| 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 elsewhere. |
| Symptom | Although the normal FDISK and FORMAT/S commands had been performed against the CF card to make it bootable, the vintage computer will not boot from the CF card. The XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) displays the make-model of 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 |
| Main cause | Non-standard 'master boot code' within the master boot record (MBR) of the CF card. (See also the 'Other cause:' lines below.) |
| Fix # 1 | Use the /MBR option of FDISK.EXE (must be from DOS version 5 or later) against the CF card. So, after booting from a DOS 5 (or later) boot floppy, enter: FDISK /MBR |
| Fix # 2 | Or wipe (blank) the CF card's MBR, then redo partitioning and formatting (at the vintage computer). See here for some ways to wipe the MBR. |
| 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 does not provide feedback - the DOS prompt will return with no indication that anything happened. • 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. |
| Other cause: | Very much less frequent, but some people, when creating the DOS partition, created the partition in such a way that it was not marked as active. |
| Other cause: | When formatting the DOS partition, the user did not use the /S option of FORMAT.COM, and consequently, certain boot related files did not get copied to the CF. Refer to note 6 below. |
| Other cause: | User attempted to create a bootable CF using virtualisation software on a modern computer. This is problematic. Do the partitioning and formatting when the CF is in the XT-IDE card. |
| 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 XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) displays the make-model of some CF cards but not others. |
| 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 of CF cards do, but not all - see note 1 at the bottom of here. |
| Symptom | The XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) does not display the make-model of any 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. Example: The default I/O port range (starting 300 hex) conflicts with the RTC functionality on the motherboard of a Leading Edge Technology Model D. |
| 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 | The XT-IDE card has Compatibility/Hi-speed jumpers, and those jumpers are in the wrong setting. (In my experience, only change the jumpers when the computer is powered off.) |
| 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 | The XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) displays unexpected text/characters (nonsense) for the make-model of CF cards. |
| 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 | Faulty XT-IDE card. |
| Possible cause | Incompatibile CF card. |
| Possible cause | ... |
| Possible cause | ... |
| 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) (a.k.a. option 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) (a.k.a. option 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 | YEAR 2012: 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). |
| Possible cause | Faulty XT-IDE card. |
| Possible cause | Sometimes, there appears to be an incompatibility between the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) and the 5170 motherboard's IBM BIOS. The symptom of the incompatibility varies, and includes (but not limited to): • The XUB displays the make-model of CF card, but will not boot from the attached CF card. • If I can get the combination to boot, I have observed corrupted reads of files (as evidenced by CRC comparisons to what was written). Not enough experimentation has been done, but per note 1 below, the problem scope may be restricted to type 1 motherboards fitted with the 01/10/84 revision IBM BIOS (the stock BIOS for that motherboard). |
| Possible cause | Once, on my bench, I accidentally powered a type 3 motherboard using an XT-class power supply. That resulted in various 'bad' behaviour of the various XT-IDE cards that I have. It suggests that a marginal/faulty AT-class power supply might be a cause. |
| Fix #1 | If you have a type 1 motherboard, upgrade the 01/10/84 revision IBM BIOS to the 06/10/85 one. Refer to notes 1 and 3 below. |
| Fix #2 | If you have a type 1 motherboard, upgrade the 01/10/84 revision IBM BIOS to the AWARD one at here. Refer to note 1. |
| Fix #3 | Use a 16-bit IDE controller instead of the XT-IDE. (Which is the 'ideal' solution for a 16-bit computer, because the entire data path is 16 bits wide.) Possible complication: See the 'Known problem - POST error of 601' section of here. |
| Note | See note 1 below. |
| Symptom | A known working XT-IDE card is plugged into a Leading Edge Technology DC-2010, but the card's XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) will not display any CF card. |
| Cause | The default I/O port range (starting 300 hex) used by the XT-IDE card is conflicting with the RTC functionality on the DC-2010's motherboard. |
