Sandisk Ultra CF as Hardrive?

[Retrofan]

Hello:
I've got a Sandisk Ultra (not Ultra II) CF card with 16Gb, and I'm trying to use it as HD. As in the CF HD I was using I have installed OS 3.9, I installed the new CF and booted it with the 3.9 Emergency Disk.
In HdtoolBox when I open it appears Device: carddisk.device, and version 40.1 . If I select ok it doesn't give any option, only Exit.
 
If I use the old CF-HD with os 3.9 and put the new through PCMCIA, it appears at the screen as C0C6-293C, and I can open it with 0% full, 14.9Gb free, 14.9mb in use.
If I open PrepCard and try to Prepare as a Disk or Prepare as System Ram, it says "Unable to prepare card: Card is write-protected".
If I try to format it doesn't pass 0% and the window closes.
 
Please tell me: is there a way I can use it or perhaps this model isn't compatible with the Amiga?
Thanks

[Thomas]

Carddisk.device is for the PCMCIA port only. In order to use a CF card as harddrive you need to connect it to the IDE port. The IDE port is accessed through scsi.device.

PrepCard does not do anything with CF cards. It is for SRAM cards only. And it is for PCMCIA only, too.

If you insist in connecting the CF card to the PCMCIA port, you could try to install compactflash.device from Aminet (cfd.lha) and choose this in HDToolbox. But it is not meant to be used this way. And you cannot boot from PCMCIA of course.

[Retrofan]

Hi:
Yes, I know and I don't want to use it as Pcmcia. Only connected it later to it to see if I could do something. For example I discovered I can make a Quick Format, but nothing is better now.
 
I usually use another CF connected to IDE without problems.
The Carddisk.device is what Hdtoolbox finds with the CF connected to Ide, not to Pcmcia. Strangely if I try with the Hdtoolbox installed in the "Emergency-Boot" icon, it only detects my internal Cd rom, but if I use the program installed in the floppy disk is when it finds the same plus the Carddisk.device...¿?. Now I have connected again to ide the new 16Gb one, but what can I do if it doesn't let me do anything?

[Retrofan]

Hi:
I'm trying with the Install disk of the Workbench 3.1, using Hdtools, and it seems it works better. I will tell...

[Thomas]

Remember that you can only use the first 4GB of the drive with OS 3.1. HDtoolbox will let you create partitions in the first 8GB, but if you use them, it will do strange things / corrupt / crash / loose all data.

[Retrofan]

That's what I was going to ask.
With the Install disk of the WB 3.1 I have made the partitions. Later with the Emergency disk of the os3.9 it didn't let me make the format, but I could again with the Install disk.
 
I've heard with OS3.9 which I'm going to install there's no problem making big partitions, but too that's no good to make them with more than 4gb.
 
I would have a problem too making them bigger, as with the HDTools of the Install disk I can't make them bigger than 4gb. I don't know if I would have to make the partitions and the formats and later try to make them again with the HDTools of the os3.9 if it lets me.
 
The thing is I'm not sure how to make those partitions. I've made 6, but still only have formated one. I'm waiting now for an answer.
 
DH0: "System": 400 mb (Bootable)
DH1: "Work": 1GB
DH2: "Apps": 2GB
DH3: "Games I": 4GB
DH4: "Games II": 4 GB
DH5: "Music": 4 GB
 
All aproximately.
 
Don't they seem too much partitions?
What do you recommend to d:confused:?

[Karlos]

Don't they seem too much partitions?
What do you recommend to d:confused:?

As I have 8 partitions on my main A1200 machine, I don't think so

[Retrofan]

Thanks, that's what I wanted to know. I will format them and I will install first the Sys 4 Aga archives and later the os3.9
 
By the way, what I thought is what people seems to be doing: to format it under 4gb, install the OS3.9 and format again to a bigger partition. This is a post I found:
"I first made an SFS partition under 4GB, then installed 3.9, then I used 3.9's HDToolBox and made two partition on 10GB each."
 
I would like to know what others think about making 6 partitions or less bigger...

[NovaCoder]

I'm running 3.9 with SFS and an 8GB Ultra 2.  I've only got 4 partitions and that seems to work quite nicely.

[Retrofan]

Thanks. I would like to hear about people having more than 4GB in a partition and having problems (them in special, as there must be less) or recommending it.

[Thomas]

If both the IDE driver and the file system support large harddrives, you can make partitions as big as you like.

As I said above, the driver of OS 3.1 can only see the first 4GB of the drive. 4GB of the drive, not 4GB partitions!! So on your CF with OS 3.1 you can use dh0, dh1 and dh2. With OS 3.9 you should be able to make an 8GB games partitions without problems.

In any case, do not use full format, always use quick. Never fully format a hard drive, it only produces hot air. Never ever fully format a flash memory storage, it significiantly reduces its live time and does nothing but produce hot air.

[stefcep2]

If both the IDE driver and the file system support large harddrives, you can make partitions as big as you like.

As I said above, the driver of OS 3.1 can only see the first 4GB of the drive. 4GB of the drive, not 4GB partitions!! So on your CF with OS 3.1 you can use dh0, dh1 and dh2. With OS 3.9 you should be able to make an 8GB games partitions without problems.

In any case, do not use full format, always use quick. Never fully format a hard drive, it only produces hot air. Never ever fully format a flash memory storage, it significiantly reduces its live time and does nothing but produce hot air.

So out of interest why is full format available?

[Thomas]

So out of interest why is full format available?

For floppy disks.

There is no format command in SCSI / ATA command set. Format is translated to write for these devices. Full format just writes junk to each and every block of the partition. You can use this before you sell a harddrive which had sensible data on it. But it is of no use for a new drive.

[Retrofan]

Please I need some help:
I get to install AmisgaSys 4, install the cd rom and install the os 3.9, but after that the Amiga doesn't boot. I've tried to install WB 3.1 and later os3.9 and happens the same. I have to start it using the 3.1 install disk again.
 
I believe the problem can be in a bad configuration of the partitions of the HD. I used the ones it found, but I believe they are wrong. The CF has 16GB and this is what it found and what I used:
Cylinders: 31029
Heads: 16
Block per track: 63
Block per cylinder: 1008
Park head where (cylinder): 31029
Size: -1139104K (-1112 Meg)
 
Please can anybody tell me which should be such data?
I believe I can have any kind of conflict with that...
 
Perhaps I should have read more carefully your advice (really I have read the last two now). I used all the 16gb making 4 partitions. Shall I make only for example two partitions with a total minor than 4gb and after that installing os3.9 and make partitions again? I'm thinking yes...
But what sizes of Heads... and the others shall I use/put?

[Retrofan]

What I don't know how to do is if I have the HD with 2 partitions and I get os3.9 installed, how do I change the partitions without loosing all the installed programs?
(I know it's a software post, but it was started as a possible hardware problem)