and the description "interface card" isn't really helpful (no offence). You're best luck is to try a CDROM driver and cross your fingers.
http://www.treiberupdate.de/treiber-download/z-dltreiber/download_treiber.php?load=13262
//Danne

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 04:15:58 UTC #12

Well it's the best I can do to describe this card... as I said, there isn't any information on the card, so I'm walking blind here..

The whole problem is that the Aztech driver (I have that driver) requires the I/O address of the controller the drive is hooked on, and that's what I need to find out. I know there are tools that can read this information (I had those tools back in those days) but I can't recall what tools those were..

I already tried a generic driver (banana) but that does not work.

Thanks for the troubles though

DiiZzY 2005-01-11 04:19:41 UTC #13

It's four different addresses, how hard it to try them all?
//Danne

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 04:23:05 UTC #14

What addresses may that be? There aren't any adresses printed on the card (it has jumpers, but no addresses are printed). I already tried a whole bunch (200h up to 400h) without getting lucky.

DiiZzY 2005-01-11 05:47:01 UTC #15

It's usually around 300h-340h using jumps by 10, i.e 310, 320, 330 and so on.
Just feed config.sys with a buch of address and cross your fingers if it doesn't work you probably need a driver for the card too.
//Danne

LoneWolf15 2005-01-11 06:19:01 UTC #16

Can you either post pictures of the CD drive label or the interface card? These things can really help (and sometimes a model number silkscreened on the card is all it takes for a forum member to help you figure it out). Diz is right on the ports, usually they're 300-340H.

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 06:27:29 UTC #17

I tried the 300/340h range. This is the default range for the Aztech controller card (that I don't have) according to the setup program.

AFAIK this card always worked without a driver. I got this combo from a friend of mine who's computer I installed various times (last time must have been about 10 years go though). I don't remember installing drivers for the card (but neither I remember the address to be used).

Yes, I can post pictures. I'll get the card out of the computer somewhere tonight and I'll give it a try. Thanks so far

Matth 2005-01-11 07:25:56 UTC #18

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pc-hardware-faq/enhanced-IDE/part2/
The "standards" for the main and alternate IDE ports are:

Interface number     CS0-decode    CS1-decode    IRQ number

        1            01F0h-01F7h   03F6h-03F7h    14
        2            0170h-0177h   0376h-0377h    15 or 10
        3            01E8h-01EFh   03EEh-03EFh    12 or 11
        4            0168h-016Fh   036Eh-036Fh    10 or 9

The soundblaster IDE, and perhaps other alternates, often seem to favour number 4, not number 3.

http://www.driverzone.com/drivers/aztech/ - seems to have several drivers - looks like the driver also varies between soundcard, supplied interface and generic IDE.

Dee-ehn 2005-01-11 07:35:21 UTC #19

Thanx Matth I'll look into it!

I just found out that this card is in fact a Logisys card, rebadged by Western digital (my friend's brother recalled that). It's a "wdh7001c" card.

DiiZzY 2005-01-11 08:09:38 UTC #20

Looks like you're out of luck.
http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=wdh7001c&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search
//Danne