Compact flash format and use

[misjah]

Hello, I just got PCMCIA CF adapter and I could use some help here. The card is formated for linux and I need to format it for use with Amiga 600. So, how, where? I also have a hdd with WB installed so I don`t want to ruin it.
And one more thing, can I take out and install Work Bench on CF card?

[Allen1]

Originally Posted by misjah

Hello, I just got PCMCIA CF adapter and I could use some help here. The card is formated for linux and I need to format it for use with Amiga 600. So, how, where? I also have a hdd with WB installed so I don`t want to ruin it.
And one more thing, can I take out and install Work Bench on CF card?

Hi there,

just a little information to get you going its late and I need some sleep

Google "cfd.lha" and the answers you need will be found and the files you require are at Aminet (the links will also appear in the search) there is a lot of information in the google search and that includes links to other Amiga related sites as well as this one. The hard part is getting the files over to your Amiga, I used "Cloanto.Amiga.Explorer" which transfers files to the Amiga Ram disk via the serial port where you then save them to the hard disk.

The LHA files can be opened with Winrar on a PC and then transfered over to the Amiga if it makes it easier, these are what you need:-
fat95.lha (Allows you to read different file types)
cfd.lha (reads a CF card in the PCMCIA adapter)

A good idea is to run fat95 and then cfd on your hard drive, this will allow you to copy all your hard drive files/back up onto a spare CF card in your PCMCIA slot, the Pcmcia card is not directly bootable but there is also a Floppy disk out there that will firstly boot the amiga then run programs off the Pcmcia CF card.

You may need to format your card on a windows machine to be able to read it, you will also need to select SHOW ALL from you amiga workbench to see the contents of the card.

I hope this will point you in the right direction, all the best with your card (its easy once you done it the first time)

[misjah]

Thanx for the tips. I think I`ll install fresh WorkBench first since none of the apps are working. I have a lot of tools installed including the ones you mentioned but I always get some error. How to format CF card - fat16 or fat32?

[Allen1]

Hi there,

I have just checked my CF cards and they are formatted as FAT. The biggest card I have is 2GB and that is also just using FAT, try formatting your card the same and you should be getting there ok.

[Allen1]

When you get your system the way you want it, it would be a good idea to make a couple of copies of your system floppy ie Xcopy the original workbench disk a couple of times. If you download HDInst69.lha and extract the files you can then place them on one of the disks also the extracted files of fat95 and cfd wherever you can on the first or second disk. These are the tools you need to replace your hard drive with a CF card for future use and as needed they are bootable.

When you have the hard drive set up the way you want it and have sorted out the pcmcia usage, it would be a good idea to copy your hard drive contents over to a spare CF card, if for example you have 3 partitions ie Workbench, Games and Work etc you would make 3 drawers on the CF card (workbench, games and work) then copy the files from one partition over to the right drawer then the same for the other two..

Using this method you can install a CF card as your hard drive and as long as you create the same partitions (named the same but size doesn't matter with a bit of common sense), once formatted with HDInstTools (from those bootable floppies) and the fat95 and cfd have been run, you can then copy the files from the card in the pcmcia slot over to the newly created CF drive and all should work as before.

For the price of the IDE to CF adapters and CF cards on Ebay, you cannot go wrong and sooner or later mechanical problems may be the end of a hard drive so there is nothing to lose by being ready via the means above

The size of the card that you can use on the 600 depends on the ROM that is in it mine is a 37.300 version and is meant to be good for a hard drive up to 40MB, I have a 64MB CF card in it at the moment which works fine but will probably see what I can safely get away with at a later date. Have FUN

[misjah]

Thanx again. I am pretty much new to amiga 600, had A500 for some time but it`s much different for use. My ROM should be fine since the HDD inside is 800MB, I bought some used 4GB drive but it has bad sectors at first GB. I just need to solve some hardware problems that I have at the moment. Internal Ffoppy drive is dead so I need to mod some PC and fit it in. I also have friend`s external but it`s not working like it should. Probably because it`s jumpered to DF1:

[Allen1]

Always be careful to discharge yourself before opening a computer or Amiga as in this case (ESD precautions), in general I use an antistatic wristband that plugs into the mains socket to use the Earth connection. At a push I have also used a PC's bare metal base to discharge myself by touching it ie the PC is plugged in but the power to the plug is switched off.

