The drive type is intrinsic to the device.
Fixed the problem for now with a Maxtor 133 MHz IDE plugin card for the time being. Both cable and bus/driver issues seem to be in play here. The message is more a general "I'm not happy" response, I think, than a specific instance of what's wrong. Details, including debug and diagnostic tips, to the [link|http://twiki.iwethey.org/twiki/bin/view/Know/|TWikIWeThey knowledgebase].