| Fix | Either: • Disable the RTC functionality on the DC-2010's motherboard; or • Change the I/O port range used by the XT-IDE card. (Which also requires that you reconfigure the XUB to reflect the new I/O port range.) |
| Symptom | A known working XT-IDE card is plugged into a Leading Edge Technology Model D, but the card's XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) will not display any CF card. |
| Cause | The default I/O port range (starting 300 hex) used by the XT-IDE card is conflicting with the RTC functionality on the Model D's motherboard. |
| Fix | Either: • Disable the RTC functionality on the Model D's motherboard; or • Change the I/O port range used by the XT-IDE card. (Which also requires that you reconfigure the XUB to reflect the new I/O port range.) |
| Note | Related discussion at here. |
| Symptom | Does not work in my 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 you do not require support for serial drives, then the optional module of the XTIDE Universal BIOS that supports serial drives ("MODULE_SERIAL") 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. Note: A 'configuration change' is not the same as a version upgrade. |
| 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) (option 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) (option 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. |
| Cause | By default, the XUB stores certain information at the end of the interrupt vectors, i.e. the area starting from address 300h (30:0) onwards. Conflict: BASIC is known to use the same area. |
| Fix | Change the configuration of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) to 'Full operating mode'. As a result, the XUB will reserve 1 KB (default) of conventional memory, and store the information there, instead of the area starting at 300h. |
| Comment | 'Full operating mode' is further 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. |
| Cause | By default, the XUB stores certain information at the end of the interrupt vectors, i.e. the area starting from address 300h (30:0) onwards. Conflict: BASIC is known to use the same area. |
| Fix | Change the configuration of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) to 'Full operating mode'. As a result, the XUB will reserve 1 KB (default) of conventional memory, and store the information there, instead of the area starting at 300h. |
| Comment | 'Full operating mode' is further described in the 'Menu items on {Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS} submenu' section of here. |
| Symptom | I upgraded the release of 2.0.0 Beta 3+ of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) on my XT-IDE card to another release. Everything was working before, but now when I boot from the CF, I see "Missing operating system". Sometimes I saw, "Non-System disk or disk error" |
| Observation | Booting problem only? I could see that the files are there, and can be read okay (as confirmed by CRC comparisons). |
| Example | Upgrading R602 to R622. |
| Fix #1 | Using the XTIDECFG program (the one from the particular XUB version that you upgraded to), reconfigure the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB), changing the 'CHS translation method' setting to 'Assisted LBA'. XTIDECFG navigation: {Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS} {Primary IDE controller} {Master drive} {CHS translation method} |
| Fix #2 | Or, Step 1 - Use FDISK to delete the existing partition. (Or wipe the CF, or wipe the first sector of the CF, the MBR.) Step 2 - Redo the partitioning and formatting of the CF (example at here). |
| Fix #3 | Or, restore the XUB release to what it was. |
| Cause | Reference: The 'Changes' section of here. The behaviour is due to a bug fix that was implemented in release R606. Per the reference, it affects drives with a cylinder count less than or equal to 1024. |
| Symptom | Before I added the XT-IDE card to my computer, 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 (zero). XTIDECFG navigation: {Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS} {Boot settings} {Default boot drive} |
| Symptom | I added an XT-IDE card to my IBM 5150 (or 5160), and when the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) on the card tries to boot from an MS-DOS 6.22 boot floppy, "Starting MS-DOS..." is displayed on the screen and then there is no further progress. I see that the floppy drive's access LED is on continuously. |
| Cause | Not enough conventional memory. 128 KB is not enough for MS-DOS 6.22. 192 KB is enough for 6.22 to boot, with no CONFIG.SYS and no AUTOEXEC.BAT For certain activities after booting, more than 192 KB will be required. Microsoft specify 512 KB as an MS-DOS 6.22 requirement, but that will not be a 'minimum requirement'. |
| Other causes | Note that this symptom has other causes. See here. |
| Symptom | I added an XT-IDE card to my early IBM 5170 (contains a type 1 motherboard), and when the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) on the card tries to boot from MS-DOS 6.22 on the attached CF card, "Starting MS-DOS..." is displayed on the screen and then there is no further progress. |
