Problems using PCMCIA 128MB CF Card on WB3.1

[clitosa]

Hi everyone. I have a PCMCIA CF Card on my a1200. However when i put the CF & CF adapter into the PCMCIA slot, the WB disk image for it (i think this is also known as a ADF?) does not show on the desktop.

I have ADAPCMCFL floppy disk. Does this need to be inserted into the floppy drive for this to work? Or should the software on this floppy be installed onto the amiga HD first for it to work with the CF card in the PCMCIA slot?

If the software from the ADAPCMCFL disk DOES need to be installed first, then I think it may already have been installed because we have seen the 128MBCF icon on the desktop before when the CF Card has been inserted. Very confusing

I believe I'm doing something wrong. Is there a way to view a list of all of the software installed on the amiga HD? That would help in finding out if the necessary (if necessary at all?!) software for use with the 128MB CF Card & PCMCIA adapter was installed or not.

Thanks

[roy bates]

are you using an adf transfer kit?



did you format the cf for fat use on a pc?

if it is an adf transfer kit:
have a look in the L drawer on your harddrive and see if a file called fat95 is installed,you will have to show all to see the directorys.
also have a look in devs/dosdrivers and see if you have a dosdriver called CF0.

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by clitosa

[B]... Or should the software on this floppy be installed onto the amiga HD first for it to work with the CF card in the PCMCIA slot?

If the software from the ADAPCMCFL disk DOES need to be installed first, then I think it may already have been installed because we have seen the 128MBCF icon on the desktop before when the CF Card has been inserted. Very confusing

Of course it has to be installed to the Cf Hd. Use again the Adapcmcfl floppy and install it all again, there's no problem doing it again. Then reboot and your Pcmcia Cf will be shown.

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

Of course it has to be installed to the Cf Hd. Use again the Adapcmcfl floppy and install it all again, there's no problem doing it again. Then reboot and your Pcmcia Cf will be shown.

Okay R. Will install the Adapcmcfl again, re boot and let you know

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by roy bates

are you using an adf transfer kit?



did you format the cf for fat use on a pc?

if it is an adf transfer kit:
have a look in the L drawer on your harddrive and see if a file called fat95 is installed,you will have to show all to see the directorys.
also have a look in devs/dosdrivers and see if you have a dosdriver called CF0.

Cheers Roy. Will look in those places after reinstalling Adapcmcfl as recommended

[clitosa]

A clear guide here for anyone with similar problems:

[ Show youtube player ]

[roy bates]

did you get yours to work then?

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by roy bates

did you get yours to work then?

Yeah, thanks Roy - seems fine now. each time the CF card & adapter go into the slot, the icon for it mounts on the desktop just fine

The adf transfer kit was on the Adapcmcfl disk. Have not looked in the devs/dosdrivers for the DOS driver CF0 or the L drawer for file FAT95. Will let you know. Can imagine they are there though (all thing considered ).

I hear 8MB expansions can cause problems with the PCMCIA slot. Although this could be through the actual board itself and not the 8MB simms. Is this correct?

Thanks, m

[roy bates]

my 8mb board doesent seem to course problems with the pcmcia slot,although it may be down to the kickstart difference between 3.0 and 3.1 and maybe not the board itself.
(code difference in the rom itself)

although at the same time there are boards that are not pcmcia freindly anyway.


or it could even be both the kickstart roms version and the board.


these problems may only arise when using pcmcia ethernet cards,and then you may run into another problem known as cc-reset bug.(a hardware problem)

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by roy bates

my 8mb board doesent seem to course problems with the pcmcia slot,although it may be down to the kickstart difference between 3.0 and 3.1 and maybe not the board itself.
(code difference in the rom itself)

although at the same time there are boards that are not pcmcia freindly anyway.

or it could even be both the kickstart roms version and the board.

these problems may only arise when using pcmcia ethernet cards,and then you may run into another problem known as cc-reset bug.(a hardware problem)

Thanks again, I was thinking about getting a 8MB simm for that board so that i could use the a1200 on the internet.

But if using such pcmcia ethernet cards can be problematic on 8MB, it may be best to stick with 4MB already there. Although it's good to know that expansion boards with 8MB simms can an do work with pcmcia.

Am I right in saying that a 4MB expansion is not suitable for the internet?

D'oh - Sorry, ignore that question!! Retro already explanded that previously - 4MB is suitable

[roy bates]

hmm,thats a very good question.


i dont actually know if you can go online with 4mb's of ram or not.maybe one of the other guys on here could tell you.

as just veiwing web pages uses memory.

EDIT: i actually think it depends on the screenmode and amount of colours used to display the web browser.

[Retrofan]

clitosa you can buy an 8mb ram and if it has any problem with Pcmcia you can change the jumpers to use only 4 without problems.

CWB will let you choose to use 16 colors and Rebel's palette to look nice, but I'm not really sure if 4mb is enough. I think so, at least to open Aminet I guess. If I were you I would try to install kickstarts 3.0 and try to use 8mb.

