CompactFlash.device how-to?

[Thomas]

- device names are case sensitive. It should be compactflash.device, not CompactFlash.device.

- you can use either devs:mountlist or devs:dosdrivers, you should not mix both.

If you use devs:mountlist (deprecated), the entry should look like this:

Code: [Select]


CF0:
FileSystem    = l:fat95
Device        = compactflash.device
Unit        = 0
Flags        = 0
LowCyl        = 0
HighCyl        = 0
Surfaces    = 1
BlocksPerTrack    = 1
BlockSize    = 512
Buffers        = 20
BufMemType    = 1
BootPri        = 0
Stacksize    = 4096
Priority    = 5
GlobVec        = -1
DosType        = 0x46415401
#


Mountlist entries begin with the drive name and end with a #.

If you use devs:dosdrivers (recommended), you should just copy the CF0 file from cfd.lha to devs:dosdrivers. The contents is like this:

Code: [Select]


/* compactflash.device $VER: 1.21 (19.10.2002) */
/* fat95 file system by Torsten Jager */

FileSystem    = l:fat95
Device        = compactflash.device
Unit        = 0
Flags        = 0
LowCyl        = 0
HighCyl        = 0
Surfaces    = 1
BlocksPerTrack    = 1
BlockSize    = 512
Buffers        = 20
BufMemType    = 1
BootPri        = 0
Stacksize    = 4096
Priority    = 5
GlobVec        = -1
DosType        = 0x46415401


Dosdrivers files must not contain the drive name and must not contain #.

- with the mount command, you mount the drive, not the driver. Therefore it should be mount cf0: or mount devs:dosdrivers/cf0, not mount compactflash.device. A double click on devs:dosdrivers/cf0 or a reboot should be sufficient.

[Thomas]

Your second screenshot above shows "compactflash.device: already mounted". Where is that compactflash.device and what does it contain?

The original compactflash.device from the cfd.lha archve is a program and belongs to devs:. It can neither be edited nor mounted. So if you somehow used an editor to create a text file called compactflash.device, delete that and copy the original driver from cfd.lha to Devs:.

[Thomas]

Seems like you have an old version. Try the latest one: http://aminet.net/package/disk/misc/cfd

To ensure that you have all the right files in the right places, open a dos window and enter this commmand:

list sys: all files lformat="%8l %d %t %p%n" p="(fat#?|compact#?|cf0#?)"

The result should look like this:

Code: [Select]


3> list sys: all files lformat="%8l %d %t %p%n" p="(fat#?|compact#?|cf0#?)"
    8280 31-Dec-80 23:00:00 sys:Devs/compactflash.device
    2431 19-Apr-02 15:48:48 sys:Storage/DOSDrivers/CF0.info
     420 19-Oct-02 21:43:40 sys:Storage/DOSDrivers/CF0
   26868 01-Mar-80 04:19:38 sys:L/fat95
3>

[Thomas]

Delete storage/dosdrivers/compactflash.device.

I mis-copied your text there- I thought it was an "l", but it was a "1"...

It should be an l (lower case L). %8l will print the file size with 8 digits. %81 will print %81, completely pointless.

[Thomas]

FAT95 will only read FAT-formatted cards.

Check with Info and Assign commands if CF0 is actually mounted. Assign should list CF0 under mounted devices and Info should list CF0 with a status like "no disk in drive" or "not a dos disk".

[Thomas]

Please run this: http://thomas-rapp.homepage.t-online.de/downloads/hddreport.lha
and attach the report here. It should give some hints where the problem could be.

[Thomas]

come on, you got the lha archive to your amiga, so you can move the txt file the opposite way and attach it here as a single file. I refuse to read text from blurry photos.

[Thomas]

I also had to unscrew the case, being careful not to tear out the keyboard ribbon cable whilst holding the underside of the computer with my face and insert the CF card... This is kind of why I really want to get the CF card working. I'm sorry for the poor screen quality- it's the "easiest" setup I can manage at this point running composite RCA into my very old laptop. I'm trying to avoid opening and re-opening my 1200 as much as possible... I'm just tempting fate.

Opening the case for each file is a bad idea, that's true. Don't you still have this A600 where everything worked? You could have saved the txt file to a floppy disk, put it into the A600, copy it to CF card and then carry it to the PC. No need to open a case.

Or use a 720K PC-formatted floppy disk to transfer the file directly to the PC.

[Thomas]

Ok I copied it... text file attached.

Code: [Select]


  compactflash.device   Unit   0  Version   1.32  NSD

    TD_READ64        check failed with error -3 (command not supported by device)
    HD_SCSICMD       check failed with error 29 (no disk in the drive)

    SCSI:
      Vendor       : Š„Š„Š„Š„
      Product      : Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„
      Revision     : Š„Š„

    Geometry:
      SectorSize   : 512
      TotalSectors : 0
      Cylinders    : 0
      CylSectors   : 1257411600
      Heads        : 35460
      TrackSectors : 35460
      BufMemType   : PUBLIC
      DeviceType   : Direct Access
      Flags        : REMOVABLE
      Capacity     : 0 KB


The report shows that the software is correctly installed and working. It's more a hardware problem now. It says there is no disk in the drive and the SCSI identify command returns garbage.

Check that the CF card sits properly in the adapter and the adapter properly in the Amiga and no pins are bent or pushed back.

[Thomas]

Is there a way to look inside the actual card reader? (without breaking it?)

Not sure. A pocket lamp and a magnifying glass?

Does your "very old laptop" have a PCMCIA slot? You could test it there.

[Thomas]

Oh I thought you meant the pins inside the Amiga PCMCIA reader?

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. For me the PCMCIA connector inside the Amiga is not a "reader" but rather an expansion slot.

Yes, certainly the PCMCIA slot on the Amiga is also a candidate for bent or pushed pins.

Lamp and magnifier are still you best bet to look into it from the outside. Otherwise you have to open the case and remove the shielding.

[Thomas]

Plot twist: Running the PrepCard tool shows that there is a CF card in the PCMCIA slot... Some info appears when I insert the card & goes blank when I remove it.

Does this still work? Can you take a screenshot of the info displayed?

BTW, doesn't your video software on the laptop allow to take a snapshot of what is displayed? This would be easier than to use a photo camera and would probably give a much better quality.

[Thomas]

CardPatch and CardReset... I have tried running those as commands... nothing happens...

They shouldn't output anything. CardPatch applies some corrections to the system software and CardReset resets the PCMCIA port. They should be run in this order in startup-sequence, just after SetPatch.

[Thomas]

(nothing happens... new line in shell)

You shouldn't ignore my posts and answer my questions.
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?p=813273#post813273

And I agree with the others. You confuse people by jumping forth and back like you don't know what you're doing.

If you constantly change the starting position, it is difficult to follow a logical track.

I think I need a different Workbench install- a reliable one... The WINUAE one is just dodgy perhaps...

There is no Workbench coming with WinUAE. WinUAE is a free product under GPL license. Workbench is a commercial product, it is illegal to distribute it without a license.

If you've got Amiga Forever (which includes a workbench-311.hdf), Workbench install disks are included (as ADF files).