On Jan 10, 2018, at 2:32 PM, systems_glitch via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
Industrial DOMs typically have better IDE emulation, in my experience. Dave is right, there are plenty of crappy DOMs out there -- I only buy trusted brands from sellers known not to provide fakes. Typically I stick to SiliconDisk (now WD I think), M-Systems, PQI, Axiomtek, Smart Technologies, etc.
Yeah, I've come across some crappy CF cards with bad IDE emulation that OpenBSD choked on a bit, mostly at boot time. I actually ended up moving to a SATA->CF converter on my current router, which behaved better because it meshed well with the card's faults.
Definitely go with an industrial CF card if you go for CF. All of the reputable industrial suppliers will provide a data sheet spec'ing write endurance. Many consumer suppliers do not, in which case you get to assume it's something horrible like 3000 (yes, three *thousand*) rewrites.
It's worth noting that SiliconDisk (which is, yes, now owned by WD) also has industrial CF cards. I'm assuming it's probably very similar electronics to their DOM. - Dave