Hi Otto,

You bring some good questions, again, for the group to ponder.

What we have previously found here is that:

1. When using DOS, the BIOS or controller will handle the
functioning/translation of the SATA drive. HOWEVER, some have noted that
some MBs/cards will NOT allow booting the 9X OS without drivers.

2. WIN9X will generally run [appending the above] in DOS drive compatibility
mode [using the BIOS translation support, adapter cards might require a
driver] with SATA drives/controllers UNLESS there is a driver available.
As a board which has BIOS SATA support also generally has a fast processor,
the relative impact [speedwise] may not be all that important, though there
may be additional impact on other functions as well.. The boards which DID
supply drivers for 9X were generally transitional boards - during the
support period for XP and 9X era.

3. "MSFN" has or had several discussions concerning this issue and 9X, and
some suggestions for potential fixes.

4. "48bit" also had or has some discussions and suggestions related to SATA.

5. As you noted, the primary issues relate to the lack of native SATA
support in 9X and manufacturer provided drivers for SATA in 9X. I haven't
found a comprehensive list [not saying there isn't one though as I haven't
looked in awhile] of motherboards or controllers which supply drivers for
9X; and most newer boards have no support drivers.
Think like this: the newer motherboards are specifically designed for the
multi-core processors which 9X also does not support, so expecting to find
manufacturer drivers for those boards isn't realistic {though it still would
be nice! Note LINUX has the ability to support multi processors/multi-core
processors and SATA}. On the other hand, add-in adapter cards SHOULD have
drivers as the systems these cards are most useful in ARE the older
motherboards, regretfully many apparently don't. An interesting point: there
are several manufacturers creating cheap/people boards/computers {check the
various News sources}; whether these will suppost 9X is unknown to me.

As for supposed 9X generic SATA drivers: you will need to find support for
your particular adapter/motherboard/BIOS listed for those mods, which may or
may not function as indicated. You might need to try a few before giving up.