IDE CF Compact Flash: Slave Problems on A4000

[crazyegg]

Hi All,

I don't mean to start another thread on this subject but I am having some issues with attaching TWO CF cards on the IDE controller of the A4000. I couldn't find a solution on the sticky thread......anyways....

Has anyone successfully connected two separate CF-IDE adapters to the A4000 IDE controller?

I cannot seem to get the slave CF working. I have tried all the max transfer settings from othe threads to no avail. And yes, the boot CF is jumpered to master and the second CF is slave.

I know that both the CF cards and both CF-IDE adapters are in working order since they both work flawlessly when hooked up separately in the master setting.

Also, the master and slave CF-IDE both show up in HDToolBox and I can format them. However, I get numerous checksum errors and I can't copy anything to the slave drive.

Can anyone shed some light?

Regards...ed

[prowler]

Hi crazyegg,

Are both the CF-IDE adapters and the CF cards the same manufacturer and type?

The only thing I can think of is that if the CF cards or the adapters are different types, then they may not be able to co-exist on the same IDE channel without interfering with one another.

Some hard drives from different manufacturers won't operate correctly on the same IDE channel, either.

If this is the case, then it probably won't be restricted to the A4000 IDE controller.

Edit: You can get CF-IDE adapters which will take two CF cards and configure them as Master and Slave on the same IDE channel, even if they are different capacities. It would still not be advisable to mix CF cards from different manufacturers, though.

[crazyegg]

Hi Prowler,

Thanks for the reply.

I was thinking about that as well (that the 2 CF-IDE needed to be the same manufacturer).

FYI, the CF cards are the same manufacturer but the CF-IDE adapters are different.

Before, I buy another CF-IDE adapter, I would like to confirm this with other users??


Regards.....ed

[cosmicfrog]

if I get chance I`ll try it this week
take it you got ks3.1 and wb3.5

[alexh]

There were reports of IDE->dual CF boards which you might have better luck with?

[crazyegg]

Hi All,

The reason why I need two SEPARATE CF-IDE adapters on my A4000 is because I want to use a slave setup on the back of the A4000 (CF-IDE adapter connected on a expansion slot cover).

http://eab.abime.net/attachment.php?...1&d=1256563960

This slave drive will serve as a crude file transfer device since I don't have a network card or usb card in my A4000. Even though its not hot swapable, its a cheapest alternative (if I can get it going).

Is this just wishful thinking???

Regards....ed

[rare_j]

A while ago I was trying to set up a CF as a master and normal hard drive as slave on an A1200 and I couldn't get it to work. One of the drives wasn't found. They were jumpered correctly and both worked seperately.
It only worked when the HDD was master and CF was slave. I never worked out why this would be.
I wonder if it might be the device driver, I was using Elbox's 4xEIDE driver. IDEFix wouldn't see a CF at all. You didn't say what device driver you're using. But I don't know, it could be the device, or it could be something about CF's in general being not wanting to be in master mode if a slave is present. Do two CF's on the same channel work in a PC?
So basically yes I've had problems where CF is a master. If I were you I'd put the CF's on different channels (if you can) and try that.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by crazyegg

I want to use a slave setup on the back of the A4000 (CF-IDE adapter connected on a expansion slot cover)

I do this. It works well. For large amounts of data it is faster than a network card.

The only difference is that I have an old X-box 1 (10gb Seagate) IDE hard drive on the master.

[crazyegg]

Hi All,

I am only using the IDE controller on the A4000 with the standard scsi.device driver. I am using 3.1 ROM and 3.1 OS.

Based on the last two posts, it can be concluded that in the worse case scenario, I can use a master HD and a slave CF at least.....

PS: Has anyone seen dual CF-IDE adapters that fit on the A4000 expansion slot cover? If they make these, it should work???

http://eab.abime.net/attachment.php?...1&d=1256563960

Regards...ed

[cosmicfrog]

suggest you upgrade wb to 3.5 first if you can, when I was trying dual cf cards on my 1200 it worked better than wb3.1.

failing all that get a tandem or budda expansion board but that is expense when there might be a software solution

edit:
where that link sposed to go ??/

[prowler]

Originally Posted by cosmicfrog

where that link sposed to go ??/

Here?

[cosmicfrog]

thanks prowler

just a silly thought both cf cards have power connected

[Photon]

Ah, I had this problem a while back.

It's all about devices liking each other (on the same channel. Separate cables on the same channel does not help.)

If you use an IDEfix (or IDEfix express) they don't have to. You could have the "swapdisk" on the proprietary channel, which means you have to run the IDEfix software to access it.

I would say the basic problem is Gayle, as these problems are much rarer on PC.


I learned to ask myself, why do I need an internal disk at all? Apart from SSD, there are no devices offering benefits vs CF cards, and those are so small they could be used as swap disks, by buying an external USB IDE adapter instead of a Multicard reader. (They're at Kjell.com if you're interested.)

I'd just partition a bigger CF card. You can also get a PCMCIA CF card adapter ofc, but perhaps that slot is taken for something else.

[cosmicfrog]

hey Photon wheres the PCMCIA on a 4000 wish mine had 1 as well

[Photon]

Meh. Never had one, I assumed they didn't remove it for the A4000.

[rare_j]

It's crazy really but without the PCMCIA slot the A4000 is actually a bit of a drag. I remember Amiga Format reviewing the A600/A1200 and they were very unenthusiastic about PCMCIA. "The only use we can see for the PCMCIA slot," I remember reading, "will be for storing coinage." Funny how things turn out.