A600 + pcmcia sram + CF Ide + Whdload = Problems

Visper · 07 August 2008, 02:54

I've an A600 with 2 MB Chip, a 2MB PCMCIA SRAM card and a 2.5" hard drive. With these specs I can use Whdload without problems: almost all games work flawlessly.

Today, I've installed a CF-IDE adaptor with a 2GB CF card. All seemed to work out well but when I tried to run a Whdload game (Turrican 2) it didn't work. Strange, let's try another I said: more errors, another one: more errors. No game worked

I removed the SRAM and the games worked again

so I run memtest on the PCMCIA: no errors. Replaced the CF with the old 2.5" harddrive: all OK with the SRAM installed.

So, are the SRAM + CF combo incompatible?

btw, here is the error I get after trying to run Turrican 3:

Exception "Access Fault" ($0)
PC = $368D0
255? from/to $43D9

Thanks in advance.

Jope · 07 August 2008, 16:20

What's the mask on your HD partition and CF partition?

Visper · 07 August 2008, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jope

What's the mask on your HD partition and CF partition?

CF: Custom File System / Mask = 0xfffffe

Harddrive: Fast File System / Mask = 0x7ffffffe

Maybe the problem is that the CF card was formatted under WinUAE, with the adapter connected to the PC IDE. Should I try to use the A600 to format the card?

solaris104 · 07 August 2008, 17:24

You try set maxtransfer to 0x1fe00

Visper · 07 August 2008, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by solaris104

You try set maxtransfer to 0x1fe00

I already tried that but didn't work

Zetr0 · 07 August 2008, 18:32

@Visper

Have you tried using this cf and setup under WinUAE ?

Visper · 07 August 2008, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetr0

Have you tried using this cf and setup under WinUAE ?

Yes. Latest WinUAE with my A600 config: 2 MB Chip, 2MB PCMCIA SRAM, same kickstart, CF connected to the PC IDE --> no problems at all with whdload

Visper · 07 August 2008, 19:00

Success!!

Formatted the CF card with the A600 using FFS and now whdload works!

killergorilla · 07 August 2008, 19:51

Excellent news!

Visper · 07 August 2008, 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by killergorilla

Excellent news!

Yeah!

The A600 without the harddrive noise/heat makes a huge difference

killergorilla · 07 August 2008, 20:50

I use my A1200 for whdload, I wouldn't be able to use my A600 because the top of the case is glued to the bottom

Jope · 07 August 2008, 22:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by solaris104

You try set maxtransfer to 0x1fe00

This sounds to me like you didn't really read and understand where the problem lies and just offered the maxtransfer size as a catch all solution.

Let's go back to the problem report:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Visper

I removed the SRAM and the games worked again

so I run memtest on the PCMCIA: no errors. Replaced the CF with the old 2.5" harddrive: all OK with the SRAM installed.

How can it work with the same maxtransfer without the SRAM? The presence of the RAM card doesn't make any difference to the size of the transfers.

And as he replied, the mask was different between the HD and CF partitions..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Visper

CF: Custom File System / Mask = 0xfffffe

Harddrive: Fast File System / Mask = 0x7ffffffe

Especially 3rd party filesystems are very picky about the mask. If it is too wide and the PCMCIA RAM is somehow incompatible, it will fail when trying to use that RAM when transferring data to/from the media.

But something still puzzles me.. The mask for the CF was narrower than for the HD. Hmm.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~hjohn/SFS/mask.htm

Visper, can you give us the mask settings what you have on the CF now?

Visper · 08 August 2008, 00:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jope

Visper, can you give us the mask settings what you have on the CF now?

The same that the harddrive: 0x7ffffffe.

Anyway, I spoke too soon, because after connecting the CF to the PC IDE and copying the games with WinUAE, the problem came back

It could be that, for some unknown reason, WinUAE is the culprit here

so I'm going to copy the files with an SD card and avoid for now WinUAE.

Toni Wilen · 08 August 2008, 09:04

I still think it is maxtransfer-related problem. WinUAE does not have problems with maxtransfer (perhaps I should optionally emulate this "feature"..) and "too" big maxtransfer setting can create incompatible data if read on real Amiga+HD that has maxtransfer "bug".

Make sure maxtransfer is set to 0xfe00 before writing to the CF. Also try using "IDE0" harddrive controller option.

EDIT: You said you use "latest" WinUAE with PCMCIA SRAM. Note that pre-1.5.1 WinUAE do not fully support PCMCIA SRAM in memory expansion mode.

Visper · 08 August 2008, 13:01

Thanks for the tips. I'll try it.

Visper · 09 August 2008, 05:27

With the settings Toni provided the A600 seems to work properly

but with all this plug/unplug nightmare I almost broke one of the A600 IDE pins so I'm not touching it while I live

07 August 2008, 02:54	#1
Visper Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Nowhere Posts: 74	A600 + pcmcia sram + CF Ide + Whdload = Problems I've an A600 with 2 MB Chip, a 2MB PCMCIA SRAM card and a 2.5" hard drive. With these specs I can use Whdload without problems: almost all games work flawlessly. Today, I've installed a CF-IDE adaptor with a 2GB CF card. All seemed to work out well but when I tried to run a Whdload game (Turrican 2) it didn't work. Strange, let's try another I said: more errors, another one: more errors. No game worked I removed the SRAM and the games worked again so I run memtest on the PCMCIA: no errors. Replaced the CF with the old 2.5" harddrive: all OK with the SRAM installed. So, are the SRAM + CF combo incompatible? btw, here is the error I get after trying to run Turrican 3: Exception "Access Fault" ($0) PC = $368D0 255? from/to $43D9 Thanks in advance.

08 August 2008, 09:04	#14
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,519	I still think it is maxtransfer-related problem. WinUAE does not have problems with maxtransfer (perhaps I should optionally emulate this "feature"..) and "too" big maxtransfer setting can create incompatible data if read on real Amiga+HD that has maxtransfer "bug". Make sure maxtransfer is set to 0xfe00 before writing to the CF. Also try using "IDE0" harddrive controller option. EDIT: You said you use "latest" WinUAE with PCMCIA SRAM. Note that pre-1.5.1 WinUAE do not fully support PCMCIA SRAM in memory expansion mode. Last edited by Toni Wilen; 08 August 2008 at 10:09.

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07 August 2008, 16:20	#2
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,864	What's the mask on your HD partition and CF partition?

07 August 2008, 17:24	#4
solaris104 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Czechia Posts: 99	You try set maxtransfer to 0x1fe00

07 August 2008, 18:32	#6
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	@Visper Have you tried using this cf and setup under WinUAE ?

07 August 2008, 19:00	#8
Visper Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Nowhere Posts: 74	Success!! Formatted the CF card with the A600 using FFS and now whdload works!

07 August 2008, 19:51	#9
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	Excellent news!

07 August 2008, 20:50	#11
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	I use my A1200 for whdload, I wouldn't be able to use my A600 because the top of the case is glued to the bottom

08 August 2008, 13:01	#15
Visper Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Nowhere Posts: 74	Thanks for the tips. I'll try it.

09 August 2008, 05:27	#16
Visper Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Nowhere Posts: 74	With the settings Toni provided the A600 seems to work properly but with all this plug/unplug nightmare I almost broke one of the A600 IDE pins so I'm not touching it while I live

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