Re: Hide A: drive? by Menno
Menno
Wed Aug 18 19:37:25 CDT 2004
"Mart" <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.com> wrote in
news:#a2eBgVhEHA.644@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl:
> You've lost me somewhere - just to recap:-
>
> From your first post, you said
>> ...... the floppy drive uninstalls itself in BIOS.
>
> Just exactly what do you mean?
>
> Do you mean that *without* the DigiDrive connected, when you start
> your PC and go into the BIOS on the first setup menu, you can see the
> floppy A:\ drive?
I have to go under advanced and Diskette Configuration, and enable
the floppy drive controller, and then pick "1.44/3.5" from the list. That
installs it, and it will stay installed forever as long as I don't hook
up the DigiDrive.
> Then when you connect the DigiDrive and re-start your PC there is no
> sign of the A:\ drive on the BIOS setup menu?
Correct, I go back to the diskette settings and where I had selected
1.44/3.5 in says "Not installed".
> Also, have you got your IDE settings to detect AUTO?
Yes. And that is working OK.
> In your second post, you also said:-
>> Booting from Windows ME startup disk... it starts booting from it,
>> but before the startup disk menu comes up, I get "Current drive not
>> valid".
See above. This is what happens when I have just reset the bios for
the 1.44/3.5 floppy and try to boot with the ME disk. That's when I go
back into BIOS and see it is not installed again. All this is happening
when the DigiDrive is connected.
> That *sounds* like you've got a faulty WinMe Startup disk.
Nope... see above. Works fine when the DigiDrive isn't connected.
> And then you go on to say:-
>> If I try to boot with a Windows 98 disk, it'll boot, but instead of
>> the usual "Boot with CD-Rom Support", or "Boot Without CD_rom
>> support" and whatever the other one is, it'll give the the standard
>> Windows 98 msdos.sys
>> menu... normal mode, bootlog.txt. safe mode, step-by-step, command
>> prompt, etc.
>
> I which case, it doesn't seem to be booting from the A: drive but
> appears to be booting into Safe Mode. But why aren't you using a WinMe
> startup floppy disk?
Just to see if it'd act any different than the ME disk. It does, but
the end result is the same. The drive goes away in BIOS.
> Then finally, in your last post, you say:
>> .... It shows in BIOS as a removable drive,
>
> Are you sure that you do mean the BIOS and not Device Manager?
In BIOS it shows up... wait, I'll go hook it up again.... :-)
OK, actually in BIOS it calls it an IOMEGA ZIP 100. My guess is
IOMEGA probably made it, or has a chip in there or something that makes
it identify that way.
In Device Manager, it's "Generic IDE card reader"
In Windows Explorer, it's "Removable Disk (D)"
> I'm afraid that from here at least, none of the symptoms seem to be
> making any sense.
I know... that's what started this whole thing... :-)
The guy and his son are coming over in a few minutes. I think we are
going to try and find a different card reader... anything that'll work
with a "15mb ATA Flash" card. That's the one and only thing he uses it
for.
Thanks for following me along on all this!
Interestingly enough, I've never figured out to do what the subject of
this thread was in the first place. <g>
> "Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns954988147B5F5butter@207.46.248.16...
>> Oh, it does. It shows in BIOS as a removable drive, and Windows
>> assigns it a drive letter. Whether the floppy is hooked up or not.
>> But its presence disables the floppy. (I'm trying alt.comp.hardware
>> but I really don't think there's any solution).
>>
>> "Mart" <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.com> wrote in
>> news:uxVQO2ShEHA.536@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl:
>>
>>> LOL
>>>
>>> But still don't understand why the BIOS won't accept this IDE device
>>> on its HDD controller and more importantly why adding it should
>>> affect the FDD controller. Even more weird!
>>>
>>> Mart
>>>
>>>
>>> "Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:Xns954952A3277Ebutter@207.46.248.16...
>>>>I didn't even go there. It's out of warranty and they probably
>>>>don't
>>>> even know what a DigiDrive reader is. At any rate, I'm sure they'd
>>>> tell me to call Addonics. It'd sure be fun to get a couple of those
>>>> outfits into a conference call sometime.
>>>>
>>>> "Mart" <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.com> wrote in
>>>> news:eA98BlPhEHA.712@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl:
>>>>
>>>>>> ... it's hardware. It just doesn't
>>>>>> like that Dell motherboard.
