That's an interesting and rare bit of kit.

I think the CF-IDE adapter you reference requires yet another adapter to work. You want to be sure that the IDE interface is specifically for a laptop, as these converters are available for desktops as well. I just bought one for a Duo 2300c on eBay from Hong Kong, and it is a good deal smaller than the unit pictured - not much larger than the CF card itself, in fact. My CF adventures are documented a couple of posts away.

As for what will and will not work CF-card-wise, that is anyone's guess. CF cards are cheap enough these days, however, that it is not going to break the bank even if you do make a mistake. I took a chance and bought a 4GB card - which has to be pretty recent, given the capacity - and it works fine in my Duo.

Bad ram, by the way, caused repeat errors in my Duo, very like those that you describe. I'd try with a base system and no ram chip (there will be 8 MB on the board, most likely), and see if that gets you to your goal.

No idea why the 2GB drive won't do the business. It is known to be working in the Wallstreet?