Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (
More info?)
fstop8 wrote:
> I have an old non Eide hard drive with some info that
> I need. The old computer is fried.
Post the model numbers of both the drive and the controller. The drive
type is either MFM, RLL, ESDI, or SCSI, and the drive probably plugged
into a controller card rather than directly into the motherboard. Save
that controller card since may be almost irreplaceable, especially the
MFM and RLL types, which usually lay down a low level format unique not
only to the particular model card but also to the version of the BIOS
on the card. Don't throw away the controller even if it's damaged
since damage is typically limited to the cheap, generic buffer chips
that any real computer technician can fix.
I'm almost sure you'll need a motherboard with ISA slots on it, and if
the controller is made for 16-bit ISA (has both a 62-pin connector and
a 38-pin connector in front of it, with a notch between them) rather
than 8-bit, the motherboard will need the ability to turn off its BIOS
shadowing, which causes problems for those controllers because they
possibly use some of the BIOS space for their own scratchpad RAM.
8-bit controllers don't seem to require this, but they can be
incompatible with the BIOSes of some 16-bit motherboards (AT, ATX, as
opposed to XT) and SMS OMTI controllers that use a small amount of
memory space as scratchpad. Another problem can be I/O port overlap
with the IDE controller built into most newer motherboards; either turn
it off in the BIOS setup, or set the controller card to uzse secondary
I/O port addresses.
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