Using a Compact Flash card on a600/a1200 PCMCIA - Page 10

TCD · 14 March 2011, 15:27

And people wonder why direct links to the zone aren't allowed... Long gone, but maybe it's on the file server in 'Misc/TheZone'.

r0ber7 · 15 March 2011, 12:02

Ok, thanks anyway.

So, after failing at getting a PCMCIA network card working I've been trying to get a transfer up and running from my old a1200 to a cf disk through an adapter bought from Vesalia. First I bought one from amigakit.com, but that one never even arrived at my home.

I figure I'll post my progress here, see if someone has an idea because I don't.

Ingredients:

- PCMCIA adapter (type I, 16-bit)
- SanDisk 2GB compact flash disk (bought because I read in this thread that it worked)
- fat95 & cfd, fully installed on Workbench.

Recipe:

1. Installed fat95 & cfd from install floppy provided with adapter (got it from Vesalia)
2. Inserted card.

Results:

PrepCard shows the disk, but it doesn't recognize the architecture. Tellls me it's "write protected" when I try to prepare the card as a disk / ram.

Tried several ways of formatting the disk:
- from Windows XP (tried both FAT & FAT32 options)
- from Linux (FAT32)

Doesn't seem to matter at all. Disk is not recognized, not even as a CF0:NDOS on the workbench, nada. But when in cli I type "mount CF0" it tells me CF0 is already mounted. I checked L: C: devs/dosdrivers and devs/ for fat95 and cfd files and everything seems to be there. Also tried editing the CF0 mount file in devs/dosdrivers, changed Type to 1 and 2.

Everything I tried still gives me a "write protected" message. Can write to disk perfectly fine in Linux and Windows.

I'm thinking of using PrepCard via UAE on the disk, and then tyring again, but I can't figure out how to get that to work. I can read the FAT-formatted card on UAE, but it tells me permissions are wrong or something (can't remember exactly).

?

I've spent enough money on hardware right now. The network card didn't work after days of trying and now I'm stuck with what seemed to be a simpler solution. I'm getting pretty pissed off.

FOL · 15 March 2011, 14:19

Some card / adapter combinations are simply not compatable.

What does prep card say for network card?

As both aint working, it could be a busted pin in the PCMCIA socket.

rkauer · 15 March 2011, 23:06

Prepcard only works with PCMCIA RAM cards up to 4Mb!

For CF devices and related (SM/SD/MMC/MS) you just need cfd.device version 1.27 (installed from the built-in installer, never just copied over) on DEVS/Dosdrivers and FAT95 handler on L:, nothing more.

You cannot format the card on the Amiga, IIRC. Use it to transport files after a pc/Mac/Linu* box format it to FAT12/16/32 (the Amiga will not care).

FOL · 15 March 2011, 23:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

Prepcard only works with PCMCIA RAM cards up to 4Mb!

For CF devices and related (SM/SD/MMC/MS) you just need cfd.device version 1.27 (installed from the built-in installer, never just copied over) on DEVS/Dosdrivers and FAT95 handler on L:, nothing more.

You cannot format the card on the Amiga, IIRC. Use it to transport files after a pc/Mac/Linu* box format it to FAT12/16/32 (the Amiga will not care).

Prepcard, will see the card and tell you what it is, if it dont see it (shows as unknown) then it aint going to work.

You can format on Amiga, you have to "quick format" it.

Ebster · 16 March 2011, 00:04

hi there,

i am using amigakits pcmcia cf card adapter and i can confirm that it usually seems to be an incompatible card when things don't work out well. i have tried kingston, hama and peak - none of them would work. for one it said cf0:ndos, the other wouldn't show up at all and another one froze the system endlessly trying to acces.

i recommend to try sandisk ultra, bought an 8gb one today and it works like a charm in fat32 mode. although the amiga got stuck saying busy when trying a quick format it gets recognized and works great...

