OK...So what I have so far is that the Startech and probably most cards that do not seem to work, automatically set the mode of the card. That is done by setting bit 5 of the control port, which is base address + 2, to high, or 1. Does anyone know how to get to base address + 2? Is this what setting pins 2-9 as input is supposed to do? Seems like setting bit 5 to high wouldn't be hard if the control register could somehow be accessed.
I'll keep digging, but feel free to share and insight.