[rescue] WTB Laptop CD-ROM with MASTER/SLAVE/CSEL switch (or alternative hacks)

[md.benson at gmail.com]

And there’s the other catch. It’s Compaq. The BIOS is software based, the original hard drive is deadder than the Queen, and the only way to restore it is via CDROM >.<

So the tests I did are:

- Hard drive only, it’s happy.
- Non-switched DVD ROM only it’s okay
- Both the IDE bus locks and you get no boot
- I tried it with the Hard disk as Master, Slave and Cable Select and none resolve the issue.

The CD-ROM, as stated has a 3-way physical switch on the underside which was set to CSEL on the original drive.

Thus, I need to get a drive I can set the same way, or a hack I can do to fool a newer drive to into behaving that way.

Old laptops… they’re an enormous joy. I can see shy everyone liked Thinkpads!

Sent from my iPhone

> On 23 Jan 2024, at 12:38, Peter Stokes via rescue <rescue at sunhelp.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Mark
> 
> Quite often if I remember correctly these laptop CDs came preconfigured master or slave.
> 
> Can you see the IDE config via bios? I would disconnect the HD and see what it says.
> 
> Peter
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On 23 Jan 2024, at 10:18, Mark Benson via rescue <rescue at sunhelp.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> I am having a heck of a time rebuilding a Compaq Armada laptop. I got it for a song and it’s in really excellent shape. The issue is, like many it’s age, the CD-ROM drive is dying on it is dying and nothing I replace it with works, it just crashes the IDE bus.
>> 
>> I need to replace it with a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM with a Master/Slave/Cable Select switch. I think the IDE is configured to use Cable Select to automatically assign the CD and HDD to their required position and I can’t find any way to force a non-switchable drive into this config.
>> 
>> If anyone has a working drive to spare, preferably in the UK, or knows any sneaky hacks to allow me to force another drive into Cable Select, let me know. Bear in mind this is in a laptop in a caddy/carrier so there are no conventional ribbon cables to mess with.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Mark Benson
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
> 
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