Yet another CF problem

Hi.

I recently inherited an Amiga 1200 and immediately wanted to make a whdload gaming rig out of it. That would be easy, wouldn't it?

No it wouldn't - I bought an ACA1232/33mhz and realized that my Amiga needed timing fixes, I got someone to do it and everything was fine.

I then bought a 16gb CF which I prepared through UAE - two partitions, DH0 (2gb) and DH1 (the rest). Everything went super fine i WinUAE (I "think" I used SmartFileSystem, "think" because I am not a 100 percent sure that I know what I am doing).

I then put the CF in my amiga and it boots up, BUT I can only see DH0! DH1 with all the good stuff only shows up in Winuae.

I've been trying to figure it out by trawling the net for a few weeks - please help me.

I use plain Workbench 3.1 by the way.

[Toni Wilen]

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=61666

Quick and simple answer: Built-in IDE and KS 3.1 can only access first 4G of drive (standard IO) or ~7.8G (DirectSCSI = PFS3AIO/PFS3DS or old SFS).

You'll get exact same behavior under WinUAE if you use IDE emulation.

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=61666

Quick and simple answer: Built-in IDE and KS 3.1 can only access first 4G of drive (standard IO) or ~7.8G (DirectSCSI = PFS3AIO/PFS3DS or old SFS).

You'll get exact same behavior under WinUAE if you use IDE emulation.

Thank you so much for answering.

So 8gb is max? I was under the impression that you could use up to 128gb or something by "doing stuff"?

Is there a way I will be able to access it all? - just keywords, no need for long explanations

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by gigaskipper

Thank you so much for answering.

So 8gb is max? I was under the impression that you could use up to 128gb or something by "doing stuff"?

Is there a way I will be able to access it all? - just keywords, no need for long explanations

Yes, new enough scsi.device (soft) update allows up to 2T. Everything needed is explained in above url.

[fitzsteve]

The best solution for you is to put new scsi.device inside the a modified image of KS3.1 (or 3.9) depending on what OS you use and with Maprom on the ACA you can load this in. I've tested a 32gb CF with my ACA1232 with (KS3.1 & Toni's/Chris' scsi.device inside an image of the Rom) using ACATune & Maprom and it works a treat

You'll need to do a bit of googling on this one though! (A good start is to read Toni's link)

Easier solution for now is to use loadmodule to load up the scsi.device

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

The best solution for you is to put new scsi.device inside the a modified image of KS3.1 (or 3.9) depending on what OS you use and with Maprom on the ACA you can load this in. I've tested a 32gb CF with my ACA1232 with (KS3.1 & Toni's/Chris' scsi.device inside an image of the Rom) using ACATune & Maprom and it works a treat

You'll need to do a bit of googling on this one though! (A good start is to read Toni's link)

Easier solution for now is to use loadmodule to load up the scsi.device

Thank you - easier solutions sounds sweet. I did try to ad the loadmodule and try to load a newer scsi.device (43.47). My amiga and Winuae just blackscreens on boot. What am I doing wrong?

[fitzsteve]

I found some CF cards don't like some versions of scsi.device try the attached by Chris/Toni

You'll find all versions inside the archive

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by gigaskipper

scsi.device (43.47)

Some of the patched versions are badly done and only work accidentally..

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

I found some CF cards don't like some versions of scsi.device try the attached by Chris/Toni

You'll find all versions inside the archive

I appreciate all your help, but I can't make it work. If i put this in the startup-sequence it blackscreens too. If I put it after the "load workbench" it boots up and loads the module and quickly reboots in winuae - as if I just loaded it normally through the CLI (which is what I am doing in a sense). If I use the same on the amiga it quickly boots and loads the module, but reboots to "insert disc" animation.

I believe I am supposed to load the module after ACATUNE and before I load workbench, right?

[Toni Wilen]

Did you configure WinUAE for IDE emulation? ("Chipset extra" chipset panel must match your real hardware!)

scsi.device update will hang if it is loaded without IDE hardware...

I think I am about to give up. Now I can't get ANYTHING to boot anymore. I even tried from the top, by "zeroing" my Compact Flash card and starting over.

I did manage to get HDTools to see it in WinUAE using IDE0 and not UAE controller. I then made a partition of roughly 2gb with SFS using this guide:
http://wiki.classicamiga.com/How_to_..._within_WinUAE

Then I installed workbench 3.1 and rebooted. Everything went fine in Winuae, but on the real Amiga it just boots to "insert floppy".

I can't recall what I did to get stuff bootin' originally, but it seems strange that this does not work. I've thought about the possibility of me destroying the ide cable, by plugging and unplugging several times, but the Compact Flash status light, blinks twice when I turn on the Amiga (before it boots to "insert floppy"), so I guess it should work or at least have some kind of connection.

I did set the chipset extra to A1200.

[fitzsteve]

If you want you can send the CF to me and I'll set it up for you

[Toni Wilen]

Use latest winuae 2.6 beta, load your config, tick logging checkbox (paths or misc panel), boot normally, quit. Attach winuaelog.txt.

EDIT: Mount the CF as UAE (not IDE) when logging.

Do not send it to anywhere, I want to know whats wrong!

Here is my winuaelog.txt.

I hope I did it right and that you can make something out of it.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by gigaskipper

Here is my winuaelog.txt.

I hope I did it right and that you can make something out of it.

Log is ok. Unfortunately everything looks fine, nothing wrong with partition information. (correct dostype, bootable bit is set etc..)

Does the partition appear in early boot menu on your real A1200? Does c:info shell command show it if you boot using WB disk?

No it doesn't show info. I think I must have destroyed the cable or something - because I DID have something running some days ago. But I have been switching the Compact Flash Adaptor back and forth from Amiga to PC - and since it works perfectly on PC - I will try another 44 pin cable - when I get one.

Thanks for all your help - and it goes to everyone who chipped in.

I will report back when I get a new cable.

[Turran]

Started WinUAE as administrator? I pulled my hair as well a few months ago when everything booted fine in WinUAE but when I moved it to a real Amiga, it did not boot from it.

Had to start WinUAE as administrator and redo it. Then it worked.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Turran

Started WinUAE as administrator? I pulled my hair as well a few months ago when everything booted fine in WinUAE but when I moved it to a real Amiga, it did not boot from it.

Had to start WinUAE as administrator and redo it. Then it worked.

Did previous Amiga partitions disappear when you mounted it as admin?

I always start Amiga as administrator. Otherwise it won't allow me to us the CF. I have ordered a new 44 pin cable from china. It will probably take a while to get here, but it was cheap!

I'm back - I promised that I would report back and it seemed that all my fumbling around with the CF card had made me destroy the 44-pin cable. I got my new one from China yesterday and it works.

I had to fumble a little around with some hacked kick.roms that were sent to me, to get everything working, but now it works!

I want to thank everyone who contributed to solving my amiga problems! :-)