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Gateway 2000 Hard drive woes

thenzero

thenzero

Experienced Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2021
Messages
430
Location
Perry, GA
I've got what feels like a pretty stupid problem.

I'm trying to exchange the (working) Caviar 1210 in my Gateway 2000 4dx-33 with some kind of modern drive. First I tried compact flash, today I tried a DOM. Neither seem to work. I feel like I'm probably doing something obvious and stupid but I have no idea what.

I've tried 3 different brand of CF adapter and multiple CF disks including one that works in my Compaq 486/25. All of them do the same thing. If I attach to the power cable, the computer won't post, no video. After reading some posts here in the forums on the same topic, I bought a DOM from Amazon. It does the same thing. With the power cable connected, the computer doesn't post/no video output. Without the power cable connected the computer just hangs at hard drive initialization.

As stated above, the original hard drive is working fine on the same IDE port. What's the deal? What am I missing?
 
Disk On Module. It's a little 40 pin solid state disk. Somebody on here said they're more reliable, less buggy, and more widely compatible than the CF adapters. I have no idea if that's true but I thought I'd give it a shot!
 
DOM = Disk on Module. Basically, Compact Flash card with full size IDE interface and software intended to fully resemble IDE drives.

What capacity of DOM is being used? I think both the Compaq and Gateway systems would have problems with any drive with more than about 500 MB.
 
I got the smallest one I saw (4Gb) and I get that it might not be recognized...but why no post? No video? Same with the CFs. No matter what size of CF I put in the adapter, the computer will not post with one plugged in. It feels like an electrical thing...but I don't see why that would be...
 
I just tried with an 8Gb WD Caviar for comparison. It boots fine and just complains about the disk type as expected.
 
Could you post the model of DOM and CF adapter? A short could prevent booting but having a short in multiple devices seems unlikely.
 
Sure!

DOM: Hyperdisk 4Gb
CF Adapter 1: StarTech
CF Adapter 2: Syba
CF Adapter 3: AYA (this one is out of my Compaq)

CF Cards: Verbatim 4GB, SanDisk 128MB, Transcend 512MB (this one is out of my Compaq)
 
One additional data point...if I plug in any of the CF adapters without a card the computer boots normally. It's only with all three things: card + IDE cable + power that it won't post.
 
thenzero said:
Disk On Module. It's a little 40 pin solid state disk. Somebody on here said they're more reliable, less buggy, and more widely compatible than the CF adapters. I have no idea if that's true but I thought I'd give it a shot!
Click to expand...
Wow, I have never heard of those. Learned something new today. Good for me.
 
thenzero said:
One additional data point...if I plug in any of the CF adapters without a card the computer boots normally. It's only with all three things: card + IDE cable + power that it won't post.
Click to expand...
When you say " it won't post ", Has the PSU shut down ?. With some of these CF adapters they have some IDE header pins grounded that will cause a short in some PC's and the PSU will shut down.

A long time ago i had a similar issue with a 5160 , I was using a 16-bit IDE/Floppy controller with CF and adapter connected, with everything connected my 5160 would not start, The PSU had shut down.
I eventually traced the cause to the CF adapter, IDE header pin 28 of the CF adapter was grounded and IDE header pin 28 of the 16-bit controller i was using was a direct connection to B28 (ALE) of the ISA slot on the motherboard thus a direct short was created.

May not be your issue but something to look for if your PSU is shutting down.
 
Unknown_K said:
Would the machine hang if you had 2 devices as both master on the same cable?
Click to expand...
Most CF cards and DOMs do work as single drive only, so that's certainly something to check.
Malc said:
When you say " it won't post ", Has the PSU shut down ?. With some of these CF adapters they have some IDE header pins grounded that will cause a short in some PC's and the PSU will shut down.
Click to expand...
I had a similar idea. Many DOMs at least use an unused pin on IDE for power. For these, you must not connect power as well, as that will cause a short and can even damage things. That's why I asked what happens with power connected but no IDE cable.

For CF adapters, however, that isn't the case normally. If they can draw power over IDE, there's normally a jumper on the adapter to enable that.
 
Interesting. The cf adapter jumpers are all set to “external power”. However I have tried changing them (while disconnecting the power) and that simply caused the adapter to be off (no power lights) and no effect on the computer like they weren’t connected.

The DOM has no power lights so I’m not sure if it’s on when there’s no external power connected.

The psu is not shutting off, the computer just never gives a post beep or shows video output. All the power lights are still on, any connected drives are still spinning etc.
 
"external power" means exactly that: they get power not over IDE but from the external power connector, which you must connect. That's default for CF adapters. DOMs are mostly configured the other way around.

But since you have that issue with not just a single device, it may not be the culprit anyway.
 
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