>>>>>
>>>>> Probably more a case of " ... the Dell motherboard just doesn't
>>>>> like the Addonics Ultra DigiDrive Reader!!. Sounds like the
>>>>> DigiDrive is OK if it works with your other machine.
>>>>>
>>>>> Weird! What do Dell have to say? - if anything <g>
>>>>>
>>>>> Mart
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:Xns9548C810F6AF8butter@207.46.248.16...
>>>>>> Booting from Windows ME startup disk... it starts booting from
>>>>>> it, but before the startup disk menu comes up, I get "Current
>>>>>> drive not valid". I can then type "C:" and it'll go to C and I
>>>>>> can read it. If I type "A:" again, it'll say "Invalid Drive
>>>>>> Specification" If I try to boot with a Windows 98 disk, it'll
>>>>>> boot, but instead of the usual "Boot with CD-Rom Support", or
>>>>>> "Boot Without CD_rom support" and whatever the other one is,
>>>>>> it'll give the the standard Windows 98 msdos.sys
>>>>>> menu... normal mode, bootlog.txt. safe mode, step-by-step,
>>>>>> command prompt, etc. Of course there's nothing I can do from
>>>>>> there. Go back to BIOS and the floppy drive is "Not Installed"
>>>>>> anymore. Unhook the DigiDrive and everything is lovely again.
>>>>>> Yes, I know, *that's" not an ME problem... it's hardware. It just
>>>>>> doesn't like that Dell motherboard. The DigiDrive worked fine on
>>>>>> one of my other computers. No conflict.
>>>>>> At this point, I'm just trying to figure out how, with the
>>>>>> controller disabled and the drive "not installed" in BIOS, and
>>>>>> the drive sitting 10 feet away physically disconnected, to make
>>>>>> ME believe it's NOT there!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Mart" <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.com> wrote in
>>>>>> news:ewO29YLhEHA.1276@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Before you worry about WinMe, you really need to sort out why
>>>>>>> it's not being correctly recognised in the BIOS.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Also, according to the Addonics site, the device also works
>>>>>>> under DOS.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Again, before you worry too much about it not working in WinMe,
>>>>>>> can you see it (and/or your A: drive) in Real Mode DOS? (Booting
>>>>>>> from the WinMe Startup floppy Disk).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Your problem doesn't seem to be a WinMe issue at all.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If you can sort those issues first, re-labelling (drive letter)
>>>>>>> can usually be done in Device Manager - unless you got any
>>>>>>> restrictions set e.g. in TweakUI.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Mart
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Menno Hershberger" <mhersh22@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:Xns9548A75399D83butter@207.46.248.16...
>>>>>>>> I've spent half a day trying to make an Addonics Ultra
>>>>>>>> DigiDrive Reader co-
>>>>>>>> exist with the floppy drive on a Dell Dimension 4100. The short
>>>>>>>> of it is that the floppy drive uninstalls itself in BIOS. It
>>>>>>>> doesn't really make sense, since the reader is an IDE device.
>>>>>>>> After calls and emails to Addonics, a bios upgrade and
>>>>>>>> different combinations of master and slave, I've given up. The
>>>>>>>> floppy works fine when the Reader is not attached. I hooked the
>>>>>>>> thing up to one of my computers and had no problem. So the
>>>>>>>> customer decides he can live without the floppy. I physically
>>>>>>>> removed it, disabled it in bios. Computer boots fine, device
>>>>>>>> manager does not show a FDD controller or a drive. BUT, A:
>>>>>>>> drive still shows up in My Computer and Windows Explorer. If
>>>>>>>> you click it in either one it locks the computer up tighter
>>>>>>>> than a drum. His Panda Antivirus locks it up trying to check A:
>>>>>>>> drive. It locked up trying to find my "default monitor"
>>>>>>>> (looking for drivers on disk). So the obvious answer would be
>>>>>>>> "don't click on it" and set Panda not to check it (if you can),
>>>>>>>> make sure "floppy disk" is unchecked on any hardware
>>>>>>>> installation. But sooner or later something is going to call
>>>>>>>> for it and lock it up. So my question is... how do I get A
>>>>>>>> drive to go away totally? The operating system is Millenium, so
>>>>>>>> that's why I'm posting this here.
>>>>>>>>
>> --
>> -- What happens if you get scared half to death twice? --
>
>
>
--
-- What happens if you get scared half to death twice? --