| Parent |
| NOTE: | This web site is not some kind of 'official' documentation hub for the XT-IDE card. It is simply the result of someone who decided to add to the documentation that exists elewhere. |
| Symptom | Although the normal FDISK and FORMAT/S commands had been performed against the CF card to make it bootable, the computer will not boot from the CF card. The XTIDE Universal BIOS 'recognises' the CF card. You discover that if the computer is booted from floppy, the CF card is accessible (you can read/write/copy files on it) as C: drive. |
| Frequency | Very common |
| Cause | Non-standard 'master boot code' within the master boot record (MBR) of the CF card. |
| Fix # 1 | Use the /MBR option of FDISK.EXE (from DOS version 5 or later) against the CF card. So, after booting from a DOS 5 (or 6) boot floppy, enter: FDISK /MBR |
| Fix # 2 | Or wipe (blank) the CF card, then redo partitioning and formatting. |
| Notes | • The /MBR option of FDISK.EXE does not exist in early versions of DOS. • The /MBR option of FDISK.EXE targets the first hard drive (relevant if you have multiple hard drives in your computer). • The /MBR option of FDISK.EXE is further described at here. • Using FDISK.EXE to delete then recreate partitions does not 'touch' any existing master boot code in the MBR. That is why such use of FDISK.EXE does not fix the subject problem. • Using SYS.COM will not work, because, against a hard drive, SYS targets a DOS partition, not the MBR. |
| Symptom | The computer will not boot from the CF card. However, it is discovered that if the computer is booted from floppy (same DOS version as what is on the CF card), the CF card is accessible (you can read/write/copy files on it) as D: or E: drive. |
| Cause | In an IBM 5150, 5155, or 5160, the floppy-count switches on the motherboard are set for 3 or 4 floppy drives. |
| Note | May only be applicable to early versions of DOS, or certain versions of the XTIDE Universal BIOS. |
| Symptom | The XT-IDE card recognises some make-model of CF cards but not others. ('recognise' = At power on, the XTIDE Universal BIOS correctlt displays the model number of the CF card.) |
| Possible cause | There are reports of some make-model of CF cards not being compatible with the XT-IDE card. |
| Possible cause | There are reports of some make-model of CF cards not being compatible with some CF-to-IDE adapters. |
| Possible cause | OUT OF SCOPE: Some XT-CF cards require a CF card that works in 8-bit mode - the vast majority do, but not all. |
| Symptom | The XT-IDE card does not recognise any make-model of CF card. ('recognise' = At power on, the XTIDE Universal BIOS correctly displays the model number of the CF card.) |
| Possible cause | Faulty XT-IDE card. |
| Possible cause | Misaligned IDE connectors - see here |
| Possible cause | Pin 1 mismatch on IDE connectors - see here |
| Possible cause | The I/O address range used by the IDE interface part of the XT-IDE card is conflicting with some other card, or possibly the motherboard. Example: The default I/O port range (starting 300 hex) conflicts with the RTC functionality on the motherboard of a Leading Edge Technology DC-2010. |
| Possible cause | Wrong 'device type' setting in the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB). See the 'XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) - 'Device type' setting' section of here |
| Possible cause | A CF-to-IDE adapter is being used, but the user is not supplying power to the adapter. • At here is an example of an CF-to-IDE adapter being powered via a power cable. • At here is an example of an CF-to-IDE adapter being powered via pin 20 on the IDE connector. (Not all models of CF-to-IDE adapters can be powered this way.) NOTE: As someone discovered, you must not assume that the adapter is getting power just because you see that one (or more) of the adapter's LED's is lit. |
| Possible cause | A faulty CF-to-IDE adapter is a possibility. • Do not assume that it was fully tested before it left the Chinese factory. • Of course, a CF-to-IDE adapter can always fail whilst in use. |
| Symptom | Does not work in an early IBM 5150 (IBM PC). |
| Background | The XT-IDE card uses a 'BIOS expansion ROM' (the EEPROM on the card) (a.k.a. BIOS ROM) (a.k.a. boot ROM). |
| Cause | The motherboard BIOS supplied in an early IBM 5150 does not support BIOS expansion ROM's. |
| Fix | Upgrade the motherboard BIOS to the final one (revision 10/27/82). That BIOS supports BIOS expansion ROM's. |
| Symptom | Does not work in a Compaq Portable. |
| Background | The XT-IDE card uses a 'BIOS expansion ROM' (the EEPROM on the card) (a.k.a. BIOS ROM) (a.k.a. boot ROM). |
| Cause | The motherboard BIOS supplied (revision B) in a Compaq Portable does not support BIOS expansion ROM's. |
| Fix | Upgrade the motherboard BIOS to the one that is found in a Compaq Portable Plus; the BIOS of revision C. Revision C supports BIOS expansion ROM's. |
