Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Have added above to system as I need the extra IDE controller (I have
a A7V133 and got hooked on the standard IDE and Promise IDE
controllers)

When I add a HDD to the Skymaster controller, the system won't boot. A
boot floppy for example starts to load, but then stops short of
actually booting.

With a CD-ROM added to the Skymaster the system boots WinXP normally
and I can see the CD-ROM in Windows and read from it etc.

What is wrong?

jd

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <mp86h09fs374eidbbpr9l63tf4fvpijmrr@4ax.com>, Jimmy Dean
<jdean@nowhere.soon> wrote:

> Have added above to system as I need the extra IDE controller (I have
> a A7V133 and got hooked on the standard IDE and Promise IDE
> controllers)
>
> When I add a HDD to the Skymaster controller, the system won't boot. A
> boot floppy for example starts to load, but then stops short of
> actually booting.
>
> With a CD-ROM added to the Skymaster the system boots WinXP normally
> and I can see the CD-ROM in Windows and read from it etc.
>
> What is wrong?
>
> jd

I don't know if Skymaster has a web site, but tracing the product
down, it looks to be popular in Australia. One site mentions it
has a Silicon Image controller on it, which would possibly lead
here. CMD is a company that Silicon Image bought (or vice versa,
don't know the details), and apparently the 0680 can be
"abused" to make a software RAID or can be used as an ATA
controller.

http://www.siimage.com/products/sii0680.asp

The Siimage page says a default Microsoft IDE driver will work ?

The weak link, will be the BIOS flashed into the IDE controller.
The BIOS would have support for whatever I/O calls are needed
at boot time, and perhaps when the BIOS is loaded from the card,
there is a conflict or a problem with that BIOS. I would try
and find a flasher for the card, and try to bring it up to date.

It pays to always check out a company making hardware (Skymaster
in this case), to make sure they have a support page, that
they have a good history in Google, and that the support page
appears to have regularly updated firmware/drivers. I'm sure
you paid good money for that card, and probably could have had
a Promise/Highpoint/Adaptec/whatever in its place.

I think this post in Google, found by searching for CMD0680
says it all. I don't think this needs to be translated :-(

"Dann ist alles klar. CMD-Controller sind seit jeher
buggy und inperformant (dafuer halt sehr billig). Ich kann
nur sagen: Finger weg davon. Man hat nichts als Aerger und
Performance-Probleme."

HTH,
Paul

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

On Fri, 06 Aug 2004 04:14:58 -0400, nospam@needed.com (Paul) wrote:

>The weak link, will be the BIOS flashed into the IDE controller.
>The BIOS would have support for whatever I/O calls are needed
>at boot time, and perhaps when the BIOS is loaded from the card,
>there is a conflict or a problem with that BIOS. I would try
>and find a flasher for the card, and try to bring it up to date.
>
>It pays to always check out a company making hardware (Skymaster
>in this case), to make sure they have a support page, that
>they have a good history in Google, and that the support page
>appears to have regularly updated firmware/drivers. I'm sure
>you paid good money for that card, and probably could have had
>a Promise/Highpoint/Adaptec/whatever in its place.
>
>I think this post in Google, found by searching for CMD0680
>says it all. I don't think this needs to be translated :-(
>
> "Dann ist alles klar. CMD-Controller sind seit jeher
> buggy und inperformant (dafuer halt sehr billig). Ich kann
> nur sagen: Finger weg davon. Man hat nichts als Aerger und
> Performance-Probleme."
>
>HTH,
> Paul

Thanx for the detailed reply.

Skymaster don't have a website apparently but many of their other
products seem to work OK

jd