Compact Flash card - how to format/partition and install WB?

[Thomas]

It's difficult to help if you don't say which tutorial you followed and at which step you stumbled.

You need to create an RDB and a bootable partition first, otherwise it will not work in your CD32. Use HDToolbox (from the Tools directory of an installed WB 3.1 or on the Install3.1 floppy disk) or HDInstTool (from Aminet) to do this. Once the partition exists, it's just a matter of copying the OS files to it. This can be done with the install script from the Install3.1 floppy disk or manually.

[Thomas]

Run HDToolbox, go to Install Drive, Define New, Read Configuration, Ok, Ok, Partition Drive, change partitions as desired, make sure that at least one has the "bootable" box checked, ok, Save Changes to Drive, Exit, reboot. Now the new partition(s) should appear on the desktop as unformatted. Select one at a time and choose "Format drive" from the icon menu, enter a name and click on "Quick". Now the partition is ready to store files. To avoid problems with negative numbers you should make partitions not bigger than 2GB.

If HDToolbox does not show the HDD, select its icon, choose "Information" from the icon menu and check the tooltypes. There should be one reading DEVICE=scsi.device without brackets around it. Make sure that the name (scsi.device) matches the name of the driver of your HDD controller. For most Amiga models it's scsi.device. For WinUAE's built-in controller it's uaehf.device. I don't know which name the SX32 uses. Change the tooltype accordingly, save the icon and run HDToolbox again.

[Thomas]

SCSI ID 0 give me an error which says, "Drive does not support the SCSI inquiry command" if I Read Configuration.

This is the HDF. You shouldn't touch it if you want to continue using it.

the capacity is negative.

HDToolbox cannot display numbers bigger than 2GB correctly. But it's only a cosmetic problem, don't worry about it.

I did all that you said, and when I go to save the changes, it doesn't work.

What happens ? Error message ?

[Thomas]

then status goes to Not Changed

That's how it should be. It means there are no changes since you saved last time. Now click on Exit. It might or might not ask you to reboot. Reboot anyway.

[Thomas]

Please stop saying "not working" without anything else. I am sick of asking for details. Describe what you did, what you expected to happen and what happened instead.

If you are using Vista or Windows7, Windows will not write to the CF card if there are PC partitions mounted on it. Open a DOS prompt and enter diskpart.  In DiskPart enter list disk. Identify the CF card and enter select disk n. Replace n by the number of the CF card. Enter list disk again and check that the right disk is marked with a '*'. Enter clean and then list disk once more. It should now show the entire capacity as empty. Leave DiskPart with exit. Remove the USB drive safely and plug it back in. If Windows asks you to format the empty CF, do *not* do it. Now try WinUAE again.

[Thomas]

Now, what do I need to do to partition/format and ultimately install Workbench 3.1 on my CF card now that it's empty?

What I said above: HDToolbox, install, partition, save, reboot, format. Once you have a bootable Amiga partition, you can copy whichever system files you want to it. ClassicWB, AmigaSys, Workbench from ADFs, whatever you like and runs on your Amiga.

Can I somehow transfer the contents from the HDF file to it?

To copy all files from one partition to another open an AmigaDOS Shell window and enter

copy xxx:#? yyy: all clone

replace xxx by the name of the source drive and yyy by the destination drive.

Or do I need to choose a bunch of ADF Workbench 3.1 from the WinUAE options and start up WinUAE?

You can do this if you want a clean basic 3.1 installation, but you don't need to. You can as well copy a working configuration from another partition, be it a HDF or whatever.

[Thomas]

Follow the second paragraph of this post: http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?p=545199#post545199

[Thomas]

There should be a Shell icon in the System drawer of your boot partition. Just run it to get the DOS window. Then enter the command.

For example

copy system:#? workbench: all clone