| Note | Images of the C revision BIOS ROM's are at here. You (or others) will need to burn the images to 2764 type EPROM's. |
| Note | Revision A of the BIOS was never released. (Source) |
| Symptom | Does not work in expansion slot 8 of an IBM 5155 or IBM 5160 |
| Cause | Slot 8 of the subject computers is not a normal slot. See here for more information. |
| Fix #1 | Move the card to a different slot. |
| Fix #2 | See the 'Slot 8 Support' links at www.glitchwrks.com/xt-ide |
| Symptom | An XT-IDE card, of Rev 2 or later, does not work in an Olivetti M24 or AT&T PC6300 or Xerox 6060 or Logabax Persona 1600. It is observed that an XT-IDE card of Rev 1, works in those computers. |
| Background | The Rev 2 revision of the XT-IDE card introduced a new mode of operation called 'hi-speed' mode (a.k.a. Chuck mod). |
| Cause | The aforementioned computers have different byte ordering compared to IBM PC family computers. Because of that, the 'hi-speed' mode of the XT-IDE card does not work with XTIDE Universal BIOS versions of the time. |
| Note | In a later version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS, a 'device type' setting named 'XTIDE rev2 (Olivetti M24)' was created to support 'hi-speed' mode in the aforementioned computers. |
| Fix #1 | If the XT-IDE card has a 1.x.x version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS, jumper the XT-IDE card to 'compatibilty' mode. ( 'compatibilty' = compatible with Rev 1.). |
| Fix #2 | If the XT-IDE card has an early 2.x.x version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS: Step 1 of 2: Jumper the XT-IDE card to 'compatibilty' mode. ( 'compatibilty' = compatible with Rev 1.) Step 2 of 2: Configure the early 2.x.x version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS to the device type of 'XTIDE rev 1'. |
| Fix #3 | If the XT-IDE card has an later 2.x.x version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS: Step 1 of 2: Jumper the XT-IDE card to 'hi-speed' mode. Step 2 of 2: Configure the later 2.x.x version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS to the device type of 'XTIDE rev2 (Olivetti M24)'. |
| Symptom | Nil or unstable operation in an IBM 5170 (IBM AT). |
| Cause | An incompatibility is known to exist between the XTIDE Universal BIOS and the 5170 motherboard's IBM BIOS ROM's. • The result is corrupted reads of files (as evidenced by CRC comparisons to what was written). • The symptom disappears entirely if the IBM BIOS is swapped out for a non-IBM one. |
| Fix #1 | Substitute the motherboard's IBM BIOS to the Award one at here. Other non-IBM BIOS' there may also be an answer. |
| Fix #2 | Use a 16-bit IDE controller instead of the XT-IDE. (Which is the 'ideal' solution for a 16-bit computer.) |
| Note | See note 1 below. |
| Symptom | Nil or unstable operation in an IBM 5162 (IBM XT Model 286). |
| Cause | An incompatibility is known to exist between the XTIDE Universal BIOS and the 5162 motherboard's IBM BIOS ROM's. • The result is corrupted reads of files (as evidenced by CRC comparisons to what was written). • The symptom disappears entirely if the IBM BIOS is swapped out for a non-IBM one. |
| Fix #1 | Substitute the motherboard's IBM BIOS to the Award one at here. Other non-IBM BIOS' there may also be an answer. |
| Fix #2 | Use a 16-bit IDE controller instead of the XT-IDE. (Which is the 'ideal' solution for a 16-bit computer.) |
| Note | See note 1 below. |
| Symptom | In a Leading Edge Technology DC-2010, known working XT-IDE card will not detect any CF card. |
| Cause | The default I/O port range (starting 300 hex) used by the XT-IDE card is conflicting with the motherboard's RTC functionality. |
| Fix | Either disable the motherboard's RTC functionality, or change the I/O port range used by the XT-IDE card. |
| Symptom | Does not work in an IBM Eduquest. |
| Fix | See here. |
| Symptom | A just-made XT-IDE card stops computer from booting. Removing XT-IDE card allows computer to boot. |
| Possible cause | Some possibilities: • Bad soldering • One or more faulty components • One or more wrong components • Components inserted in wrong orientation • EEPROM has bad content [as an experiment, disable EEPROM and see if computer then boots] • Resource conflict [see here] • XT-IDE card is not sitting fully/properly in the ISA slot |
| Symptom | I have a 2.x.x version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) in my XT-IDE card. The XT-IDE works, and at startup, I see the XUB's line of hot keys displayed, but there is no boot menu like what I saw in the 1.x.x versions of the XUB. |
| Background | The 2.x.x versions of the XTIDE Universal BIOS can be built (compiled), if desired, without certain optional modules/features. For example, if your XT-IDE has no serial port, then the optional module of the XTIDE Universal BIOS that supports the serial port ("MODULE_SERIAL_FLOPPY") can be omitted. |
