Freezing at bootloader with StarTech adapter

[Mu.]

I can't say whether or not I have my DS folder layout set exactly as you outlined it at the moment with DS_CORE.BIN in the appropriate places. However I know that it is set up the same as when I was using a CF card (which worked perfectly).

I also know that my drive has absolutely no fragmentation, I believe the 0.7.0 loader would warn me of this if I did and I can confirm in Defraggler that this isn't an issue.

I'm using a generic 120GB Toshiba hard disk which could be the issue for all I know. I have other drives I can test with so I'll get back to you on this one.

As for the soldering, I am using Dragoncity's G1-ATA adapter board so I presume pin 2 is an appropriate length. And my generic adapter (chip is labelled B75TT0041, no results online) doesn't work any better. I'll pick up the JM20330 adapters others have tried and used as well for experimentation. I'm happy to spend some money to share my experiences and knowledge with everyone else should it be of any value to anyone.