> Dumb question: Is UIDE.SYS _only_ for native [motherboard] > controllers? I tried it with two PCI adapter card controllers > -- one IDE controller and one SATA controller and UIDE.SYS did > not find drives connected to either of the cards.
NOT a "dumb" question, but one whose answer is "complex"! UIDE detects SATA and IDE drives by using PCI BIOS calls to find controller I-O addresses, and by using "EDD" BIOS calls later to "match" I-O addresses assigned to a disk with the controller I-O addresses. Only the BIOS can make such I-O address assignments and so UIDE must use them. For CD/DVD units, UIDE does its own "check" of primary/secondary and master/slave drives on each controller found earlier. CD/ DVD units are not assigned I-O addresses -- they are not handled by the BIOS but by SHCDX33D or a similar "CD Redirector" driver. So, UIDE must look for CD/DVD drives "by itself". Regrettably, "add on" cards are also NOT not a part of the main- board BIOS, and so their I-O addresses are "unknown" to PCI BIOS or "EDD" BIOS calls. Thus, UIDE's initialization displays will show no data for your "add on" disks as it cannot "see" them via the standard BIOS calls it makes. But, many "add on" cards WILL install hard-disks as "extra" BIOS I-O units. If so, UIDE displays "Disks run by the BIOS: n" and will "call the BIOS" when a read/write for such disks is issued. On return from the "BIOS call", which is trapped and executed by run-time logic on your "add on" card", UIDE will then cache data for such calls. Assuming the "add on" card has good read/write code in its BIOS chip, this scheme uses little time and achieves almost the same caching performance as a mainboard controller. On your system with "add on" cards, do note if UIDE declares any "Disks run by the BIOS". If so, these are likely the disks for your "add on" cards, and UIDE should handle them well. If not, write me at "mezukoylian at sprynet dot com", and I will cook-up some other scheme. Jack R. Ellis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crystal Reports - New Free Runtime and 30 Day Trial Check out the new simplified licensing option that enables unlimited royalty-free distribution of the report engine for externally facing server and web deployment. http://p.sf.net/sfu/businessobjects _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
