Problem installing IDEFix Express software

[dangermouse]

Hi

I just received an IDEFix Express adapter (as a bundle..IDEFix + the Express adapter) with the software on floppy. Also bought a new CF card (16GB Transcend 133x) so figured I'd get the A1200 up and running (Blizz 060/PPC). I have the CF card (2.5" master) and CD-ROM (3.5" slave) on Port 0 and nothing so far on Port 1.

So, I installed OS3.9, BB1 and BB2. Rebooted after each install and all is fine. Then I went to install the IDEFix Express software.

Anyway, when clicking 'Proceed' when it informs you it's about to install CD-ROMs the machine just reboots. The first time this happened the 1200 was stuck in a reboot cycle whereby, after being turned on, it would hit the floppy drive followed by the CD drive and then reboot again.

After manually uninstalling IDEFix I reinstalled it with the same result..a reboot when clicking 'Proceed'. Although this time the machine boots into 3.9 fine but still IDEFix isn't installed.

Anyone have any idea what's going on here? First time dealing with IDEFix Express on 1200s. I use the basic IDEFix software on my 4000 to get CD-ROM support and have never had this issue.

I'm reasonably confident that the IDEFix + Express adapter are installed OK as I can get a fair way through an OS 4.0 install before random crap starts happening..disk not validated, badblock errors etc. I gave up on 4.0 after attempting about 6-7 installs with various degrees of success. But I'm simply raising this as the OS 4.0 installer always found the CD-ROM and CF card to format.

Thanks

[MozzerFan]

Idefix has a problem with CF cards that are set as removeable disk.
You either need a CF card which is set as fixed disk  or use the idefix patch that Doobrey wrote.
 
See this thread at EAB. You can download the patch from there.
 
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=47196

[dangermouse]

Thanks Mozzer

[dangermouse]

Just stumbled across this which I found interesting.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Compact_Flash_boot_drive

My CF is a 16GB Transcend 133x so should be identifying itself as 'fixed' but I still get the trouble.

Just a heads up I guess for future people with this card and problem.

[MozzerFan]

I think it's best if you try Doobrey's patch. If it works for you, I guess the info on the wiki page is wrong about the Transcend 133x CF cards.
 
I know Transcend sells some fixed disk CF cards, but I don't know if the 133X cards are set as fixed.

[dangermouse]

Could this explain why I had random problems when installing OS4?

I forget the messages exactly but I got random 'disk needs validation' (forcing an aborted install) and 'badblock' errors (could 'OK' past these) at various points during installation. The points at which they occurred changed upon subsequent attempts. This happened using both SFS and FFS filesystems.

In the end I just gave up.

[MozzerFan]

I'm afraid I don't know nothing about OS4 for classics. I don't have a PPC accellerator. Maybe someone else can give you some clues about that.
 
I suggest that you try to install idefix on your os3.x installation first and then, if you can get that to work, install os4.

[MozzerFan]

BTW where did you buy the CF card?
 
Could it be that you have bought a fake 16 GB CF card?
 
You should read this : http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Detecting-fake-flash-memory-on-e-bay_W0QQugidZ10000000013353853
 
I don't mean to scare you, but it never hurts to be sure.

[dangermouse]

I bought it from a reputable hardware supplier in New Zealand (http://www.notebookcity.co.nz) I don't think it's the card as I have got 4 of these things in various Amigas and have never had a problem. It's only when I've decided to use an IDEFix-Express that this issue has appeared.

Luckily I've given up on OS4.0 on the classic Amiga as I've got 4.1 running on an AmigaOne. So I've ripped the IDEFix out and now my Miggie is running fine

I did look at the fix you mentioned but couldn't quite figure out how to do it. I read it as replacing some files after the install of IDEFix-Express but my problem prevents me from even getting that far.

Thanks Mozzer