A1200 PCMCIA questions/problems

brett71 · 29 October 2020, 15:43

Hi all,

Recently, I became the proud owner of two ReAmiga 1200 boards and finally assembled a couple of new 1200's with those boards. I've installed an SD-to-IDE adapter for the HDD in it, an internal Gotek for the FDD, and an 8MB Fast memory expansion board from AmigaStore.EU.

I'm now trying to install some software on it, but the LHA files are too large for floppy disks. I bought a PCMCIA CompactFlash adapter with the intention to use it to move files over to the machine. I've downloaded the CFD133 package from Aminet and installed FAT95 on the machine. I'm using an 8GB CompactFlash card that I also use on my ACA500+ with my A500.

When I plug in the adapter with the CF card, and then mount the CF0: device, I don't get anything that pops up and if I try to change to CF0: from a shell, I get a prompt that there's no disk in the drive. The 8MB expansion also has a jumper on it to set it to 4MB which it also marks as "PCMCIA-friendly". With the 8MB card crippled to 4MB, the CompactFlash adapter still does not register, and I don't really have any tools to verify if the card is being seen by the system.

Has anyone else used one of these adapters, and this software combo, in order to transfer large files over to a 600 or 1200? I've also thought of taking the SD card out and trying to connect it to my PC and see if I can access it with WinUAE and copy the files over that way. Ideally, I'd like to have this computer on the network, and I do have a PCMCIA wired ethernet card. THe installation files for the network can fit on floppy, so I may try this approach as well. If this should also fail, I may consider buying a couple of RapidRoad USB adapters, but looking for other options.

Thanks!

amiman99 · 29 October 2020, 15:48

Some CF cards don't work, you can try smaller size like 512MB, or brand name like SanDisk.

I have a 4GB CF card that does not work on my A1200 Amiga, but my 512MB or lower work fine.
There are many that work fine, but some unlucky ones fail to work.

brett71 · 29 October 2020, 15:52

The CF card I'm using is a SanDisk, but you could be right about the capacity being an issue. Strange that it works fine in my ACA500+.

I don't have any smaller CF cards on hand. What do you recommend next? Trying the PCMCIA network card? Look at getting a RapidRoad? Some other option like splitting the LHA manually amongst multiple floppies?

solarmon · 29 October 2020, 16:19

Can you confirm what A1200 revision, Kickstart, and Workbench/OS you are using - whether it is something you set up yourself or if it is something like ClassicWB, BestWB, etc.

Load up PrepCard and see what the Product ID of the PCMCIA/CF card is.

Usually the issue is just that the CF is not compatible.

You can use also this boot disk to eliminate any issue with the Workbench setup you have:

https://sites.google.com/one-n.co.uk...boot-cfd-fat95

Daedalus · 29 October 2020, 16:38

Capacity isn't usually an issue, it's more down to variation between card firmware versions. I have a Re1200 board here that has the same issue, but the card works just fine in multiple other Amigas, and the card is correctly recognised in PrepCard. This is with identical hard drive and Kickstart setups across machines.

It's still something I'm investigating, because it seems that even standard SRAM cards aren't being handled correctly. Once I have more time I'll investigate it further.

brett71 · 29 October 2020, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by solarmon

Can you confirm what A1200 revision, Kickstart, and Workbench/OS you are using - whether it is something you set up yourself or if it is something like ClassicWB, BestWB, etc.

Load up PrepCard and see what the Product ID of the PCMCIA/CF card is.

Usually the issue is just that the CF is not compatible.

You can use also this boot disk to eliminate any issue with the Workbench setup you have:

https://sites.google.com/one-n.co.uk...boot-cfd-fat95

Kickstart is 3.1.4, Workbench 3.1.4. Stock OS, no ClassicWB or anything like that.

PrepCard is included with AmigaOS, correct? I think I've seen it in one of the Tools or Utilities drawers.

I'll grab that disk and see if that will help me out.

Thanks!

lesta_smsc · 29 October 2020, 19:08

I would assume CF issue. I think different revisions may or may not work. I know this because I had the same issue. Lots of confirmed reports regarding which cards work but they didn't for me!

brett71 · 29 October 2020, 20:11

On another note, as I mentioned in my original post, I have an 8MB Fast RAM expansion board with a jumper to cripple it to 4MB in order to be "PCMCIA-friendly" and a PCMCIA wired Ethernet card.

If I leave the jumper off and the Ethernet card plugged in, my 1200 will not boot from its SD card. If I put the jumper on, then it boots normally.

So, does this mean that if I want to use the NIC on my 1200, I have to keep my 8MB expansion set to only be 4MB? Are there any workarounds for this so I can utilize all of the memory? Or am I alternatively looking at not being able to keep the 1200 on the LAN at all times, and when I want to use it, turn the expansion card down to 4MB while I'm using the NIC and then set it back to 8MB when I'm done?

Krashan · 29 October 2020, 21:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett71

Are there any workarounds for this so I can utilize all of the memory?

Yes, use a real turbo card with CPU having full 32-bit address bus (full 68020 or better). Then its memory does not collide with PCMCIA.

lesta_smsc · 29 October 2020, 21:56

I believe this is not due to A1200 per say but rather due to the Kickstart revision. You can use all of the memory in KS 3.0 provided no memory conflicts arise.

brett71 · 29 October 2020, 23:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

I believe this is not due to A1200 per say but rather due to the Kickstart revision. You can use all of the memory in KS 3.0 provided no memory conflicts arise.

