Hello all,

You, the Net, are my last resort, or I'll just change my job :-)
This might be a FAQ (e.g. mixing controllers) but haven't seen any.

Sys: 486/33, AMI BIOS, and your run-of-the mill multi-I/O card with
serials/paral/floppies and 
	- IDE controller "clone" Gw2760-EX
		there are no jumpers affecting the HD or ctrller :-( 
	- Quantum ProDrive LPS (3" 105M type 47: 755cyl, 16hds, 17spt).

Pb: I want to bring in this (2nd hand, neat price):
	- Maxtor XT-B380E (~330M, <15ms, BIOS type 1, ctrller manages
		the real geom: 1630cyl, 8hds, 52spt)
	- Western Digital WD1007V-SE1 ESDI ctrller: no floppies.
		(jumpers set IRQ 14/15, hw port addr 1F0/170,
		and BIOS addr CC00/C800, and other floppy/format stuff)

Goal: have the WD ESDI as a secondary/controller and have both disks 
simultaneously working. Being able to boot from the ESDI too would be 
a nice bonus but is not expected.

Ultimate goal: have room for Linux et al.
Ex of scheme I have in mind: boot from IDE (HD or floppy) and mount
the ESDI as root. Not booting from ESDI, or even from HD, is acceptable.

I have tried numerous (all!!) combinations to no avail. They work alone,
or can coexist witout hang-ups but can't access the ESDI or the IDE, 
depending on setup/jumpers.

Useful suggestions might be:
- How do I tell the BIOS setup about two ctrllers (I guess the 2nd HD
is expected to hang off the same ctrller as the 1st).
- Do I need some driver to make it work?
- --- " --- some new BIOS/chip for any of these cards?
- do I have to buy another controller to make them HDs happy? IDE
is cheaper; ESDI is hard to find and rather costly. I'm not 
rich or I wouldnt' try to scavenge around, so soft slns are preferred.
- adapters of some sort; I can hold a soldering iron, and can change
a chip or put a jumper!

Also useful:
- BBS or Hot-line of Western Digital.
- ftp archives with relevant info.
- expert stores in Toronto, Ontario area (that would be a miracle! haven't
seen any really knowledgeable ppl in a while)
- any hints into inner workings of the system ... 
- anything else that helped you in similar situations (prayers :-) )

Direct or posted replies are ok.
	Many thanks,
			Cat.