A PC floppy drive is not the same as the Amiga one, you can find Amiga drives on Ebay but it is not much dearer to buy a complete 600 with games and joystick etc, I got mine for £23 plus £12 postage and the drives alone go for £14 plus postage.

It would be good if you had a friend that wanted to install a CF drive who's Amiga floppy drive worked, that way you could format and partition both his and your own card and add workbench and fat95 plus cfd to them, that way both cards would be bootable and be able to use the PCMCIA slot and have files transferred a heck of a lot quicker and even better if you did backup your working hard drive as mentioned

If you do find someone who will let you use their Amiga this way, remember to always switch it off before changing the CF cards on the IDE adapter or the card and Amiga can be damaged.

Most of the above you will probably know, but its there just in case

[Gordon]

Sorry to Hijack but its related. i want to ask Allen a question. I got a PCMCIA amiga kit with a 512mb card. This works fine but when i add a FAT formated 2GB card it wont recognise. Any ideas?


thanks in advance

[Allen1]

Hi there gordonbennett,

if you got a floppy disk with your kit it probably has the files you need on it. I didn't have a kit when I sorted out my CF drive and PCMCIA transfer card and I had to transfer files like fat95 via a serial cable (nul modem cable) as I didn't have a disk with it on (that is the hard part ie getting the initial files in place).

You need to use fat95 to read a standard windows formatted card (fat95.lha from Aminet), it is free and probably on your floppy if you got one. As you can already read the 500MB card I would say that cfd is already installed and gives your PCMCIA card the name DF0: when its inserted.

Anyways once you install fat 95 (and if you don't have cfd installed put that on as well), you should now see your windows formatted card, you will have to select SHOW ALL FILES to see the contents however plus you may have to use the CF0 icon to start things off.

The LHA files can be opened with Winrar on a PC and then transfered over to the Amiga if it makes it easier, these are what you need:-
fat95.lha (Allows you to read different file types)
cfd.lha (reads a CF card in the PCMCIA adapter)

[FOL]

Originally Posted by gordonbennett

Sorry to Hijack but its related. i want to ask Allen a question. I got a PCMCIA amiga kit with a 512mb card. This works fine but when i add a FAT formated 2GB card it wont recognise. Any ideas?


thanks in advance

Your card is not compatible with the Amiga. Its very picky with what cards you can and cant use.

[misjah]

Ok, I managed to install fresh WB_2.1. Now I don`t have any additional apps. At the moment I`m using Aexplorer to transfer files. Where should I copy fat95 folder and fat95.info? Are there any install commands required? (this goes for all other apps)

[Allen1]

Installation of fat95 is done by using the install icon that is in the drawer of the language you select
==============================================================================


* Doubleclick that "install_fat95" icon to install.
* Doubleclick the "MS0" (internal floppy) or "MS1" example icons to mount now.
* Or copy them into the DEVS DOSDrivers drawer to auto-mount at system start time.

You should end up with the files mentioned in the drawers L, C and DEVS in your system drawer ie Workbench :-
Workbench l:fat95
Workbench l:install95
Workbench c:SetFileSize
Workbench c:debug95
Workbench c:dd
Workbench c:boot95
Workbench DEVS:Messydisk.device
Workbench DEVS DOSDrivers MS0 ---> will mount itself automatically on bootup if placed here
Workbench DEVS DOSDrivers MS1 ---> will mount itself automatically on bootup if placed here
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The cfd instalation
The cfd program archive or drawer if it had been extracted contains 2 more drawers ie C and DEVS.
The contents of C need to go into your hard drives Workbench C folder ie
pcmcia speed
pcmciacheck
cfddebug

The contents of DEVS need to go into your hard drives Workbench DEVS folder ie
compactflash.device
CF0.info
CF0

To mount your PCMCIA card double-click DEVS: CF0 (Big Icon) and insert your card, if all went well you should now be able to see a drive Icon and be able to access the card.