FOL · 16 March 2011, 00:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebster

hi there,

i am using amigakits pcmcia cf card adapter and i can confirm that it usually seems to be an incompatible card when things don't work out well. i have tried kingston, hama and peak - none of them would work. for one it said cf0:ndos, the other wouldn't show up at all and another one froze the system endlessly trying to acces.

i recommend to try sandisk ultra, bought an 8gb one today and it works like a charm in fat32 mode. although the amiga got stuck saying busy when trying a quick format it gets recognized and works great...

This is why we sell them with the 4GB or 128MB Cards.
As we test them before sending them out.

It says that you need a compatible card on the product description.

Due to the size of your card (8GB is insane,

), it will take atleast 4 to 6 mins to quick format.

Ebster · 16 March 2011, 00:27

and again i say: amigakit provides a great service!!

thgill · 31 March 2011, 16:09

So whats the verdict on using Transcend 133x cards via PCMCIA?

I know they work on ide via CF adapter, but how about in the PCMCIA slot.

Thinking about picking up either an 8 or 16GB one and want to have the option to use in as removable storage.

r0ber7 · 01 April 2011, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOL

Some card / adapter combinations are simply not compatable.

What does prep card say for network card?

As both aint working, it could be a busted pin in the PCMCIA socket.

I bought some SanDisk 256 mb cards, see if they worked. Same thing. InitCard says: write protected

busted PCMCIA socket seems unlikely, since my PCMCIA cd-rom reader is working fine.

For the 256 mb, Prepcard says:
- Device: I/O Device 120ns
- Product: Sandisk SDP Version 4.1 5/3 0.6
Rest of the info is N/A including Format & Geometry
The same info appears for the 2GB card, except that it says "80ns" for Device:

256mb cards came preformatted as FAT16. They had "boot" flag set, but changing that through gparted on my laptop has no effect.

cpiac64 · 01 April 2011, 18:30

on my a1200 the cf 2g are ndos (write protect), format 896g ???? and on a600 nothing (as not inserted)

i use 3.1 on a1200, 3.1 and 2.05 on a600 rev 1.3 and rev 1.5 with cfd and fat95 or use original floppy adapcmcfl

rkauer · 04 April 2011, 05:27

From experience, I noticed that cards that don't have the "announced" capacity in full are the problematic ones.

For example, a card with 3.5Gb (bad cells inside) but sold as 4Gb will fail miserably under IDE or PCMCIA, doesn't matter the brand nor how new/old.

r0ber7 · 02 May 2011, 20:26

I'm trying again with my cf cards (I have a lot now, mostly Sandisk of various sizes.)

I'm trying to use HDToolbox to partition the drive. cfd and compactflash.device are correctly installed, and Prepcard sees the card but can't format it. I read somewhere Prepcard shouldn't be used, so I edited the HDToolbox .info to use compactflash.device.

I click Define new... but I don't know what information I should enter there. What Filename? Read Configuration says it can't find the filesize, and I have no idea how to handle HDToolbox.

When I try saving changes it says Error 29 on write. Low-level format says error -3.

rkauer · 02 May 2011, 23:13

You can't format CF cards in the PCMCIA slot using HDToolBox. When they show on Workbench simply left-click once on the icon (to select it), then right-click and from the drop-down menu choose Icon:format disk.

Don't put a trashcan and do only a quick format. Also you'll notice you can't choose FFS nor other native Amiga file system. Stick with FAT16 or FAT32.

r0ber7 · 02 May 2011, 23:52

That'd be great, except no icons show up on my workbench. Double clicking on devs:dosdrivers/cf0 says it's already mounted, and "info" in cli shows cf0: as being there, but without a disk, no matter which of the cards I put in.

thgill · 03 May 2011, 00:24

So if you FAT32 format this on a Win/Linux/Mac machine, your A1200 won't mount it?

Just to verify, you have FAT95 in the L:?

Card Reset and Card Patch in C: as well?

rkauer · 03 May 2011, 03:25

Card_Reset & Card_Pathc aren't needed for storage media. They are required for LAN, CD & modem cards.

cpiac64 · 03 May 2011, 08:23

finally ok with takems 256mb on 1200 and on 600, my 2g and 4gb are ok only for cf-ide

r0ber7 · 03 May 2011, 11:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by thgill

So if you FAT32 format this on a Win/Linux/Mac machine, your A1200 won't mount it?

