Hi All.
I took a punt and got one of these: CF AztecMonster SCSI CF Adaptors
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CF-AztecMonster-CF-3-5inc-SCSI-Converter-Card-Refurbished-condition-/261553593721?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ce5cf1d79in the hope that it would work on an Amiga 500 Computer 2.0 Rom with an A590 SCSI Module.
I already have another SCSI CF Card reader working successfully on this Amiga 500 Computer with an A590 SCSI Module, but that reader is a full size SCSI Multi-card reader, the CF AztecMonster SCSI CF Adaptor is much more compact and suitable for the A590 enclosure.
I was hoping that as the card works on a Macintosh of the same era it would work on an Amiga. And I have had some success in getting it to work.
This is a list of my success:
With a 512KB CF Card the device works fine. Multiple partitions are not a problem. They can be formatted and used without fault.
With a 2GB CF Card or 4GB CF card I have noticed the following behaviour:
HD Toolbox can see the cards, and detect them by type, and can partition the cards fine. 1 Partition, 2 Partitions, 3 Partitions, 4 Partitions. It works fine. As long as the Partitions are less than 2GB. As expected.
Here are the limitations:
It seems I can have only 3 usable Partitions maximum? but only then if I configure more than 3. For example If I create 4 or 5 partitions the OS sees the volumes fine but I can only format the first 3. Not the 4th or 5th. If I try to format the 4th partition I get a “non dos disk” error (The HD light flashes once but does not write to the drive successfully during the format initialisation, as is the case with a successful initialise). This behaviour is the same on a 2GB or 4GB CF Card and does not seem to be in relation to the partition size or starting point. For example:
1. On the 2GB Card if I configure 2 partitions; 1= 200MB, 2 = 1.7GB, the second partition will not format.
2. On the 2GB Card If I configure 3 partitions; 1 = 200MB, 2 = 1.6GB, and 3 = 100MB, I can format the first 2 partitions fine but not the third.
3. On the 2GB Card If I configure 5 partitions; 1 = 200MB, 2 = 500MB, 3 = 500MB, 4=500MB, and 5=200MB, I can format the first 3 partitions fine but not the 4th or 5th.
4. On the 4GB Card if I configure 2 partitions; 1= 200MB, 2 = 1.6GB, the second partition will not format.
5. On the 4GB Card If I configure 3 partitions; 1 = 200MB, 2 = 1.6GB, and 3 = 500MB, I can format the first 2 partitions fine but not the third.
6. On the 4GB Card If I configure 4 partitions; 1 = 200MB, 2 = 1.6GB, and 3 = 130GB, and 4 = 400MB, I can format the first 3 partitions fine but not the 4th.
I am able to successfully partition and format these same CF cards on the SCSI Multi-card reader to the configurations above without issue. If I then plug them into the CF AztecMonster the same issue occurs in that the OS can no longer recognise the additional partitions even if previously formatted successfully.
As you can see this is strange behaviour but consistent regardless of the capacity or partition cyls. It seems there is some limitation that may be related to Head/Cyl configuration? The prep software can see the partitions fine. The format software cannot initialise them on the AztecMonster. But can on the SCSI Multi-card reader.
I haven't tried a 1GB Card but I have a sneaking suspicion it will work as the 512KB did. Without issue.
The single A4 doco advises no limitation on partitions. It just mentions the 2GB limit on Mac OS 7.1 or 4G limit on Mac OS 7.5.
Anyone with any ideas on what might be the issue?
Be a pity if this $100 card can't operate fully successfully.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the doco does say this: "This item converts PIO-4, Multiword mode 2, or UltraDMA Mode 2 CF Memory Card to SCSI-3(upper compatible)" If this helps.
