English Amiga Board - View Single Post - Using a Compact Flash card on a600/a1200 IDE

gizmomelb · 25 January 2007, 12:29

hi guys, I managed to finally get knoppix to work with my laptop (run it in text only mode) and discovered some interesting things about the CF cards I've got that work and don't work with the Amiga.

Inside every CF (and probably most types of flash memory) is an firmware flashROM which holds info such as the manufacturer ID, capacity, voltage etc. which is called the CIS (Card Information Structure). Linux can easily query the CIS and totally by accident I finally found a commercial Windows program which can also query the CIS on flash memory.

The CF cards I've got that DON'T work with the Amiga (but do with the IBM) have BLANK manufid fields, whereas the CF cards that work have info in their manufid fields.

Compact Flash cards can operate in three modes and unfortunately I don't think you can read the CIS to find out what modes the Compact Flash card supports. The three modes are:

Memory card mode
I/O Card mode
True IDE mode

all CF cards *SHOULD* support all three modes, but some manufacturers don't enable support for True IDE mode so they save a few cents in parts or design.

The CF to IDE adapters play a part in whether or not a CF (which does support True IDE mode) will work as a HDD - pin 9 needs to be tied to ground. If pin 9 is floating or linked back to the IDE connector, then the CF to IDE adapter probably won't allow the CF to act in True IDE mode (so you can't use it as a HDD). The only ways to test this is with a multimeter or visual inspection of the IDE to CF adapter.

I'll do some testing over the weekend with my IDE to CF adapter and see if there is anything in the CF cards themselves which stop them from working in True IDE mode.

Zetr0 - nice idea on the PCMCIA CF HDD. Will be interested to see how it goes. I have most of my common utilities (diskmater, tsgui, reorg, Quarterback etc.) copied on to my CF -> PCMCIA adapter, so I can run them almost as if they were in a RAM disk (faster/easier than on my HDD at any rate).

I've also been thinking that a nice cheap edge connected IDE interface for an Amiga 500 could also have a CF socket stuck in it (as a slave device) so that would make ADF transfers to/from an A500 extremely easy and painless. No more null modem cables needed for A500 users. Hopefully that's an easy enough project for someone to pick up and run with.

I'm also still dreaming/scheming of a flash memory floppy drive replacement. Fixed bitrate decoding/emulation seems reasonably straight forward (ie: ADF support). Variable bit (ie:IPF) support might never happen (at least in my design, not smart enough for that at the moment) but at worst you'd be limited to accessing only the majority of the TOSEC collection

25 January 2007, 12:29	#93
gizmomelb Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: melbourne Age: 55 Posts: 541	hi guys, I managed to finally get knoppix to work with my laptop (run it in text only mode) and discovered some interesting things about the CF cards I've got that work and don't work with the Amiga. Inside every CF (and probably most types of flash memory) is an firmware flashROM which holds info such as the manufacturer ID, capacity, voltage etc. which is called the CIS (Card Information Structure). Linux can easily query the CIS and totally by accident I finally found a commercial Windows program which can also query the CIS on flash memory. The CF cards I've got that DON'T work with the Amiga (but do with the IBM) have BLANK manufid fields, whereas the CF cards that work have info in their manufid fields. Compact Flash cards can operate in three modes and unfortunately I don't think you can read the CIS to find out what modes the Compact Flash card supports. The three modes are: Memory card mode I/O Card mode True IDE mode all CF cards SHOULD support all three modes, but some manufacturers don't enable support for True IDE mode so they save a few cents in parts or design. The CF to IDE adapters play a part in whether or not a CF (which does support True IDE mode) will work as a HDD - pin 9 needs to be tied to ground. If pin 9 is floating or linked back to the IDE connector, then the CF to IDE adapter probably won't allow the CF to act in True IDE mode (so you can't use it as a HDD). The only ways to test this is with a multimeter or visual inspection of the IDE to CF adapter. I'll do some testing over the weekend with my IDE to CF adapter and see if there is anything in the CF cards themselves which stop them from working in True IDE mode. Zetr0 - nice idea on the PCMCIA CF HDD. Will be interested to see how it goes. I have most of my common utilities (diskmater, tsgui, reorg, Quarterback etc.) copied on to my CF -> PCMCIA adapter, so I can run them almost as if they were in a RAM disk (faster/easier than on my HDD at any rate). I've also been thinking that a nice cheap edge connected IDE interface for an Amiga 500 could also have a CF socket stuck in it (as a slave device) so that would make ADF transfers to/from an A500 extremely easy and painless. No more null modem cables needed for A500 users. Hopefully that's an easy enough project for someone to pick up and run with. I'm also still dreaming/scheming of a flash memory floppy drive replacement. Fixed bitrate decoding/emulation seems reasonably straight forward (ie: ADF support). Variable bit (ie:IPF) support might never happen (at least in my design, not smart enough for that at the moment) but at worst you'd be limited to accessing only the majority of the TOSEC collection Last edited by gizmomelb; 25 January 2007 at 12:46.