Re: Compactflash (Sandisk 512) hangs on access

[Prashant Viswanathan <vprashant@gmail.com>]

> > I have been trying unsuccessfully over the last 2 weeks to get
> > compactflash working on my Linux system based on mini-ITX (Via CL
> > motherboard, pentium compatible).
> >
> > I use a CF->IDE adapter to access it just like a IDE hard disk. My
> > compactflash is Sandisk SDCFH-512. Linux can detect it. I can even
> > mount it and do a fdisk on it. However, the moment I try to do
> > anything substantial like copy multiple files or copy 1000 blocks
> > using dd, I lose access to it. Linux loses access to it totally. I
> > can't even do a fdisk on it. I get an error like "Unable to open
> > /dev/hdc".


On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 22:07:35 +0100, Willy Tarreau <willy@w.ods.org> wrote:
> Have you checked that the power connector really provides 5V to the
> IDE-CF adapter ? I had the exact same behaviour 5 years ago with a power
> wire cut. Signal lines were powerful enough to bring power to the cheap
> flash (16 MB), I could even read it, most times. The kernel almost always
> booted from it, and when it turned to mount the ext2 fs R/W, it hanged. I
> finally partially destroyed it this way, and it got several defects which
> could not be cleaned with a simple write or format.
> 
> Other than that, I have lots of CF cards on IDE adapters (some on motherboard,
> some hand-made, some bought to serious makers), and never ran into such
> problems since.
> 
> Willy

The power connector is fine.

I also disabled DMA (some suggestion on this newsgroup to a similar
error) and now I can't turn it back on.

<snip>
everest root # hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc

/dev/hdc:
setting using_dma to 1 (on)