ADF Goofs and Tips

Goofs
Importance of the Additional Files
Problematic Cards

Content by Peter H. Wendt (original HERE). Edited by Tomáš Slavotínek.


Goofs

As was said earlier, the original ADF concept assumed that there should always be a 1:1 mapping between adapter cards and adapter IDs.

This however is not always the case. Apart from cards that are technically identical but marketed under different names there are some cards that are totally different and yet share the same ID:

5130 can be SoundPiper 16/32(tm) Adapter
or Tecmar HDE+ SCSI MCA Host Adapter
6B06 can be NCPE 3270 COAX
or CRISTIE SCSI-ADAPTER
6FFF can be Devlonics Terminals CDD155 controller card
or Interactive Images Touch Screen Adapter
FEFE can be IBM 2 MB 16-bit Memory Adapter
or Multi-Function Adapter (Mem + P + S)


Importance of the Additional Files

If you dig through a collection of ADFs in search of a particular file I would recommend to use the following search filter:

?xxxx*.ADF (rather than @xxxx.ADF)

If you use the latter you may easily miss the additional files that are required for correct configuration and operation of some adapters (ADPs and Initialization files for example).

Some cards won't install properly without having the entire option disk. The typical symptoms are a lack of function - coming either from missing ADPs, or setup failure.


Problematic Cards

Memory cards
Most memory cards come with a base ADF plus an ADP and/or Initialization file.
Peter's ADF collection contains many files to which the ADPs and Init files might be missing. The chance of this are higher, the rarer the card is.
After all the years it is almost impossible to find an option disk for some of the cards.

Processor cards
Some processor cards like the AOX MicroMaster and Kingston MCMaster are impossible to install or bring to function without the entire option disk.

Intelligent communication cards
Most serial communication controllers with their own on-board processor require a particular setup or a modified SC.EXE on the reference. In most cases they also require a special testing software and sometimes drivers. Almost no chance to get them working without the option disk.

The IBM XGA-2 adapter
Older versions of the reference have outdated files, originally written for the XGA-1 adapter. These files are namely XGA.DGS, XGAANI.DGS and VGA.DGS. The best way to fix this is to use a fresh copy of the reference and use "copy an option disk" to bring the files from the XGA-2 Option Disk to the reference. Better use a fresh copy, because the installation of the XGA-2 files takes a lot room for temporary files.

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

Ardent Tool of Capitalism is maintained by Tomáš Slavotínek.
Last update: 24 Mar 2024 - Changelog | About | Legal & Contact