Clean Install on a CF, want to do PFS3

[TheBilgeRat]

So, I just picked up an IDE to CF reader and a 4G CF card.  I want to do a fresh install of 3.1 onto it and also set up the partitions to be PFS3.  My plan was to move the pfs3 folder over onto my current hard drive, unplug my cdrom, shove the cf drive on as a "slave" and format it that way - then reinstall but with the cf in place of the current drive and readd the cdrom.  any glaring problems with my logic?  I've never set up a PFS3 drive before so I'm not sure exactly how to go about doing it.

[TheBilgeRat]

Is there a way to do this all on the Miggy side?

A:  I really hate UAE

B:  I just installed PFS3 on my current HD... I was planning on removing my CDROM from the chain until I get the CF drive ready to go.

Otherwise, how does one make a custom boot floppy?  Is that just a copy of the workbench disk with PFS3ds instead?

[TheBilgeRat]

well, that would be very cool - I will have to try that.  Right now, its not liking however I hook it up...HDinsttools is not seeing the CF card

[TheBilgeRat]

So I thought I might go the UAE route, but adding the CF/IDE adapter into my chain, even set with the jumper to slave caused all sorts of issues with my computer.  version scsi.device on my A4000 reads 40.xx.  I did manage to partition it as an SFS drive with cfdisk from the root maintenance prompt.  As the Master on the IDE chain it seems to behave ok.  I think I may need to wait for some boot floppy instruction so I can do this all on the miggy side.  Also I read somewhere about maxtransfer settings, especially once my CDROM gets hooked back up.  But for now I must rest to prevent some stupid mistakes from happening if I keep plodding ahead like an idiot.

[TheBilgeRat]

You don't need a boot floppy if you have a second harddrive. The floppy won't change anything.

Just plug HDD and CF to the Amiga and install the CF as per instructions (read the docs !!!).

After you created partitions and formatted them, you can even copy the operating system from your HDD to the CF. No need to reinstall anything.

That's what I was up to: However, the card is not recognized as a slave drive when I scan for it using HDinsttools, it only shows my current drive.  I only see one drive in the window.

[TheBilgeRat]

Is this a new card or an old one that had a previous Workbench install?

I've had some CF cards that wouldn't show up on my A4000 via my FastATA, however the Buddha on my A2000 would recognise them and once prepped they worked fine on the A4000.  Others had no problem on the A4000.

What happens if you make the CF card reader "Master" and the Hard drive "Slave"?  IIRC correctly I had issues until I configured one of my IDE connectors this way, although I now need to have a CF Card inserted in the reader at all times otherwise it doesn't detect the slave Hard Drive.

This is a brand new card - Maxell 4Gb.  I am beginning to believe that the "slave" jumper on the CF card just doesn't work properly.  If I mark the CF card as "master" and my good hard drive as "slave", I get an insert WB screen.  I f I mark the CF card as "slave" and the Hard drive as "master" the CF card does not show up at all.  If I remove everything but the CF card (set to Master) and boot via a Workbench disk and run HD InstTools from a floppy, it does recognize the CF card but I can't apply PFS3ds to it.  UAE option is out at the moment as when I throw it into the IDE chain on my linux boxen I get shunted to a maintenance login.

[TheBilgeRat]

So... I think I got it sorted.  I left both hard drives plugged in (main as master, CF as slave).  I then booted with a Workbench disk, followed the guide to put PFS3 on my drive (I was going to get all fancy with partitioning, but just left one big 4g partition cos I was getting a bit cranky at that point)
On reboot, I unplugged the good drive and left the CF card as master.  Sure enough there was DH0 waiting for a format.  Hit the format button and voila! a fresh new pfs3 format (quick of course).  I am in the process of installing 3.1 onto the cf card, so in a few minutes or five I should be good to go.

[TheBilgeRat]

Holy Smokes, Batman!  PFS3 is absurdly fast!  I just finished with my clean install, hit reset, blinked, and workbench was there!

[TheBilgeRat]

I am relatively convinced that this generic CF/IDE adapter I bought at Fry's doesn't go into slave mode properly (brand name is SYBA, lovely engrish instructions.  no I mean engrish :lol: ).  As it sits now, its playing nice as the master in the setup.  It does mean that it makes it a huge PITA to copy over all of my stuff from the old HD, but most of this was meant as a learning experience anyways.  the easiest part of the whole deal was getting PFS3 installed on the partitions.  The manual is very straightforward.

I think my next software project is getting a proper HFS+ partition on this jobbie and installing shapeshifter :afro:

[TheBilgeRat]

Yes, modifying a copy of the Install disk is one way of creating a boot floppy, another way is to use this program of mine: http://rhz1.com/amiga911maker

Ha!  Yeah I found that a little too late for my needs

[TheBilgeRat]

Yes I can see that



In the next version it will be possible for users to include FFS, SFS or PFS3 on the boot floppy. All three or none of them is also possible, it's all about freedom of choice here

sweeeet. That will be excellent - cos the boot floppies I make from the 3.9 disk are worthless...