IDE (Auto) or UAE (uaefh.device) when preparing CF cards

SuperPlay · 10 February 2018, 14:00

Hi Folks

While I have been reviewing the many tutorials on preparing CF cards for use in a real Amiga, some say when you add the CF card as a hard drive in WinUAE to use IDE (Auto) and others say to use UAE (uaefh.device) as the controller type.

Any advice on which I should be using?

Cheers

-Acid- · 10 February 2018, 14:53

I'd say use ide0 and you should get the exact same behavior as you would in the real machine. I used to sometimes get the wrong geometry reported when using uaehf.device which would result in block id errors later on when adding data to the card. The could have been the ide to usb adapter I used to use back then but I don't take any chances especially when using big cards.

Toni Wilen · 10 February 2018, 16:37

It is not 100% exact behavior (see below) but if you mean pfs3 block index error, it is caused by pfs3 and it is finally getting solved very soon..

Best option is to use "identity" option in latest winuae beta (which would make CF appear exactly as real Amiga sees it) but unfortunately I haven't found any CF readers that support ATA passthrough to enable reading of identity data. Most newer SATA/IDE adapters do support it.

Another 100% guaranteed option is to install partition table using real Amiga. (make sure you use same partitioning tool in emulation and real world!)

But it shouldn't cause any issues unless IDE driver uses CHS geometry to calculate size which can happen with some old 3rd party IDE controllers. LBA size is generally always slightly larger than CHS size.

If you still aren't sure, you can leave 8M or so unused space at the end of drive to make it 100% non-issue.

Main reason for IDE emulation is to confirm any real world issue before moving the CF back to real Amiga. Including max transfer problem (Which happens in emulation if you set ATA mode to "ATA 2+ strict")

-Acid- · 11 February 2018, 02:06

Most of the time I partition and format in my real Amiga now after a lot of block id problems in the past (was mainly with SFS but I saw the light and only use pfs3aio these days). I always leave a bit space at the end as well as a double insurance policy

Toni Wilen · 11 February 2018, 10:20

I don't think that had nothing to do with emulation. SFS (at least some versions) does that sometimes, I got it twice in late 1990s before I decided to never use it gain.

SuperPlay · 11 February 2018, 16:11

Thank you for the replies, appreciated as always :-)

10 February 2018, 14:00	#1
SuperPlay Registered User Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Staffordshire / UK Posts: 119	IDE (Auto) or UAE (uaefh.device) when preparing CF cards Hi Folks While I have been reviewing the many tutorials on preparing CF cards for use in a real Amiga, some say when you add the CF card as a hard drive in WinUAE to use IDE (Auto) and others say to use UAE (uaefh.device) as the controller type. Any advice on which I should be using? Cheers

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10 February 2018, 14:53	#2
-Acid- Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: South Shields Posts: 812	I'd say use ide0 and you should get the exact same behavior as you would in the real machine. I used to sometimes get the wrong geometry reported when using uaehf.device which would result in block id errors later on when adding data to the card. The could have been the ide to usb adapter I used to use back then but I don't take any chances especially when using big cards.

10 February 2018, 16:37	#3
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,510	It is not 100% exact behavior (see below) but if you mean pfs3 block index error, it is caused by pfs3 and it is finally getting solved very soon.. Best option is to use "identity" option in latest winuae beta (which would make CF appear exactly as real Amiga sees it) but unfortunately I haven't found any CF readers that support ATA passthrough to enable reading of identity data. Most newer SATA/IDE adapters do support it. Another 100% guaranteed option is to install partition table using real Amiga. (make sure you use same partitioning tool in emulation and real world!) But it shouldn't cause any issues unless IDE driver uses CHS geometry to calculate size which can happen with some old 3rd party IDE controllers. LBA size is generally always slightly larger than CHS size. If you still aren't sure, you can leave 8M or so unused space at the end of drive to make it 100% non-issue. Main reason for IDE emulation is to confirm any real world issue before moving the CF back to real Amiga. Including max transfer problem (Which happens in emulation if you set ATA mode to "ATA 2+ strict")

11 February 2018, 02:06	#4
-Acid- Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: South Shields Posts: 812	Most of the time I partition and format in my real Amiga now after a lot of block id problems in the past (was mainly with SFS but I saw the light and only use pfs3aio these days). I always leave a bit space at the end as well as a double insurance policy

11 February 2018, 10:20	#5
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,510	I don't think that had nothing to do with emulation. SFS (at least some versions) does that sometimes, I got it twice in late 1990s before I decided to never use it gain.

11 February 2018, 16:11	#6
SuperPlay Registered User Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Staffordshire / UK Posts: 119	Thank you for the replies, appreciated as always :-)

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