oldschooldaw.com

Hardware => Computer Hardware => 1990s => Topic started by: chrisNova777 on September 09, 2017, 01:29:53 PM

Title: Promise EIDE MAX II - storage controller (1998?)
Post by: chrisNova777 on September 09, 2017, 01:29:53 PM

(http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4598.0;attach=6134;image)

"Universal BIOS Upgrade Kit makes any system EIDE & ATAPI ready"
Promise EIDE MAX II - storage controller
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EA3H7TVDL._SS500_.jpg)

(http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4602.0;attach=6107;image)
https://www.cnet.com/products/promise-eide-max-ii-storage-controller-ata-isa/
https://www.cnet.com/products/promise-eide-max-ii-storage-controller-ata-isa/specs/
http://naucee.com/ARG/Photos/Other/EIDE%20MAX%20II.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/19970416030712/http://www.promise.com:80/html/sales/EIDE-Controllers.html

(http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4598.0;attach=5627;image)

Quote

I thought I bought a full IDE controller, but I got fooled.
It highly recommends continuing using the existing controller for performance considerations.
It adds BIOS 128GB drive support to any existing controller in your system.
The IDE ports present on the card will boot a harddrive,
but it will only function in real mode in Windows, which sucks in terms of performance.

The manual and Amazon states (the ports on the eidemax card itself) are mainly for ATAPI devices such as CD-ROM, tape and zip drives.
It also works alongside my SCSI VLB controller.
They also boosts about 80% higher performance over ISA (I'll see if I can bench that).

So if you know how to find a use for this card, it's great,
just don't expect it to work wonders as a stand-alone IDE controller in your 386/486 as I did!

(http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4598.0;attach=6140;image)

Title: Re: Promise EIDE MAX II - storage controller (1998?)
Post by: chrisNova777 on September 11, 2017, 02:51:00 PM

(http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4598.0;attach=6138;image)

Quote

Is Logical Block Addressing (LBA) BIOS support needed when using the DOS on drives greater than 528 MB?
DOS requires Logical Block Addressing (LBA) BIOS support to see the full capacity of the drive. If the motherboard BIOS does not support the LBA feature, 3rd Party BIOS support will be needed.

It is recommended to:
Upgrade the system Motherboard.
Purchase/Install an Enhanced IDE Interface (EIDE) card with onboard BIOS that provides support for large capacity drives.
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/FAQ/SingleQuestion.aspx?QuestionId=1219