No. Well, it says it's mounted but it's not on the WB screen. Tried FAT16 too, tried formatting on both on Ubuntu Linux & Win XP.

Quote:

Just to verify, you have FAT95 in the L:?

Yes. I received a floppy with fat95 v 3.11 and compactflash.device (cfd) v1.27

Quote:

Card Reset and Card Patch in C: as well?

Yes.

From cli:

Code:

> info
Mounted disks:
CF0: No disk present

> cf0: 
cf0:: no disk in drive

> mount cf0:
ERROR: Device 'cf0:' is already mounted

I've wondered whether my PCMCIA slot is broken, but my PCMCIA CD-R works perfectly, and PrepCard does recognize the CF cards. So somehow, Prepcard knows it's there, and it's mounted, yet it doesn't show up on WB, and PrepCard tells me it's write-protected.

I'm running an A1200 68040 with PPC, would that make a difference?

Perhaps I should edit the mountlist in devs:dosdrivers/cf0? I'm not sure what to put in there though, and its filesystem & device options nicely point to compactflash.device & l:fat95.

amigakit.com · 04 May 2011, 13:36

@rober7

Sorry, didnt spot this thread earlier.

What was your original EasyADF invoice number? Let me know and I will send out a replacement EasyADF Floppy Disk to you.

15 March 2011, 14:19	#183
FOL PSPUAE DEV Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Wales / UK Age: 45 Posts: 6,023	Some card / adapter combinations are simply not compatable. What does prep card say for network card? As both aint working, it could be a busted pin in the PCMCIA socket. Last edited by FOL; 15 March 2011 at 14:30.

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14 March 2011, 15:27	#181
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,813	And people wonder why direct links to the zone aren't allowed... Long gone, but maybe it's on the file server in 'Misc/TheZone'.

15 March 2011, 12:02	#182
r0ber7 it's all in your head Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 174	Ok, thanks anyway. So, after failing at getting a PCMCIA network card working I've been trying to get a transfer up and running from my old a1200 to a cf disk through an adapter bought from Vesalia. First I bought one from amigakit.com, but that one never even arrived at my home. I figure I'll post my progress here, see if someone has an idea because I don't. Ingredients: - PCMCIA adapter (type I, 16-bit) - SanDisk 2GB compact flash disk (bought because I read in this thread that it worked) - fat95 & cfd, fully installed on Workbench. Recipe: 1. Installed fat95 & cfd from install floppy provided with adapter (got it from Vesalia) 2. Inserted card. Results: PrepCard shows the disk, but it doesn't recognize the architecture. Tellls me it's "write protected" when I try to prepare the card as a disk / ram. Tried several ways of formatting the disk: - from Windows XP (tried both FAT & FAT32 options) - from Linux (FAT32) Doesn't seem to matter at all. Disk is not recognized, not even as a CF0:NDOS on the workbench, nada. But when in cli I type "mount CF0" it tells me CF0 is already mounted. I checked L: C: devs/dosdrivers and devs/ for fat95 and cfd files and everything seems to be there. Also tried editing the CF0 mount file in devs/dosdrivers, changed Type to 1 and 2. Everything I tried still gives me a "write protected" message. Can write to disk perfectly fine in Linux and Windows. I'm thinking of using PrepCard via UAE on the disk, and then tyring again, but I can't figure out how to get that to work. I can read the FAT-formatted card on UAE, but it tells me permissions are wrong or something (can't remember exactly). ? I've spent enough money on hardware right now. The network card didn't work after days of trying and now I'm stuck with what seemed to be a simpler solution. I'm getting pretty pissed off.

15 March 2011, 23:06	#184
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	Prepcard only works with PCMCIA RAM cards up to 4Mb! For CF devices and related (SM/SD/MMC/MS) you just need cfd.device version 1.27 (installed from the built-in installer, never just copied over) on DEVS/Dosdrivers and FAT95 handler on L:, nothing more. You cannot format the card on the Amiga, IIRC. Use it to transport files after a pc/Mac/Linu* box format it to FAT12/16/32 (the Amiga will not care).

