Re: IDE-like SanDisk

[Kyle Harris <kharris@nexus-tech.net>]

Ralph,

This is good information. I've been planning on using a CF for a certain
application, assuming that the IDE interface means it will work with
Linux. I haven't obtained parts yet, so haven't done any testing. What
is the PQI device you're referring to? Please keep the list informed on
your progress ;)

Thanks, Kyle.


Ralph Stickley wrote:
> 
> David Woodhouse wrote:
> >
> > marius_bogoevici@electronic.cores.ro said:
> > > Is there any way to use MTD (maybe just an idea) on an IDE-like
> > > SanDisk PC-Card ? Or, at least, the FFS2 ?
> >
> > As far as I'm aware, no. CompactFlash presents itself as an IDE drive,
> 
> As an IDE drive, there are some problems here. The cards I've received
> are initially formatted in DOS format.  Some have suggested that this
> can be used for storage with no problem, plug and play. Ok, I haven't
> tried that..
> 
> However, most suggest that formatting the device with ext2 presents
> problems.  I've spent a couple of days on this and found several things:
> 
> 1. The BIOS does not fully recognize the CF
> A CF jumpered as a master device will not lock up the BIOS, the
> HDD will boot then proceed to get completely trashed - dueling
> masters-ahhhhh! 
> 
> 2. Linux does not recognize the CHS properly
> The BIOS (Award, AMI and General Software tested here) has to be
> setup for fdisk to even get close to the correct CHS...(still off
> by one cylinder, even after setting up the BIOS).
> 
> 3. fdisk will render a CF unusable if you select the default CHS
> The cylinder count is off by one, I guess formatting the device
> with the wrong number of cylinders overwrites the cards internal
> software.
> 
> 4. Lilo works best using "linear" option.
> I have been able to get one to boot...but I think the CF file
> system then gets trashed when the booting process writes files
> back to the device - boot once mode ?:)
> 
> 5. Some CF adaptors don't seem to work
> Ok, I've tested with 2 adaptors. One worked....
> 
> My next attempt is to
> a) tell the BIOS what the CHS are manually
> b) tell fdisk what the CHS are
> c) tell Lilo what the CHS are.
> (I finally got a description from PQI for the CHS...no response
> from Sandisk yet)
> 
> If this doesn't work, I'm not sure what else to try...
> 
> > and
> > has its own flash filing system internally (probably FTL). You can't access
> > the flash directly.
> 
> Although I suspect you can overwrite it by formatting with the wrong
> number of Cylinders :-O
> 
> Good luck
> Ralph
> 
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