| Cause | Some sort of incompatibility between the XUB and the 01/10/84 dated IBM BIOS supplied in a type 1 motherboard. See note 1 below. |
| Note | Note that this symptom has other causes. See here. |
| Symptom | The following two cards work individually in the same computer (XT-class), but do not work when both cards are fitted. * Western Digital WD1002A-WX1 controller (62-000043-010 ROM, at address C8000h) * Blue Lava XT-IDE Deluxe (ROM at address D0000h) |
| Note | This will probably apply to other make-models of XT-IDE card as well. |
| Cause | As was discovered per the thread at here, the 62-000043-010 BIOS conflicts in some way with the XTIDE Universal BIOS (a.k.a. XUB) on the Blue Lava XT-IDE Deluxe card. |
| Fix | If your WD1002A-WX1 card has the 62-000043-010 revision of BIOS, change the BIOS to either 62-000094-032 or 62-000094-002 (62-000094-032 and 62-000094-002 have the same content). |
| Information | There may be some sort of incompatibility between the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) and the Zenith version of MS-DOS. See post #36 (and earlier) at here for more information. |
| Symptom | In a Headstart LX CD computer, the XUB's banner/splash text does not display. |
| Cause | A combination of the Headstart LX CD computer and the fact that the XUB uses 'late initialization'. See post #18 (and earlier) at here for more information. |
| Symptom | If I use CheckIt 3's memory map functionality, or InfoSpotter's equivalent functionality, neither shows shows the XT-IDE's BIOS ROM !! |
| Cause | Unknown |
| Note | The RAYXTIDE tool at here is designed to detect the BIOS ROM (loaded with XUB) on the XT-IDE card. |
| Symptom | I have a known-working IBM 5150. I also have a known-working {XT-IDE card + CF card} combination that boots to IBM DOS 3.3 There are no spare ISA sots in my 5150, and so I remove a RAM expansion card, and fit the XT-IDE card in its place. At power-on, the the XTIDE Universal BIOS' (XUB) splash screen appears, and "Booting C>>C" is displayed, but there is no further progress. |
| Cause | In the IBM 5150, simply removing a RAM card without adjusting the motherboard's RAM related switches, is a bad thing. As a result, the BIOS thinks that there is more RAM than fitted. DOS thinks the same, and when DOS boots, DOS tries to use RAM that doesn't exist (and crashes). |
| Fix | Adjust the motherboard's RAM related switches to match the amount of RAM fitted to the IBM 5150. |
| Note | It is likely that the IBM 5150 displayed a 201 error before the screen cleared. |
| Note | There may be problems using Apacer Industrial CF cards. See post #688 at here. Restricted to certain models of Apacer Industrial CF ? Restricted to the XT-IDE Rev 4 ? |
| Note | As reported at here, it appears that in certain circumstances, MacOS 14 overwrites part of the master boot record (MBR), necessitating the use of FDISK /MBR (from DOS 5 or later) to restore booting from the IDE device. |
| Symptom | I have put the XTIDE Universal BIOS (a.k.a. XUB) into the ROM on a 3Com Etherlink II card. At power-up, the XUB splash screen does not display. |
| Note | The power-on self test (POST) of some computers will display an error message indicating a damaged/corrupt ROM. |
| Cause | For the last two bytes of the ROM address space, the Etherlink II returns something other than the last two bytes in the ROM. |
| Fix | See here. |
| Note 1 | The following table records my testing of various combinations of hardware and software. All XT-IDE/XT-CF cards were configured for the default base ROM address of D0000h, and the default base I/O address of 300h. Of the various pre-built XUB builds available, always used was the small XT one (ide_xt.bin) The AWARD motherboard BIOS written of is the one at here. N/T = Not Tested, N/A = Not Applicable 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. |
| Note 2 | Although IBM supported an upgrade of the 01/10/84 dated BIOS to the 06/10/85 dated BIOS, it is unknown if IBM supported a 01/10/84 to 11/15/85 upgrade. See the 'BIOS upgrades' section of here. |
| Note 3 | By upgrading from the 01/10/84 dated BIOS to the 06/10/85 dated BIOS (or 11/15/85 dated BIOS), a particular problem can be introduced if you remove the IBM Fixed Disk and Diskette Drive Adapter. More information about that is in the 'Known problem - POST error of 601' section of here. Note that the XT-IDE card can co-exist with the 'IBM Fixed Disk and Diskette Drive Adapter' - see here. |
| Note 4 | With the AWARD BIOS in place, the XT-IDE would not boot if the AWARD BIOS reported 'TESTING CMOS CHECKSUM ...FAILED'. An invalid CMOS checksum was not a problem with the 11/15/85 dated IBM BIOS. |
| Note 5 | Reconfiguring XUB R625 to 'full operating mode' still resulted in failure. |
| Note 6 | Yes, I am aware that the /S option of FORMAT.COM is not mandatory, and if not used, is substituted by the following three commands (in the order shown). A:\>format c: A:\>sys c: A:\>copy command.com c: |
