Amiga IDE>CF setup assistance please!

[RedWarrior]

Hey guys- I'm currently navigating a world of pain trying to get some old hardware up and running. I think I've had this same set of questions for about 10 years... I think I got it working once, but that was a long time ago and this is way harder than I remember.

I'm just trying to get my CF card formatted via WinUAE for use in my 1200 classic machine as a HDD... I've managed to get the card to show up as a drive, but cannot format it via workbench or HDToolbox or HDinsttools so far... Both of those tools fails to detect the drive, despite it showing up in Workbench...

I've tried running as Administrator and adding -disableharddrivesafetycheck to the Winaue shortcut... not making any difference. I've tried setting the card as IDE/SCSI/and a few variants, but nothing seems to work. What's the trick?

I thought maybe this should be easy by now, given all the WinUAE updates over the years, but I'm naive like that.

If you can point me to a definitive thread for this kind of info or offer some assistance here that would be much appreciated!!
Thanks heaps

=)

[vince_6]

On Windows 7, WinUAE detects my CF and HDToolbox can see it.
But when I press save chances nothing happens.

This is what I do.

I use diskpart, I select the disk number and then I type clean.

[paul1981]

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?p=802007#post802007

The above link may help. I think there's an option in WinUAE like 'mount removable disks as read only' - well that would need unticking if it is there (assuming you're using a card reader).

Under Windows, first thing I'd do is delete any existing partitions on the CF, this will enable the Amiga emulation to totally handle/write to the CF, as active partitions are protected by WinUAE to avoid accidental erasure of your data. It's likely that mode you're using bypasses that protection, but I have never dealt with that so know nothing about.it.

On HDToolBox, you'll need to change the device from scsi.device to uaehf.device possibly, I woukdn't know about that either as I attach mine direct to IDE adapter. To do this just edit the tooltype in the HDToolBox icon.

[SnkBitten]

I setup a CF card on my Windows 10 PC with WinUAE and the PC's built in multi-card media reader (so most likely USB connected internally).  I had to diskpart the cf card first to erase all formatting/partitioning so that Windows no longer mounted it (states I need to format the card every time I insert it).  Then booting off the install 3.1 .adf I was able to use HDToolBox to "install" the drive and then partition it.

So diskpart, wiping all the partitioning/mbr/gpt/whatever off of it and then allowing WinUAE full access of it.

[RedWarrior]

---------------------------
WinUAE message
---------------------------
":FNK TECH USB CARD READER  1.00 "

Block zero write attempt but drive has one or more mounted PC partitions or WinUAE does not have Administrator privileges. Erase the drive or unmount all PC partitions first.
---------------------------
OK  
---------------------------
Does this mean anything to anyone? I"ve removed the drive letter and unmounted as best as I can in Windows... definitely running as administrator... :-/

Also- what is "diskpart"?

[SnkBitten]

---------------------------
WinUAE message
---------------------------
":FNK TECH USB CARD READER  1.00 "

Block zero write attempt but drive has one or more mounted PC partitions or WinUAE does not have Administrator privileges. Erase the drive or unmount all PC partitions first.
---------------------------
OK  
---------------------------
Does this mean anything to anyone? I"ve removed the drive letter and unmounted as best as I can in Windows... definitely running as administrator... :-/

Also- what is "diskpart"?

diskpart is a windows utility to zero out a drive.  It can delete partitions and MBR so the drive is completely wiped of Windows information, which prevents Windows from mounting it.  Then WinUAE can have full access to it.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766465(v=ws.10).aspx

You want to 'clean' the disk but make absolutely sure you are working on that disk and not one of your windows disks.

Make sure you use 'list disk' to find the appropriate disk/cf card and then 'select disk' to change the focus to that disk.  all commands will be directed to the disk currently with focus.

[F0LLETT]

diskpart is a windows utility to zero out a drive.  It can delete partitions and MBR so the drive is completely wiped of Windows information, which prevents Windows from mounting it.  Then WinUAE can have full access to it.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766465(v=ws.10).aspx

You want to 'clean' the disk but make absolutely sure you are working on that disk and not one of your windows disks.

Make sure you use 'list disk' to find the appropriate disk/cf card and then 'select disk' to change the focus to that disk.  all commands will be directed to the disk currently with focus.

I have the exact same reader. Sometimes even with cleaning the cards get stuck in some odd mode, where it refuses to be detected after it tries to RDB it in WinUAE.

Its also worth noting to make sure WinUAE is running as Admin (right click exe and click "run as admin").

[paul1981]

---------------------------
WinUAE message
---------------------------
":FNK TECH USB CARD READER  1.00 "

Block zero write attempt but drive has one or more mounted PC partitions or WinUAE does not have Administrator privileges. Erase the drive or unmount all PC partitions first.
---------------------------
OK  
---------------------------
Does this mean anything to anyone? I"ve removed the drive letter and unmounted as best as I can in Windows... definitely running as administrator... :-/

Also- what is "diskpart"?

Means that there's still a partition in use on the CF by windows. Delete this partition and all should be well.

[RedWarrior]

Thanks guys!! Getting to this stage it feels like I've been blindfolded in the back of a car... no idea how to get here again! So many chance variables...

Currently navigating the SFS filesystem and figuring that bit out.... (recommended or not?) A1200 - mostly intended for running demos/Octamed music/and 1.3 oldschool games...

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon, but wanted to say THANK YOU very much for helping me to this point! This really is a niche hobby...

=)

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I'd use PFS instead of SFS, but that's a personal preference.  Also WHDLoad for all your old games.  Makes it easy to install/run all of them from HD.  Enjoy!  

[RedWarrior]

Oh boy oh boy! It worked.... I think... now to go fish out a machine from the garage...

The little rubber feet on my 1200s are all decaying and leaving sticky crud on every surface... is there something I can do to stop them being so gross? Or do I just remove them completely? This isn't really a crucial question.... just chatting =)

[RedWarrior]

oh crap. Hadn't heard of PFS... Benefits? I just want this thing to work properly. It doen't need to be lightning fast.

My poor little a600 is crapola these days- I tried this kind of project about 10 years ago- checksum errors every time it boots... probably a filesystem issue? Maybe too hard to bother with...

[RedWarrior]

Ok... How might one determine if the IDE bus works on a given A1200 system? The little LED lights up on the IDE/CF unit, but nothing happens.

It's not clear which way the pins are supposed to go, or if I had the unit upside down... but I've tried different sides & different jumper settings... but the CF IDE (hard drive) doesn't show up as a boot device (which I'm guessing is kinda necessary?)


This machine didn't boot from its previous hard drive, so maybe there's an IDE problem rather than the old drive being toast...?

Input welcome- this sucks... =)

[RedWarrior]

Tried a different machine... new error.

Is there anything that tests one's patience quite so much I wonder... :~(

Odes this make sense to anyone? =) Thanks in advance

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I've never used WinUAE to try to prep an Amiga hard drive, so I'm not going to be much help there.  Again, my .02 cents, just get yourself some 3.1 disks (for the princely sum of $14.25 USD) and boot off those.  See if the hard drive is recognizable in HDToolbox and prep it from there.  That's what I'd do.  

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1211