I'm using Kickstart 3.1.4, so I shouldn't have any memory conflict problems? Is it an indication of a memory conflict that the machine won't boot from the SD card if the Ethernet PCMCIA device is plugged in and the memory is set to 8MB, but does boot normally if I jumpered it to 4MB?

-Acid- · 30 October 2020, 00:23

Capacity is not an issue, I have a 16gb micro sd card that works with an sd to cf adapter in the pcmcia port. You could always just plug your sd card into a card reader and mount the real drive directly in WinUAE and copy the files that way.

29 October 2020, 15:43	#1
brett71 Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Ames, IA, USA Posts: 521	A1200 PCMCIA questions/problems Hi all, Recently, I became the proud owner of two ReAmiga 1200 boards and finally assembled a couple of new 1200's with those boards. I've installed an SD-to-IDE adapter for the HDD in it, an internal Gotek for the FDD, and an 8MB Fast memory expansion board from AmigaStore.EU. I'm now trying to install some software on it, but the LHA files are too large for floppy disks. I bought a PCMCIA CompactFlash adapter with the intention to use it to move files over to the machine. I've downloaded the CFD133 package from Aminet and installed FAT95 on the machine. I'm using an 8GB CompactFlash card that I also use on my ACA500+ with my A500. When I plug in the adapter with the CF card, and then mount the CF0: device, I don't get anything that pops up and if I try to change to CF0: from a shell, I get a prompt that there's no disk in the drive. The 8MB expansion also has a jumper on it to set it to 4MB which it also marks as "PCMCIA-friendly". With the 8MB card crippled to 4MB, the CompactFlash adapter still does not register, and I don't really have any tools to verify if the card is being seen by the system. Has anyone else used one of these adapters, and this software combo, in order to transfer large files over to a 600 or 1200? I've also thought of taking the SD card out and trying to connect it to my PC and see if I can access it with WinUAE and copy the files over that way. Ideally, I'd like to have this computer on the network, and I do have a PCMCIA wired ethernet card. THe installation files for the network can fit on floppy, so I may try this approach as well. If this should also fail, I may consider buying a couple of RapidRoad USB adapters, but looking for other options. Thanks!

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29 October 2020, 15:48	#2
amiman99 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Antonio, TX USA Age: 50 Posts: 1,184	Some CF cards don't work, you can try smaller size like 512MB, or brand name like SanDisk. I have a 4GB CF card that does not work on my A1200 Amiga, but my 512MB or lower work fine. There are many that work fine, but some unlucky ones fail to work.

29 October 2020, 15:52	#3
brett71 Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Ames, IA, USA Posts: 521	The CF card I'm using is a SanDisk, but you could be right about the capacity being an issue. Strange that it works fine in my ACA500+. I don't have any smaller CF cards on hand. What do you recommend next? Trying the PCMCIA network card? Look at getting a RapidRoad? Some other option like splitting the LHA manually amongst multiple floppies?

29 October 2020, 16:19	#4
solarmon Registered User Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: UK Posts: 1,715	Can you confirm what A1200 revision, Kickstart, and Workbench/OS you are using - whether it is something you set up yourself or if it is something like ClassicWB, BestWB, etc. Load up PrepCard and see what the Product ID of the PCMCIA/CF card is. Usually the issue is just that the CF is not compatible. You can use also this boot disk to eliminate any issue with the Workbench setup you have: https://sites.google.com/one-n.co.uk...boot-cfd-fat95

29 October 2020, 16:38	#5
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Capacity isn't usually an issue, it's more down to variation between card firmware versions. I have a Re1200 board here that has the same issue, but the card works just fine in multiple other Amigas, and the card is correctly recognised in PrepCard. This is with identical hard drive and Kickstart setups across machines. It's still something I'm investigating, because it seems that even standard SRAM cards aren't being handled correctly. Once I have more time I'll investigate it further.

29 October 2020, 19:08	#7
lesta_smsc Registered User Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 3,173	I would assume CF issue. I think different revisions may or may not work. I know this because I had the same issue. Lots of confirmed reports regarding which cards work but they didn't for me!

29 October 2020, 20:11	#8
brett71 Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Ames, IA, USA Posts: 521	On another note, as I mentioned in my original post, I have an 8MB Fast RAM expansion board with a jumper to cripple it to 4MB in order to be "PCMCIA-friendly" and a PCMCIA wired Ethernet card. If I leave the jumper off and the Ethernet card plugged in, my 1200 will not boot from its SD card. If I put the jumper on, then it boots normally. So, does this mean that if I want to use the NIC on my 1200, I have to keep my 8MB expansion set to only be 4MB? Are there any workarounds for this so I can utilize all of the memory? Or am I alternatively looking at not being able to keep the 1200 on the LAN at all times, and when I want to use it, turn the expansion card down to 4MB while I'm using the NIC and then set it back to 8MB when I'm done?

29 October 2020, 21:56	#10
lesta_smsc Registered User Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 3,173	I believe this is not due to A1200 per say but rather due to the Kickstart revision. You can use all of the memory in KS 3.0 provided no memory conflicts arise.

30 October 2020, 00:23	#12
-Acid- Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: South Shields Posts: 812	Capacity is not an issue, I have a 16gb micro sd card that works with an sd to cf adapter in the pcmcia port. You could always just plug your sd card into a card reader and mount the real drive directly in WinUAE and copy the files that way.

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