I decided to get our old data acquisition machine up and running again. It had no HDD, no PS (I have no idea where they went), and it was a 200MHz PPro. Well, the first thing I discovered was that the PPro mobo, while it was really nice for its time (dual CPU, up to 512MB RAM), had no boot from CD option in BIOS. But I decide to play around with it anyway, and for some reason, it seems that the IDE controller is screwed up and not detecting anything on the secondary channel. I screw around with it, and finally get fed up with it.
So I change motherboards to a much newer one (Asus A7V-266), and it won't POST. I think the processor I stuck in it might have been a 200 MHz FSB now that I think about it. Anyway, I change the mobo again, and this time I get an old Slot A Tyan that works. Fill it full of RAM (448 MB, and it recognized it just fine), and damn, it still won't recognize the CD ROM! I finally get a "brainstorm" and swap IDE cables. What do you know, the first bad IDE cable that I've ever seen. Gotta' love old parts.... |
