Using a Compact Flash card on a600/a1200 IDE

[Jope]

The master should go on the end, but with PIO0 IDE it often doesn't matter.

[ItsTheSmell]

what does PIO0 mean?

[Jope]

Polled IO, level 0. The slowest IDE protocol.

https://www.phildev.net/ata-modes.html

[ItsTheSmell]

So to cap, the middle connector goes to the main board, the master goes to the end, the cf card s at the opposing end and set to slave?

[Jope]

Mmm no, if you want to be proper, the end with the longest length to the middle connector goes to the motherboard, middle = slave, end with shortest length to middle = master.

But as said, you can probably get away with it in an Amiga even if you do not adhere to the standard.

[ItsTheSmell]

It seems like the cf reader has the cable fitted permanently, I tried removing it but thought I'd break it. I'm not even sure it's possible with pin 1 needing to be where it is.

[arkpandora]

Hello!

I would like to buy an IDE to CF adapter in order to replace a hard drive in an A600, but as I have no experience of the A600's inside, this question occurs to me: should I buy an adapter card that plugs directly onto the IDE port without a ribbon cable, like this one

https://sordan.ie/product/340/angle-...t-flash-amiga/

or should I buy an adapter that connects to the IDE port through a ribbon cable like this one

https://sordan.ie/product/571/ide-cf...-600-1200-hdd/ ?

In particular, is there enough space in the A600 for the first one, and should the underside of the second one be isolated so that it won't interefere with the other components it rests on?

Thank you for any help!

[Jope]

If you plan on installing anything on the CPU socket of the A600 (accelerator, mem expansion), it's best to get an adapter that plugs to a ribbon cable.

[arkpandora]

Thank you! I hadn't thought about it.

[lesta_smsc]

Do you have a link to one?

[masterchief]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Neu-Workben...53.m2749.l2649

Hi guys, i bought the above linked adapter including a 4GB CF with WB3.1 preinstalled. I tried reinstalling the whole thing again to see if I did something wrong but the amiga still just goes to the "insert floppy" screen.

My amiga 1200 is completely stock otherwise. ROM 3.0 39.106

I tried the CF card on my PC in WinUAE and it worked perfectly fine. I used the exact same ROM in the emulator and the 1200 preset.

Does anyone have an idea of what I should do next? Any help is appreciated.

I installed the card like this

https://sordan.ie/uploaded/photos/1767/big.jpg

[lesta_smsc]

Do you have Workbench disk? Boot from that... possibility it is just partitioned and the drives are blank but then again if it works in WinUAE it's unlikely blank.

2 possibilities:

1) The drive is not set to primary and may as slave. The jumper can change this.

2) The IDE port may be at fault. Apply a little pressure on the connector to see if creates a better contact and boots. My A600 had this issue.

[masterchief]

I have only a WB 2.0 disk, the drive isn't even listed

https://i.imgur.com/Xv800ll.jpg

I will try to switch the jumpers

EDIT: Switched the jumper. Now a red flash is coming from the board and the HD LED is permanently red. I read that this means the HD is in slave mode. The card was still not visible in 2.0 WB or boot menu. But this should mean the cable and adapter are working, right?

[lesta_smsc]

The light being on usually is just a status light. I believe it should go on / off with read/write activity to CF.

I'm just thinking of how you could assess whether adaptor is faulty or the drive is not being detected for another reason.

If you press both mouse buttons on boot/reset does it display the CF partitions? It should be detected here regardless of what OS you boot into.

If it is NOT detected then I think the IDE port on motherboard is to blame. My IDE2SD adaptor showed the status light but no disk activity. This is because power input also has an LED.

[masterchief]

There is no trace of the CF if I hold mouse button and check the devices. Only C00 and DF0, which I think are the PCMIA and the floppy drive.

[solarmon]

Originally Posted by masterchief

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Neu-Workben...53.m2749.l2649

Hi guys, i bought the above linked adapter including a 4GB CF with WB3.1 preinstalled. I tried reinstalling the whole thing again to see if I did something wrong but the amiga still just goes to the "insert floppy" screen.

My amiga 1200 is completely stock otherwise. ROM 3.0 39.106

I tried the CF card on my PC in WinUAE and it worked perfectly fine. I used the exact same ROM in the emulator and the 1200 preset.

Does anyone have an idea of what I should do next? Any help is appreciated.

I installed the card like this

https://sordan.ie/uploaded/photos/1767/big.jpg

What is the history of this A1200? Was the IDE interface working OK previously?

[lesta_smsc]

Just makes me wonder whether it would be handy for someone to make an IDE test board to check each pins...

[masterchief]

Originally Posted by solarmon

What is the history of this A1200? Was the IDE interface working OK previously?

I bought it a few weeks ago from ebay. I am also starting to think the IDE port or something on the board is just broken.

[solarmon]

Was it advertised as working?

Are you able to boot off the floppy drive? If you can get Amiga Test Kit on to floppy then you can use that to do a health check.

Or get DiagROM to do a more low level health check.

You sent a link of how you said you connected it. But take a clear picture of your setup and post here. Take some pictures of the IDE port area, especially the caps to the left of it. There might be something that somebody can spot - i.e. corrosion and/or damage.

[masterchief]

It's working now with a new cable and adapter