And people wonder why direct links to the zone aren't allowed... Long gone, but maybe it's on the file server in 'Misc/TheZone'.

Ok, thanks anyway.

So, after failing at getting a PCMCIA network card working I've been trying to get a transfer up and running from my old a1200 to a cf disk through an adapter bought from Vesalia. First I bought one from amigakit.com, but that one never even arrived at my home. :banghead

I figure I'll post my progress here, see if someone has an idea because I don't. :(

Ingredients:

- PCMCIA adapter (type I, 16-bit)
- SanDisk 2GB compact flash disk (bought because I read in this thread that it worked)
- fat95 & cfd, fully installed on Workbench.

Recipe:

1. Installed fat95 & cfd from install floppy provided with adapter (got it from Vesalia)
2. Inserted card.

Results:

PrepCard shows the disk, but it doesn't recognize the architecture. Tellls me it's "write protected" when I try to prepare the card as a disk / ram.

Tried several ways of formatting the disk:
- from Windows XP (tried both FAT & FAT32 options)
- from Linux (FAT32)

Doesn't seem to matter at all. Disk is not recognized, not even as a CF0:NDOS on the workbench, nada. But when in cli I type "mount CF0" it tells me CF0 is already mounted. I checked L: C: devs/dosdrivers and devs/ for fat95 and cfd files and everything seems to be there. Also tried editing the CF0 mount file in devs/dosdrivers, changed Type to 1 and 2.

Everything I tried still gives me a "write protected" message. Can write to disk perfectly fine in Linux and Windows.

I'm thinking of using PrepCard via UAE on the disk, and then tyring again, but I can't figure out how to get that to work. I can read the FAT-formatted card on UAE, but it tells me permissions are wrong or something (can't remember exactly).

:help?

I've spent enough money on hardware right now. The network card didn't work after days of trying and now I'm stuck with what seemed to be a simpler solution. I'm getting pretty pissed off.

Some card / adapter combinations are simply not compatable.

What does prep card say for network card?

As both aint working, it could be a busted pin in the PCMCIA socket.

Prepcard only works with PCMCIA RAM cards up to 4Mb!

For CF devices and related (SM/SD/MMC/MS) you just need cfd.device version 1.27 (installed from the built-in installer, never just copied over) on DEVS/Dosdrivers and FAT95 handler on L:, nothing more.

You cannot format the card on the Amiga, IIRC. Use it to transport files after a pc/Mac/Linu* box format it to FAT12/16/32 (the Amiga will not care).

Prepcard, will see the card and tell you what it is, if it dont see it (shows as unknown) then it aint going to work.

You can format on Amiga, you have to "quick format" it.

hi there,

i am using amigakits pcmcia cf card adapter and i can confirm that it usually seems to be an incompatible card when things don't work out well. i have tried kingston, hama and peak - none of them would work. for one it said cf0:ndos, the other wouldn't show up at all and another one froze the system endlessly trying to acces.

i recommend to try sandisk ultra, bought an 8gb one today and it works like a charm in fat32 mode. although the amiga got stuck saying busy when trying a quick format it gets recognized and works great...

This is why we sell them with the 4GB or 128MB Cards.
As we test them before sending them out.

It says that you need a compatible card on the product description.

Due to the size of your card (8GB is insane, ;) ), it will take atleast 4 to 6 mins to quick format.

and again i say: amigakit provides a great service!!

So whats the verdict on using Transcend 133x cards via PCMCIA?

I know they work on ide via CF adapter, but how about in the PCMCIA slot.


Thinking about picking up either an 8 or 16GB one and want to have the option to use in as removable storage.

I bought some SanDisk 256 mb cards, see if they worked. Same thing. InitCard says: write protected

busted PCMCIA socket seems unlikely, since my PCMCIA cd-rom reader is working fine.

For the 256 mb, Prepcard says:
- Device: I/O Device 120ns
- Product: Sandisk SDP Version 4.1 5/3 0.6
Rest of the info is N/A including Format & Geometry
The same info appears for the 2GB card, except that it says "80ns" for Device:

256mb cards came preformatted as FAT16. They had "boot" flag set, but changing that through gparted on my laptop has no effect. :(

on my a1200 the cf 2g are ndos (write protect), format 896g ???? and on a600 nothing (as not inserted)

i use 3.1 on a1200, 3.1 and 2.05 on a600 rev 1.3 and rev 1.5 with cfd and fat95 or use original floppy adapcmcfl

From experience, I noticed that cards that don't have the "announced" capacity in full are the problematic ones.

For example, a card with 3.5Gb (bad cells inside) but sold as 4Gb will fail miserably under IDE or PCMCIA, doesn't matter the brand nor how new/old.

I'm trying again with my cf cards (I have a lot now, mostly Sandisk of various sizes.)

I'm trying to use HDToolbox to partition the drive. cfd and compactflash.device are correctly installed, and Prepcard sees the card but can't format it. I read somewhere Prepcard shouldn't be used, so I edited the HDToolbox .info to use compactflash.device.

I click Define new... but I don't know what information I should enter there. What Filename? Read Configuration says it can't find the filesize, and I have no idea how to handle HDToolbox. :help When I try saving changes it says Error 29 on write. Low-level format says error -3.

You can't format CF cards in the PCMCIA slot using HDToolBox. When they show on Workbench simply left-click once on the icon (to select it), then right-click and from the drop-down menu choose Icon:format disk.

Don't put a trashcan and do only a quick format. Also you'll notice you can't choose FFS nor other native Amiga file system. Stick with FAT16 or FAT32.

That'd be great, except no icons show up on my workbench. Double clicking on devs:dosdrivers/cf0 says it's already mounted, and "info" in cli shows cf0: as being there, but without a disk, no matter which of the cards I put in.

So if you FAT32 format this on a Win/Linux/Mac machine, your A1200 won't mount it?

Just to verify, you have FAT95 in the L:?

Card Reset and Card Patch in C: as well?

Card_Reset & Card_Pathc aren't needed for storage media. They are required for LAN, CD & modem cards.

finally ok with takems 256mb on 1200 and on 600, my 2g and 4gb are ok only for cf-ide

No. Well, it says it's mounted but it's not on the WB screen. Tried FAT16 too, tried formatting on both on Ubuntu Linux & Win XP.

Yes. I received a floppy with fat95 v 3.11 and compactflash.device (cfd) v1.27

Yes.

From cli:

I've wondered whether my PCMCIA slot is broken, but my PCMCIA CD-R works perfectly, and PrepCard does recognize the CF cards. So somehow, Prepcard knows it's there, and it's mounted, yet it doesn't show up on WB, and PrepCard tells me it's write-protected.

I'm running an A1200 68040 with PPC, would that make a difference? :confused
Perhaps I should edit the mountlist in devs:dosdrivers/cf0? I'm not sure what to put in there though, and its filesystem & device options nicely point to compactflash.device & l:fat95.

@rober7

Sorry, didnt spot this thread earlier.

What was your original EasyADF invoice number? Let me know and I will send out a replacement EasyADF Floppy Disk to you.