CompactFlash.device how-to?

[Thomas]

come on, you got the lha archive to your amiga, so you can move the txt file the opposite way and attach it here as a single file. I refuse to read text from blurry photos.

[RedWarrior]

come on, you got the lha archive to your amiga, so you can move the txt file the opposite way and attach it here as a single file. I refuse to read text from blurry photos.

I also had to unscrew the case, being careful not to tear out the keyboard ribbon cable whilst holding the underside of the computer with my face and insert the CF card... This is kind of why I really want to get the CF card working. I'm sorry for the poor screen quality- it's the "easiest" setup I can manage at this point running composite RCA into my very old laptop. I'm trying to avoid opening and re-opening my 1200 as much as possible... I'm just tempting fate.

[RedWarrior]

Ok I copied it... text file attached.

[RedWarrior]

Does anyone use IRC anymore by any chance?

[Thomas]

I also had to unscrew the case, being careful not to tear out the keyboard ribbon cable whilst holding the underside of the computer with my face and insert the CF card... This is kind of why I really want to get the CF card working. I'm sorry for the poor screen quality- it's the "easiest" setup I can manage at this point running composite RCA into my very old laptop. I'm trying to avoid opening and re-opening my 1200 as much as possible... I'm just tempting fate.

Opening the case for each file is a bad idea, that's true. Don't you still have this A600 where everything worked? You could have saved the txt file to a floppy disk, put it into the A600, copy it to CF card and then carry it to the PC. No need to open a case.

Or use a 720K PC-formatted floppy disk to transfer the file directly to the PC.

[Thomas]

Ok I copied it... text file attached.

Code: [Select]


  compactflash.device   Unit   0  Version   1.32  NSD

    TD_READ64        check failed with error -3 (command not supported by device)
    HD_SCSICMD       check failed with error 29 (no disk in the drive)

    SCSI:
      Vendor       : Š„Š„Š„Š„
      Product      : Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„Š„
      Revision     : Š„Š„

    Geometry:
      SectorSize   : 512
      TotalSectors : 0
      Cylinders    : 0
      CylSectors   : 1257411600
      Heads        : 35460
      TrackSectors : 35460
      BufMemType   : PUBLIC
      DeviceType   : Direct Access
      Flags        : REMOVABLE
      Capacity     : 0 KB


The report shows that the software is correctly installed and working. It's more a hardware problem now. It says there is no disk in the drive and the SCSI identify command returns garbage.

Check that the CF card sits properly in the adapter and the adapter properly in the Amiga and no pins are bent or pushed back.

[RedWarrior]

Opening the case for each file is a bad idea, that's true. Don't you still have this A600 where everything worked? You could have saved the txt file to a floppy disk, put it into the A600, copy it to CF card and then carry it to the PC. No need to open a case.

Or use a 720K PC-formatted floppy disk to transfer the file directly to the PC.

Sadly no, I harvested the CF card from the a600 just as another option to test... (copied everything off though)

My 600 had gremlins of its own... certain keys on the keyboard have given up- so it's hard trying to run any commands whtn the colon : and P and U don't work...

I'll maybe start a thread "how to safely clean and maintain old floppy drives?" to deal with the current "disk-shredding" I'm experiencing... (floppies not an option at the moment)

So this has been a very slow and painful process so far... I'm still looking forward to maybe one day seeing what all the fuss was about AGA... (All 1200's are AGA, right?)

TExt file posted above... does it tell you anything useful?

thanks heaps for your help... this is rather gruelling =)

[RedWarrior]

The report shows that the software is correctly installed and working. It's more a hardware problem now. It says there is no disk in the drive and the SCSI identify command returns garbage.

Check that the CF card sits properly in the adapter and the adapter properly in the Amiga and no pins are bent or pushed back.

Is there a way to look inside the actual card reader? (without breaking it?)

This machine still has all its shielding etc (still chrome shiny! - Made in France... my Made in Malaysia machine is rusted and busted) - I'm a bit reluctant to take the shielding off to look at the pins... The card adapter feels fine- smooth... like it's connecting... and the card is also snug...

[Thomas]

Is there a way to look inside the actual card reader? (without breaking it?)

Not sure. A pocket lamp and a magnifying glass?

Does your "very old laptop" have a PCMCIA slot? You could test it there.

[RedWarrior]

Oh I thought you meant the pins inside the Amiga PCMCIA reader? I have 2 CF to PCMCIA card adapters... I can test them on my pc... sure,...

Just tested- yep they both work fine.

[Thomas]

Oh I thought you meant the pins inside the Amiga PCMCIA reader?

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. For me the PCMCIA connector inside the Amiga is not a "reader" but rather an expansion slot.

Yes, certainly the PCMCIA slot on the Amiga is also a candidate for bent or pushed pins.

Lamp and magnifier are still you best bet to look into it from the outside. Otherwise you have to open the case and remove the shielding.

[Thomas]

Plot twist: Running the PrepCard tool shows that there is a CF card in the PCMCIA slot... Some info appears when I insert the card & goes blank when I remove it.

Does this still work? Can you take a screenshot of the info displayed?

BTW, doesn't your video software on the laptop allow to take a snapshot of what is displayed? This would be easier than to use a photo camera and would probably give a much better quality.

[Thomas]

CardPatch and CardReset... I have tried running those as commands... nothing happens...

They shouldn't output anything. CardPatch applies some corrections to the system software and CardReset resets the PCMCIA port. They should be run in this order in startup-sequence, just after SetPatch.

[SACC-guy]

I read this thread and am very confused!
Are you working on replacing an internal ide drive with a cf adaptor and cf card?

And are you also working at the same time on using a fat formatted cf card on the PCMCIA slot?

Why don't you just do one at a time?

Did you buy a "proven cd card"?

[paul1981]

I think you said earlier RedWarrior that your A600 worked fine with a CF adapter and card - are you using the same CF card and CF adapter now as you did with the A600?

[paul1981]

I read this thread and am very confused!

Me too, especially today lol