Why cant I format my CF Card on a500+

[danbeaver]

I used FFS and yeah even after boot it's barely faster than a floppy drive.  I do have SFS on a floppy that amigakit provided but I've no idea how to install it?

There are literally manuals on the web on installing both SFS and PFS; keep in mind that you can recover files from a FFS based disk, due to the "overhead" it uses to protect data. Granted this slows it down.  Other things to consider, in the 3.1 KS ROM waiting for it to 'spin up?" If the IDE device is not buffered, you will have speed issues.  Look beyond the file system while you read the manuals.

[danbeaver]

This probably will not solve your speed problem, but as to the validate issue, Dave Haynie's DiskSalv2 has a Validate function to take care of that task prior to booting.  I assume you could do it in UAE, or someone else's Amiga.  Also, a freshly formatted disk/partition should not need validation.

[danbeaver]

I have no experience with your IDE device, so I'm asking the same thing you are asking, "What are other peoples experience with it and CF cards?"  I know Amiga IDE is slow without a dedicated and buffered interface, and CF cards slow that down even further, but (once the PSU issue is resolved) if your IDE works OK with a real HDD (which has an internal buffer) what kind of performance can be expected from a CF card?