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

clitosa you can buy an 8mb ram and if it has any problem with Pcmcia you can change the jumpers to use only 4 without problems.

CWB will let you choose to use 16 colors and Rebel's palette to look nice, but I'm not really sure if 4mb is enough. I think so, at least to open Aminet I guess. If I were you I would try to install kickstarts 3.0 and try to use 8mb.

Thanks Retro - Is changing the jumpers done solely within the WB OS and not by psychically changing the hardware?

Also, could installing kickstarts 3.0 over the 3.1 already installed cause any further problems?


Thanks

[roy bates]

changing jumper settings on your ram board are done phisicly and not through the os.and when the machine is off never do this while the machine is on.this is a must.


the kickstarts are not workbench they are roms that plug into your motherboard.

do you mean the difference between workbench 3.1 and workbench 3.0?

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by roy bates

hmm,thats a very good question.


i dont actually know if you can go online with 4mb's of ram or not.maybe one of the other guys on here could tell you.

as just veiwing web pages uses memory.

EDIT: i actually think it depends on the screenmode and amount of colours used to display the web browser.

Thanks RB - from what u & retro say it seems 8MB is a safer bet when going online.

Aminet & WHDLoad would be our only point of reference for file downloading. And we would be happy to use as little colours as possible both screen and browser wise.

But i guess we can now always use the CF Card Adapter for obtaining files. Maybe it's a cheaper than buying the necessary ethernet pcmcia cables and relevant software.

We will need to buy a USB CF Card reader however as our windows home pc's are without pcmcia - just USB

Thanks

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by clitosa

Thanks Retro - Is changing the jumpers done solely within the WB OS and not by psychically changing the hardware?

Also, could installing kickstarts 3.0 over the 3.1 already installed cause any further problems?


Thanks

No, the jumpers are in your "accelerator" (really is only ram board). You must find where do you change it to use 2, 4 or 8mb, and see where does the small plastic piece (jumper) has to be; between which pins.

Well, to start the kickstarts 3.0 use to be cheaper than the 3.1 that you've got. You can buy them for example here: http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=413

You take out the existing ones with care and insert these. The thing is that the CWB you install in the CF has to be installed for those kickstarts. If you do the install using WinUAE (you better do) you have there also (I mean with Amiga Forever) the floppy image (adf) of the Install floppy of 3.1 or the one of the Workbench 3.0 that CWB will ask you to "insert" in WinUAE to install it. If you install it with the 3.1 install floppy (and other adf's of 3.1), you better use it with kickstarts 3.1, and the same on the contrary. It's true that it will work if you don't do so, but also it's commented it gives problems sooner or latter.

Edit: Don't be scared about the CWB install. There are tutorials to make it step by step.

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by roy bates

changing jumper settings on your ram board are done phisicly and not through the os.and when the machine is off never do this while the machine is on.this is a must.


the kickstarts are not workbench they are roms that plug into your motherboard.

do you mean the difference between workbench 3.1 and workbench 3.0?

Cheers RB - Don't i'll be changing those jumper settings without supervision. Could be a disaster!

D'oh - Kickstarts are roms! Thanks Roy

[roy bates]

Originally Posted by clitosa

Thanks RB - from what u & retro say it seems 8MB is a safer bet when going online.

Aminet & WHDLoad would be our only point of reference for file downloading. And we would be happy to use as little colours as possible both screen and browser wise.

But i guess we can now always use the CF Card Adapter for obtaining files. Maybe it's a cheaper than buying the necessary ethernet pcmcia cables and relevant software.

We will need to buy a USB CF Card reader however as our windows home pc's are without pcmcia - just USB

Thanks

that is a very sensible option

using the cf card reader as a transfer option does actually work,i do this myself.

[clitosa]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

No, the jumpers are in your "accelerator" (really is only ram board). You must find where do you change it to use 2, 4 or 8mb, and see where does the small plastic piece (jumper) has to be; between which pins.

Well, to start the kickstarts 3.0 use to be cheaper than the 3.1 that you've got. You can buy them for example here: http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=413

You take out the existing ones with care and insert these. The thing is that the CWB you install in the CF has to be for those kickstarts. If you do the install using WinUAE (you better do) you have there also the floppy image of the Install floppy (adf) of 3.1 or the one of the Workbench 3.0 that CWB will ask you to "insert" in WinUAE to install it. If you install it with the 3.1 install floppy, you better use it with kickstarts 3.1, and the same on the contrary. It's true that it can work if you don't do so, but also it's commented it gives problems sonner or latter.

Appreciated Retro - i mentioned to Roy that i doub't i'll be changing those jumper settings without supervision (lol) But thanks for letting me know what to look for.

I have some 3.0 Roms but currently not on the motherboard. Does having 3.1 make any overall improvements to the a1200 hardware? May reinstall the older chips if not.

Thanks

[roy bates]

retrofan will probably say the same as me here the kickstart makes no difference to workbench 3.1 as far as i know.



if you dont feel comfortable with the jumper settings on your card you can send it to me(with the 8mb simm) and i'll set the jumpers and test it for you.

and when im finished i'll send it back.