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XT-CF


For computers with ISA slots, an XT-CF card (or XT-IDE card with CF-to-IDE adapter) in the vintage computer.

As required, move the CF between the modern computer (that has a suitable card reader attached) and the vintage computer.

Examples of XT-IDE/XT-CF cards are pictured at here.  As seen there, some computers (e.g. Tandy 1400) require a particular model of XT-CF card.

In most cases, the XT-IDE/XT-CF card can co-exist with a MFM hard drive controller.

Ensure that the XT-IDE/XT-CF card has a recent version of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (XUB) in its ROM.  Why?  Because early versions of the XUB have a bug that means that in some cases, moving the CF between the vintage and modern computers will not work.

Partition and format the CF card whilst it is fitted to the XT-IDE/XT-CF card.  Why?  Because doing that on the modern computer rarely works.

There are other potential problems as well, one example being incompatibility between CF and the XT-CF card.

So that you do not need to deal with common problems, I recommend that you purchase a complete solution from the one seller, that is, {XT-CF card, containing a recent version of XUB, fitted with a compatible CF card that is booting to DOS}.

Even having done that, there are still some possible problems to deal with.
Some examples:
• Motherboard BIOS upgrade required on some early computers.
• A 'special' build of the XTIDE Universal BIOS (resides on the XT-IDE/XT-CF card) is required for some computers.

A lot of possible problems are described at here.