VXI and VME

[kuniwood]

The almost 15 years old VXI PC-486 Model 599  which was implemented as a key controller in a large system has been working fine up to last week. Its hard disc(Legacy IDE)  apparently crashed last week recognized by sounds and messages.

We had a disc image copy on CD, and recovery tools and software. But we found there is no disk in a market that is compatible with VXI PC-486. It seems hard disc capacity should be less than 600MB due to BIOS capability etc.

The absolute solution should be get a new VXI PC  but the software compatibility in a new OS would be a problem and it takes a while to develop software. 

In a short term, how can we overcome this problem ?

Can BIOS  be updated and make VXI-PC identify larger disk?   

or any other solutions ?

[JoshH · Accepted solution]

You might want to check out some of the options on the page linked below.  It relates directly to the problem of using new drives with older hardware.  The link on the left side of that page "Manually Entering Drive Geometry Parameters" may help.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/over.htm

Another option you can try is to search for a 512MB solid state flash IDE drive.  Those were common recently enough to still be found on the resale market.

-JoshH