->  ->  What I wanted to try but haven't gotten around to yet was
->  ->  disabling the ports in the CMOS setup
->  -> seeing if the ones on the card would then be seen as hda, etc.

->  WC> I did that, problem was the card doesn't hardware support ATAPI despite
->  WC> being  advised otherwise by someone.
->  WC> You have to have Windows or Windows extended drivers installe for the
->  WC> card to see the CD-ROM drive.
->  WC> All my current software is on CD so I HAD to leave the CD drive on
->  WC> the motherboard I/O.

-> As demonstrated here - all that BS is a non-problem for Win98.  YMMV in
-> Linux.

All this is BS for WINDOWS.
It's a non-problem for Linux.

-> 
->  -> Odd.  I'm not sure what to make of that just yet. I expect I'll start
->  -> bumping into this sort of thing when I actually get my hands on
->  -> some larger drives (biggest I have now is a 10G,  which is
->  -> sitting here waiting for me to install it).

->  WC> Just don't use the original release fdisk and format that came with the
->  WC> first Win 98 offering.

-> Not a prob for HDD < 64GB.  AAMOF, BIR M$ recommending to not install
-> the upgraded FDISK file unless needed.

How very odd?
All I recall you saying in private e-mail was to save my money
on the BIOS'ed I/O ATAPI compliant card I was looking at 
and just "install Windows first" and to stop being so cautious
it bordered on paranoia."

I made you repeatedly aware of the size of the hard drive as well
as the fact this was a first release Windows 98 OEM CD.
I stressed these things repeatedly precisely because of my
concerns.
You labeled me paranoid.
That paranoia was quite justified.

BTW Linux installed just fine as it always has in the past.
Windows killed the drive.
There was even no reson to "load Windows first" as I could have sys'ed
the drive from the rescue diskette and also run LiLo again either from
a Linux rescue diskette or from a bootable from DOS mini-install.

->  WC> There's an outside possibility I powered down the drive's power in
->  WC> CMOS so I may try once more - -

-> I think that is what you _should_ have done, 
   
Really?
Your hard drives operate without power?
Mine don't.
I disabled the first IDE channel 0.
Switching off the power to the drive in CMOS off deprives the power
SFX supply from powering the hard drive.

What do you use in your computer?
Clockwork driven hard drives?
How often do you have to wind them?

-> and that is what I _had_ to
-> do here, plus remove all IDE0 CHS info, plus change IDE0 to NONE in
-> Setup in order to get the HDD on the Promise Card seen as C:> in
-> DOS/Win.

I was absolutely FINE in Linux and everything worked.
Even Linux fdisk worked creating a C: drive and setting it active
bootable.
The very same concern I've gone over and over and over 
and over with you is that very same OEM Windows software CD.
It was my concern from the very first and it appears my concern was
well justified.

Despite your claim to the contrary I also informed you it was
a 65 Gig drive repeatedly, something you now dismiss
as untrue.  

Why don't you just catch a clue and stop making stuff up
as you go along?
I don't like posting to you like this.

So just stop trying to blame my following your advice on me
claiming it to be MY mistake after claiming  "I was so cautious 
it was borderline paranoia."

->  WC> but there were two major shortcomings this Ultra card had I was
->  WC> advised would not be a probelm.

-> I must've missed something - - in addition to the notorious
-> and oft-repeated "no hardware support for CDROM", what was the second
-> "major shortcoming" of the promise card?

No hardware ATAPI support is quite sufficient a failing all by itself
but if you really need another reason it's no a BIOS'ed I/O
card and thus requires drivers.
Linux of course has fixed this problem and had no problem with it,
the OEM Windows 98 first release CD DID NOT.  

->  WC> There wouldn't have been a problem if I'd just stuck with straight
->  WC> Linux.

-> Too bad you didn't- - would have saved both of us much grief.  But it
-> was your idea to install both Linux and Win on the same spindle, not
-> mine.

Which I've been doing successfully since 1995.
It was only when I followed YOUR advice and accepted YOUR
claim the Ultra66 card was ATAPI compliant.

No matter how many times I check the Promise web site and review 
the relavent documentation I find this untrue.

No matter how many times I review the Belkins card I was
looking at the documents state clearly it no only is ATAPI
compliant but has an upgraded on board BIOS.

IOW's I could switch off both my motherboard I/O
channels and boot exclusively from the BIOS'ed Belkins card
WITH ATAPI support though I would STILL have to supply power to the hard
drive in CMOS.

Now go wind you hard drive's mainspring.
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