16 March 2011, 00:04	#186
Ebster Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Frankfurt / Germany Age: 48 Posts: 313	hi there, i am using amigakits pcmcia cf card adapter and i can confirm that it usually seems to be an incompatible card when things don't work out well. i have tried kingston, hama and peak - none of them would work. for one it said cf0:ndos, the other wouldn't show up at all and another one froze the system endlessly trying to acces. i recommend to try sandisk ultra, bought an 8gb one today and it works like a charm in fat32 mode. although the amiga got stuck saying busy when trying a quick format it gets recognized and works great...

16 March 2011, 00:27	#188
Ebster Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Frankfurt / Germany Age: 48 Posts: 313	and again i say: amigakit provides a great service!!

31 March 2011, 16:09	#189
thgill Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mason, Ohio / USA Age: 48 Posts: 391	So whats the verdict on using Transcend 133x cards via PCMCIA? I know they work on ide via CF adapter, but how about in the PCMCIA slot. Thinking about picking up either an 8 or 16GB one and want to have the option to use in as removable storage.

01 April 2011, 18:30	#191
cpiac64 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Italy Posts: 1,136	on my a1200 the cf 2g are ndos (write protect), format 896g ???? and on a600 nothing (as not inserted) i use 3.1 on a1200, 3.1 and 2.05 on a600 rev 1.3 and rev 1.5 with cfd and fat95 or use original floppy adapcmcfl

04 April 2011, 05:27	#192
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	From experience, I noticed that cards that don't have the "announced" capacity in full are the problematic ones. For example, a card with 3.5Gb (bad cells inside) but sold as 4Gb will fail miserably under IDE or PCMCIA, doesn't matter the brand nor how new/old.

02 May 2011, 20:26	#193
r0ber7 it's all in your head Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 174	I'm trying again with my cf cards (I have a lot now, mostly Sandisk of various sizes.) I'm trying to use HDToolbox to partition the drive. cfd and compactflash.device are correctly installed, and Prepcard sees the card but can't format it. I read somewhere Prepcard shouldn't be used, so I edited the HDToolbox .info to use compactflash.device. I click Define new... but I don't know what information I should enter there. What Filename? Read Configuration says it can't find the filesize, and I have no idea how to handle HDToolbox. When I try saving changes it says Error 29 on write. Low-level format says error -3.

02 May 2011, 23:13	#194
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	You can't format CF cards in the PCMCIA slot using HDToolBox. When they show on Workbench simply left-click once on the icon (to select it), then right-click and from the drop-down menu choose Icon:format disk. Don't put a trashcan and do only a quick format. Also you'll notice you can't choose FFS nor other native Amiga file system. Stick with FAT16 or FAT32.

02 May 2011, 23:52	#195
r0ber7 it's all in your head Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 174	That'd be great, except no icons show up on my workbench. Double clicking on devs:dosdrivers/cf0 says it's already mounted, and "info" in cli shows cf0: as being there, but without a disk, no matter which of the cards I put in.

03 May 2011, 00:24	#196
thgill Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mason, Ohio / USA Age: 48 Posts: 391	So if you FAT32 format this on a Win/Linux/Mac machine, your A1200 won't mount it? Just to verify, you have FAT95 in the L:? Card Reset and Card Patch in C: as well?

03 May 2011, 03:25	#197
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	Card_Reset & Card_Pathc aren't needed for storage media. They are required for LAN, CD & modem cards.

03 May 2011, 08:23	#198
cpiac64 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Italy Posts: 1,136	finally ok with takems 256mb on 1200 and on 600, my 2g and 4gb are ok only for cf-ide

04 May 2011, 13:36	#200
amigakit.com Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: www.amigakit.com Posts: 2,033	@rober7 Sorry, didnt spot this thread earlier. What was your original EasyADF invoice number? Let me know and I will send out a replacement EasyADF Floppy Disk to you.

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