Reputable pre-configured CF Card won't show up in Kipper2k A508IDE hard disk board

[Starglider 2]

Hi all. After some due diligence and reading the HD sticky in this group, I decided to buy:
- Kipper2k A508IDE HD Fastmem card: http://kipper2k.com/a500fastmem.html
- Amiga 500 4GB partitioned CF card (with WB 3.1 pre-installed): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-500-60...:X:RTQ:US:1123

I own:
- Amiga 500
- With Kickstart 3.1

With everything installed and the CF card inside the A508IDE, when I boot the A500 using 2 mouse buttons, only DF0: appears. Same if I floppy boot to WB. No HD appears.

"LED1" lights on the A508IDE if the CF card is inserted.
"LED3" also lights if the CF card is removed.

Any ideas?

[demolition]

Are both wires connected correctly?

[kipper2k]

Transcend ( a few revisions of it) are very bad for being recognized in an Amiga , i found best were Sandisk, Lexar and Kingston with some cheapie Chinese knock off brands as well, i have seen a few posts about the Transcends in other threads

for the IDE board operation, Green LED (Power) is lit constantly and Red LED (HDD Activity) will only blink when CF card is being accessed, a constant red LED indicates CF card not inserted or error. Boot the WB install disk and see if you can see/install the HDD and try a different brand if you do have one

[FOL]

Originally Posted by Starglider 2

- Amiga 500 4GB partitioned CF card (with WB 3.1 pre-installed): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-500-60...:X:RTQ:US:1123

How is 3.1 pre-installed? I take it you were supplied the workbench disks with this CF card?

[demolition]

Originally Posted by FOL

How is 3.1 pre-installed? I take it you were supplied the workbench disks with this CF card?

The link specifically says that no software is included, but of course he could be including WB anyways without writing it to not offend ebay. In any case, the partitions should show up in the pre-boot-environment.

But I guess even FFS is under copyright so blank, formatted cards which includes FFS may also be technically illegal? Another reason to use PFS?

[FOL]

Originally Posted by demolition

The link specifically says that no software is included, but of course he could be including WB anyways without writing it to not offend ebay. In any case, the partitions should show up in the pre-boot-environment.

But I guess even FFS is under copyright so blank, formatted cards which includes FFS may also be technically illegal? Another reason to use PFS?

He says its pre-installed. Bet its even got WHDLoad registered.

This is why we pay for licences. Will not say any more as it will drag thread off topic.

[Starglider 2]

Originally Posted by demolition

Are both wires connected correctly?

Is it necessary to solder the wires in to pins 9 and 10, or can they just be pushed firmly into the holes if that results in a secure fit, just for testing purposes?

I owned WB 3.1 floppies and asked him to install them on the CF card so it would auto boot into 3.1. Either way, no HD0: appears when I select the boot menu.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Starglider 2

Is it necessary to solder the wires in to pins 9 and 10, or can they just be pushed firmly into the holes if that results in a secure fit, just for testing purposes?

I owned WB 3.1 floppies and asked him to install them on the CF card so it would auto boot into 3.1. Either way, no HD0: appears when I select the boot menu.

connection would be intermittant if you didnt solder them, so yes, solder them, use a little flux to get a good solder joint, for testing, press against the connector from the side to try to get a good connection and turn on Aiga to see if hat works

[Starglider 2]

Thanks. I have pressed the pins down sideways onto 9 & 10 of the blade connector whilst booting. I'm pushing onto the pins that are exactly as per the three images on your site. I still only get a green LED and DF0:

The green LED stays constant if the card is inserted. The red LED lights if I remove the SD card. Same result with a Sandisk 4GB SD card.

Hi-res photos as requested by email (keeping this discussion here now to benefit future users):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...520_092856.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...520_093020.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...520_093013.jpg

Note this is a Rev 5 A500. I see that blades 1 & 2 are joint. I don't suppose this has anything to do with it?

[kipper2k]

Does red light blink at all when CF card is in ?

[Starglider 2]

No not at all. No red light activity with card inserted.

[kipper2k]

K,
there are 2 things to check, check for solder bridges on the 4 sided soldered chip, and also check the pins are soldered good on the CF adapter, use a needle or something sharp and poke them to see if they move.

Taking a close up picture with macro enabled will help a lot

[Starglider 2]

The solder looks good. No bridges or movement AFAIK, but you may have a better eye.

Macros:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...520_121121.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...520_121011.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...520_120901.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...520_120815.jpg

I do notice some of the pins on the CF slot are different lengths, but this may be normal. E.g. on one end the top pin is longer than the bottom but on the other end the bottom pin is longer.

I've cleaned the fluff off that you see in the photos.

[kipper2k]

All pins look good and joints look ok, the board is sitting ok as otherwise it wouldn't boot, do you see the 8mb of fastmem ?

edit.... measure the voltage from ground (use the GND point on the ROM switch pad) to both sides of the glass diode...

[Arnie]

I would guess that the CF card isn't setup correctly.

Without the card inserted, does the red led light, as if searching for a card?

[Arnie]

It looks like 9 & 10 to me alexh.

EDIT: I see what you mean. On kippers photo the first pin is single but Stargliders is double. Does that count as 1 pin or 2?

[alexh]

It looks ok after looking at photos of other installations on the CFIDK68k website.

[kipper2k]

I am not sure where/what else to look for. The board was checked prior to shipping, you can see my high tech check mark is the 8mb fastmem visible, i did actually receive a fasmem board back for checking 3 weeks ago, it turned out it was the workbench CF card so i dont want you to send it back to me until we exhausted all options

The Rev5 has a double trace that counts as pin 1 and 2 (actually pin #1 and #3) as the traces on the top are all odd numbers


get yourself a sharp pointed object and try to push the pins sideways on the CF adapter, nice and gentle

[Starglider 2]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

do you see the 8mb of fastmem ?

edit.... measure the voltage from ground (use the GND point on the ROM switch pad) to both sides of the glass diode...

On WB the toolbar displays the following. Is that what you expect?:
467176 graphics mem 8236296 other mem

My voltage checker is out of town but I'll try to check it soon.

Originally Posted by Arnie

I would guess that the CF card isn't setup correctly.

Without the card inserted, does the red led light, as if searching for a card?

The red light is solid without the card inserted.

[kipper2k]

fastmem is good, poke the cf adapter pins, check for bent pins also on the cf adapter, or broken