Removable CF in IDE for A4000

[LoadWB]

I'm considering replacing the rarely-used Zip drive in my A4000D with a IDE/CF adapter.  I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with these in a removable context, and what mountlist one might use for such a job.

[davideo]

@LoadWB

I wanted to do something similar - and use one of these along with a harddrive to transfer stuff from my 1200 tower - 4000D - PC

I was told that the IDE is not hot pluggable and that if I did this I would have to do a hard reset to swap the CF card.

So - If you find an answer - I'd be interested in trying it as well.

Dave G  8-)

[LoadWB]

Hrmmmm... interesting tidbit of information.  I would have to assume that it is up to the IDE-CF interface to make the card hot-pluggable, operating much the same way as a CD-ROM, Zip, etc.  hrmmmm...

[alexh]

All IDE-CF adapters are PASSIVE, meaning they are just wires.

The Amiga IDE interface doesn't support hot-plug.

[darkcoder]

I am very interested too in putting a IDE-CF interface in my 4000. Unfortunately I have little information, and many questions...

One question: I often heard that it is necessary to use a MS-DOS file system on CF-drives... but people say so because they intend to use the CF to swap files Amiga to PC or because  it is really a requirement of the CF technology?
I need the CF for Amiga to Amiga swap, can I use an Amiga FS on a CF?

[davideo]

As far as I know - if you only intend to use it on Miggys then you don't need to format it with FAT whatever.

Dave G  8-)

[alexh]

To use the CF card as the Amiga's primary drive you need to format using an Amiga filesystem (e.g. FFS, PFS or SFS).

Using FAT32 makes it easier to transfer files between the PC and Amiga but you cannot boot your Amiga from a FAT32 formatted CF card. (Perhaps you could if you can get Fat95 into a Kickflash or other flash device, Algor Pro, Deneb, eFlash etc.)

To transfer files to an FFS formatted drive you can use ADFView. (For PFS and SFS you'll need to use WinUAE to transfer files)

I don't know if you can mix and match MBR (FAT) and RDB(AmigaOS) I would expect not. (But I could be wrong)

[davideo]

LoadWB wrote:
Hrmmmm... interesting tidbit of information.  I would have to assume that it is up to the IDE-CF interface to make the card hot-pluggable, operating much the same way as a CD-ROM, Zip, etc.  hrmmmm...

That was the same thought I had - if you can swap a floppy disc, CD, DVD or even a zip disc etc why not a bluddy little card  :lol:

Dave G  8-)

[alexh]

CD, DVD and I think ZIP disc are all ATAPI devices and so support REMOVABLE media.

Hard drives are ATA which (at least on the Amiga) doesn't support removable media.

[davideo]

@alexh

I can see what you're saying and agree that this is what I've been told in the past. So the circle continues  :crazy:

One thing that was suggested to me that could be a part answer to the above questions was - a CF/IDE converter that had a backplate on it for use on a big box Miggy that would allow for the removal and reftting of a card from the rear of the machine (not while it was switched on though).

I was going to try one of these buddys but haven't located one yet - although I have seen a piccy and it seems quite a good compromise  ;-)

Dave G  8-)

[A4000_Mad]

@ LoadWB

Here's a coulple of threads to do with having a CF card in an A4000:-


MINE :crazy:

HIS


:-)

[jj]

Could you partion the CF, and then have FFS on one partition and FAT16/32 on teh other ?

Does CF supports NTFS ?

[alexh]

JJ wrote:
Could you partion the CF, and then have FFS on one partition and FAT16/32 on teh other ?

I did say above that I dont think so. They both want to use sector 0. But I am not an expert on RDB

JJ wrote:
Does CF supports NTFS ?

CF is just a media card. It supports anything.

The Amiga of course cannot read/write NTFS without a 3rd party driver (which probably doesn't exist)

[alexh]

davideo wrote:
a CF/IDE converter that had a backplate on it for use on a big box Miggy that would allow for the removal and reftting of a card from the rear of the machine (not while it was switched on though).

I was going to try one of these buddys but haven't located one yet - although I have seen a piccy and it seems quite a good compromise

The are like £4 including postage on ebay. There are hundreds for sale every day.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/cf+panel

[jj]

Unless things have changed even win98 doesnt supportt ntfs.  I used to have drivers for it, but they were read only, dont know if thats changed.

Im guessing that now linux has read/write support of ntfs partitions that it does.

Fair enough on the FFS/FAT formatting, didnt realise that was the issue.  

How does it work with mixed drives with ntfs and linux then ?

Is that because the bootloader resides in sector 0.  I am seeking enlightement here, not questioning your knowledge.  

Would like to know for my own data banks