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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Gavilan on May 20, 2009, 02:08:32 AM
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Hello my friends: im about to enter the CF world with my Amiga
Have been reading a lot, still lot of confusion
For starters, which version of the cards/adapters should i buy? Type I? Type II? which are 100% Amiga compatible? Any special brand to suggest?
Kind Regards
Sebastian
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From my experience with my recent installation of a CFIDE68k, I can heartily suggest the SanDisk Ultra II 2.0Gb as an excellent choice. Note: You will need to format the CF as a bootable disk, and put something like FDISK on it so you can delete the partition to get it ready for the Amiga.
The info I found and followed was from http://eab.abime.net/archive/index.php/t-26860.html.
Good luck!
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Sandisk cards are most compatibles, forget the kingston etc
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Most adapters are 100% passive.... just wires.
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In my three A1200 and Amiga 600 I use CF as Hard disk. The A1200's have Sandisk Ultra II 4 GB and Sandisk Sandisk Extreme III. My Amiga 600 has a Kingston 1 GB.
Avoid A-data CF card's, There don't work very well.
To Transfter data I use SanDisk PCMCIA Compactflash adapter and Sandisk Ultra II 2 GB and 4 GB.
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the eab has a comprehensive list
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@Gavilan : You may edit your question !
Some CF that work with USB/PCMCIA adapter may not work properly as IDE DRIVE on an A1200 !
exemple :
Thomson Lyra 64mb CF (made by Sandisk ?): Ok as Pcmia / KO as IDE Drive ( data corruption ).
"yellow" PQi 64 mb : Ok as Pcmia / KO as IDE Drive ( data corruption ).
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data corruption
Data corruption does not mean it does not work. If it is recognised, then it does work.
Data corruption is caused by bad configuration (probably MaxTransfer too high).
Bye,
Thomas
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Hi,
I am also looking to buy a CF card for a similar mod. However I really can't understand the difference between all the CF cards out there.
If I buy an 4GB CF card that has transfer rate of x133 then would it work with the Amiga? (and it is Kingston). Or I have to buy one that is exactly 2Mb, and has a particular transfer rate?
Regards,
Sim085
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@sim085
The speed and type of card should be immaterial. It's the hardware that determines the speed that the data is delivered to the chips ... in this case it's the IDE interface - not very fast but adequate for the job.
Almost any card can be used in my experience ... from cheap unbranded ones right up to the market leaders.
As Thomas said in an earlier post, if it's recognised then it will work.
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Transfer rate and size should not matter. What matters is if it is recognised as a fixed-disk massstorage device or not. Many CF cards identify themselves as removable device and those don't work.
Some manufacturers offer utilities (for Windows or DOS) which can change the CF card from removable to fixed.
A CF card with 133x speed is kind of an overkill because the internal IDE bus can make about 15x at max.
Size *does* matter in the same manner as it matters for HDDs: anything bigger than 4GB needs special attention regarding software installation.
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@ZeBeeDee & Thomas
Thank you ver much for the answers; Is there a way to know if a CF card is recognised as a fixed-disk mass storage or not before actually purchasing it? Also; this is a problem when connecting the CF card with a PC? or when connecting it with the Amiga? or both?
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Is there a way to know if a CF card is recognised as a fixed-disk mass storage or not before actually purchasing it?
I don't think so. You should agree with your dealer that you can return it if it does not work.
Also check different Amiga forums (http://thomas-rapp.homepage.t-online.de/links.html). There are at least a few who maintain a thread with a list of compatible cards. Don't remember which, though.
Also; this is a problem when connecting the CF card with a PC? or when connecting it with the Amiga? or both?
Don't know what you mean. You can use the same CF card on both, the Amiga and the PC. Only after you formatted the card as an Amiga HDD, the PC will see it as unformatted. Removable is a problem for the Amiga only.
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Don't know what you mean. You can use the same CF card on both, the Amiga and the PC. Only after you formatted the card as an Amiga HDD, the PC will see it as unformatted. Removable is a problem for the Amiga only.
That is what I wanted to know :) thanks.
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I use a PNY 4GB card in my A1200 which works fine. Had lots of problems with my Transcend 2GB card though (80x iirc).
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What about one of these;
http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1052753685.html
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Hi,
I tried looking on other forums but did not find anywhere a list of amiga firendly CF cards. I tried looking for Sandisk however they have many different type of cards.
Are all Sandisk CF cards recognised as fix disk?
If so I'll just buy one of those.
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Anything that supports PIO in ATA mode should work on an unmodified Amiga. (Most Transcend cards sold at retail do not.) When in doubt, look up the datasheet for the model you're considering. The removeable media flag can usually be ignored--works for me.