More practical way of managing CF card (pluging it in & out)

[Kenan]

I've found myself taking the CF card out of my Amiga and adding stuff to it in WinUAE quite often which kinda makes me think of somehow making it more accessable without having to keep the 1200 casing without screws and lift it up every time in order to get the card out.

Now, I considered cutting the casing and make a small entrance for the CF card but that's a no-no..Other thing I thought about was perhaps clearing one of the serial ports (removing them) and stick a card thru it.

What do you guys suggest I should do?

[demolition]

Use a CF card in the PCMCIA slot whenever you want to transfer files. After everything has been set up and is running and the CF card has been filled with software, you probably won't need to transfer large amounts of files anymore, and thus the PCMCIA can handle it.

[Kenan]

You mean the bigger slot for which there's an opening to the left side of the casings?
I have mine plugged in in IDE slot (I think). The lenght of the cable is some 15cm.

[demolition]

Yes, you can get PCMCIA to CF adapters, so you can connect a secondary CF card in that slot. With the right drivers, the Amiga can even read FAT32 formatted cards, so it is very easy to transfer stuff back and forth from the PC.

This is one example:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=440
Just need to add a CF card as well, and maybe a CF card reader for the PC if you don't already have that.

[Neil79]

Originally Posted by demolition

Use a CF card in the PCMCIA slot whenever you want to transfer files. After everything has been set up and is running and the CF card has been filled with software, you probably won't need to transfer large amounts of files anymore, and thus the PCMCIA can handle it.

Unless of cause you run into the issues I and a number of others have with PCMCIA/CF usage (Amibay) then you might think differently.

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=45430

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Kenan

I've found myself taking the CF card out of my Amiga and adding stuff to it in WinUAE quite often which kinda makes me think of somehow making it more accessable without having to keep the 1200 casing without screws and lift it up every time in order to get the card out.

Now, I considered cutting the casing and make a small entrance for the CF card but that's a no-no..Other thing I thought about was perhaps clearing one of the serial ports (removing them) and stick a card thru it.

What do you guys suggest I should do?

I dont know why you don't mount the CF card out of the side using the angled cf card so that the CF card sits directly on top of the PCMCIA slot, it is the most ideal place for swapping out the CF card. if you really don't want to do that then the only option would be a long 44 pin cable extension which is not the best as a long cable will introduce lag/errors if too long.

Other option would be a fat 32 formatted CF card plugged into the PCMCIA slot via an adapter that you can swap between PC and Amiga. (you will need to get the drivers from Aminet)

[Turran]

3 solutions in one picture =)



1: As Kipper says, get an angled IDE-CF adapter and make a hole in the chassis just above the PCMCIA slot (buy it from him).

2: Get a PCMCIA CF card adapter and format with FAT32. Make sure the CF card actually works in the adapter. Not all do. Buy it from amigakit or a working adapter including CF card on ebay..

3: Get a network card (might need a bit more then 2MB chip for that solution to be viable...)