| Cause | The XTIDE Universal BIOS, of version 2.x.x, flashed into your XT-IDE card, was built without the 'boot menu' module ("MODULE_BOOT_MENU"). |
| Note | Additional information is in the 'Boot menu' section at here. |
| Symptom | A DIR command takes a very long time to display the directory. |
| Cause | This is not caused by the XT-IDE card nor the XTIDE Universal BIOS. Read the 'MS-DOS DIR command takes a very long time' section at here. |
| Problem | "If you move a drive handled by a v1.x.x or v2.0.0 beta 1 BIOS to another system or upgrade to v2.x.x you risk data corruption" |
| Cause | Read the 'Important if you are upgrading from any previous XTIDE Universal BIOS version' section at here. |
| Symptom | I made a configuration change to the XTIDE Universal BIOS in my XT-IDE card, and now when I boot the computer, the computer locks up during the boot sequence. If I remove the XT-IDE card, the computer boots. |
| Cause | There is now an invalid configuration in the XTIDE Universal BIOS, invalid for your particular situation, and invalid in a way that causes the symptom. |
| Fix | 1. Power off the computer. 2. Disable the XT-IDE's boot ROM (BIOS ROM) via the jumper/switch for that. 3. Refit the XT-IDE card to the computer. 4. Power on the computer. It should be booting now. 5. Whilst the computer is running, re-enable the XT-IDE's boot ROM (BIOS ROM) via the jumper/switch for that. 6. Reconfigure the XTIDE Universal BIOS in your XT-IDE card. |
| Symptom | Turbo BASIC v1.1 will either freeze on starting, or freeze when trying to open any files or change directory. |
| Fix | Change the configuration of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) to 'Full operating mode'. |
| Comment | 'Full operating mode' is described in the 'Menu items on {Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS} submenu' section of here. |
| Symptom | IBM Advanced BASIC (BASICA.COM) will report a "Device I/O error" when trying to list files or load them. |
| Fix | Change the configuration of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) to 'Full operating mode'. |
| Comment | 'Full operating mode' is described in the 'Menu items on {Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS} submenu' section of here. |
| Symptom | I upgraded (or downgraded) the 2.x.x version of XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) on my XT-IDE card to another 2.x.x version. Everything was working before, but now when I boot from the CF, I see "Missing operating system". |
| Cause | ??? |
| Fix | I have seen this myself a few times. The answer was to partition and format the CF (or restore the XUB version to what it was). |
| Symptom | Before, if I had put a floppy in drive A: shortly after powering on the computer, the computer would boot from drive A: in preference to drive C: Now, with the XT-IDE card fitted, that boot order behaviour no longer happens - Instead, to boot from A:, I now have to press the A key when the XUB's hotkeybar appears. |
| Cause | The changed boot behaviour is due to the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB), and is by design. |
| Fix | Using the XTIDECFG program (the one from the particular XUB version that you are using), reconfigure the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB), changing the 'Default boot drive' setting to 0. XTIDECFG navigation: {Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS} {Boot settings} {Default boot drive} |
| Note 1 | Yet to do more experimentation, but per below, only some combinations appear to work with the motherboard's stock IBM BIOS fitted. I have tried the following combinations: The first release of 2.0.0 beta 3, appears on-screen as '2.0.0β3 (2013-03-02)'. Release R602 of 2.0.0 beta 3, appears on-screen as '2.0.0β3+ (2019-05-09)'. Release R622 of 2.0.0 beta 3, appears on-screen as '2.0.0β3+ (2021-12-16)'. See here for version/release info. If you are seeking an XT-IDE card for your IBM 5162/5170, and you want it to run with the motherboard's stock IBM BIOS, then get some kind of guarantee from the seller that the card will work in an IBM 5162/5170 fitted with stock IBM BIOS. |
| Note 2 | Appears on-screen as '2.0.0β3+ (2013-04-03)'. |
| Note 3 | • R602 (602, not 622) • 11/15/85 IBM BIOS • Rev 2 card and CF-to-IDE adapter used are pictured at here. • Always boots, and when checked, CRC's of files are always as expected (no corrupted files). • IBM DOS 3.30 |
| Note 4 | • R622 • 11/15/85 IBM BIOS • Rev 2 card and CF-to-IDE adapter used are pictured at here. • In about 30 minutes of 'playing', I twice experienced "Not ready error reading drive C:" • IBM DOS 3.30 |
| Note 5 | • R622 • 11/15/85 IBM BIOS • Rev 4 card and CF-to-IDE adapter used are pictured at here. • MS-DOS 6.22 |