SHOW ALL FILES is a must for nearly all of the above and all of the files mentioned are in the fat95.lha anc cfd.lha archives

It is over a month ago when I installed these and set up my 600 and 1200 CF drives plus PCMCIA CF transfer card so try the above method and if you get stuck let me know (same if you manage ok)

[misjah]

Ok, I did exactly like you said. I guess it does mount ''something'' because when I click CF0 icon second time it shows ''device already mounted''. The problem is that I don`t see drive icon anywhere. This is with transcend 128MB card. I will also try with Samsung 8MB and Kingston 2GB. (The card is inserted all the time)
Same for all 3 cards. Prepcard app sees cards, so everything should be ok with hardware part.

[Allen1]

Originally Posted by misjah

Ok, I did exactly like you said. I guess it does mount ''something'' because when I click CF0 icon second time it shows ''device already mounted''. The problem is that I don`t see drive icon anywhere. This is with transcend 128MB card. I will also try with Samsung 8MB and Kingston 2GB. (The card is inserted all the time)
Same for all 3 cards. Prepcard app sees cards, so everything should be ok with hardware part.

Hi there,

just went and tried the different cards that I have, I don't have any Transcend or Samsung cards and only 1 Kingston card, it is a 2GB 50X Elite pro and it did not work.

FAILED Kingston 2GB 50X Elite Pro Compact Flash
FAILED Simple Technology STI-ATAFL 8MB PCMCIA FLASHCARD

PASSED SanDisk 2GB Compact Flash
PASSED SanDisk 500MB Compact Flash
PASSED SanDisk 64MB Compact Flash
PASSED SanDisk 16MB Compact Flash
PASSED Memory Gold 48MB Compact Flash
PASSED TDK 32MB Compact Flash
PASSED XL-Pro 128MB Compact Flash

PASSED SanDisk 4 MB PCMCIA FLASHCARD
PASSED HYPERTEC 160MB ATA PCMCIA FLASHCARD
PASSED SiliconTech 224MB PCMCIA FLASHCARD

All of the above work fine on my laptop but as you can see there are 2 Flash cards that do not work in the Amiga PCMCIA slot. It looks like SanDisk is the best all round card to use, they are also what I used for my CF drives inside the 1200 and 600. I think that if you could get your hands on a SanDisk Card you will see your drive icon, the name of the drive depends on what your card is named as and can be renamed to something suitable if required.

[misjah]

Will try to find some used on local e-bay or maybe even borrow from someone. Just to be sure, fat95 should also mount fat-formated floppy? I tried with 1.44MB (sticker over hole) fat floppy and it shows MS0??? DF0??? icons.

Anyway, thanx for all the help. I really appreciate it. I`m not going to give up until this thing starts working.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by misjah

I tried with 1.44MB (sticker over hole) fat floppy and it shows MS0??? DF0??? icons.

Hi misjah,

So that the Amiga can read it, the 1.44MB floppy disk needs to be formatted to 720kB in Windows once the HD sensing hole has been covered by the sticker.

The can be done by using the FORMAT command at an MS-DOS prompt thus:
FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9

Note that some Amiga floppy drives are unable to read 1.44MB floppy disks formatted to 720kB, even with the HD sensing hole covered.

[misjah]

Hey, floppy is ok now. This means my cards are incompatibe.

[Allen1]

It only works with a 720K PC formatted disk, you will get the DF0??? icon and when it has read the disk another icon appears with the disks name. I think I read that a 1.44MB disk can be formatted as a 720k disk but I wouldn't bother unless it was absolutely necessary

[Allen1]

Hi there prowler,

that's the information I read the other day, I couldn't recall which thread you had put it on but I knew that is was on this site I got transferred to an earlier post when I sent the last reply, somehow the system thought it was a duplicate posting?

[misjah]

Well, I tried formating under winXP/98 and it got stuck.
Just one more thing until I find compatible card. Can whdload games start with only 1MB ram? Every game that I tried didn`t work. Nothing happens or the whole system hangs. I hooked up the same HDD that was in my A600 to PC and booted from uae. I checked 2MB RAM in settings and the games worked well. Is there any way to expand memory but not with PCMCIA Ram or regular add on module? I`m thinking about chip soldering since they look like those EDO RAM chips that can be found on old PCI VGA cards. (except they are 512KB). AtariST ram is pretty much easy to upgrade...