IDE mode Compact Flash problems...

I have an compact flash attached to an IDE<->CF adapter that boots fine
in one motherboard but isn't recgonized as a hard drive in another.

Does anyone here have any experience with Compact Flash in IDE mode and
suggestions/explanations?

The card I'm using in a SanDisk 256MB and the converter is the
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040705&p_id=2105&style=&seq=1&format=1#largeimage


Thanks,
Paul.

Paul Marciano wrote:
> I have an compact flash attached to an IDE<->CF adapter that boots fine
> in one motherboard but isn't recgonized as a hard drive in another.
>
> Does anyone here have any experience with Compact Flash in IDE mode and
> suggestions/explanations?

Most likely a problem with the CF.  Sometimes the I/O drivers are not
strong enough to drive 5V IDE interface.

>
> The card I'm using in a SanDisk 256MB and the converter is the

Have you tried an older and smaller CF?  Have you tried other brands,
i.e. Lexar?

> http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040705&p_id=2105&style=&seq=1&format=1#largeimage
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Paul.

Paul Marciano wrote:

> I have an compact flash attached to an IDE<->CF adapter that boots fine 
> in one motherboard but isn't recgonized as a hard drive in another.
> 
> Does anyone here have any experience with Compact Flash in IDE mode and 
> suggestions/explanations?

IIRC, a CF will only configure as true-IDE mode from power-up, and not if it 
is hot-swapped (hence the extended pins on the CF socket) - perhaps there is 
a problem on power-up?

Regards,

-- 
|              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
|  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"

Mark McDougall wrote:
> Paul Marciano wrote:
>
> > I have an compact flash attached to an IDE<->CF adapter that boots fine
> > in one motherboard but isn't recgonized as a hard drive in another.
> >
> > Does anyone here have any experience with Compact Flash in IDE mode and
> > suggestions/explanations?
>
> IIRC, a CF will only configure as true-IDE mode from power-up, and not if it
> is hot-swapped (hence the extended pins on the CF socket) - perhaps there is
> a problem on power-up?

I doubt that's the problem.  We have experienced same problem even with
the ATA pin ground on our adapter.  It is likely a power-up problem,
but not for the mode selection.  If the on-board CF controller can't
communicate with the PC, the PC would not recognize the card.

>
> Regards,
>
> --
> |              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
> |  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"

linnix wrote:
> I doubt that's the problem.  We have experienced same problem even with
> the ATA pin ground on our adapter.  It is likely a power-up problem,
> but not for the mode selection.  If the on-board CF controller can't
> communicate with the PC, the PC would not recognize the card.

That's the problem - this motherboard is not recognizing the card at
all.

This is on an Intel D945GTP motherboard.  Out of the box, the BIOS does
not see the CF card.  The BIOS finds no bootable devices and no drives
are found when looking at the BIOS setup screens.

If I disable "Use Automatic Mode" in the Drive Setup in the BIOS it
hangs at the Intel splash screen.

I have tried SanDisk, Lexar and PNY CF cards.  All work in a different
Intel motherboard model (a D865GVHZ) but not in this one.

Suggestions welcome.

Regards,
Paul.

Paul Marciano wrote:
> linnix wrote:
> > I doubt that's the problem.  We have experienced same problem even with
> > the ATA pin ground on our adapter.  It is likely a power-up problem,
> > but not for the mode selection.  If the on-board CF controller can't
> > communicate with the PC, the PC would not recognize the card.
>
> That's the problem - this motherboard is not recognizing the card at
> all.
>
> This is on an Intel D945GTP motherboard.  Out of the box, the BIOS does
> not see the CF card.  The BIOS finds no bootable devices and no drives
> are found when looking at the BIOS setup screens.
>
> If I disable "Use Automatic Mode" in the Drive Setup in the BIOS it
> hangs at the Intel splash screen.
>
> I have tried SanDisk, Lexar and PNY CF cards.  All work in a different
> Intel motherboard model (a D865GVHZ) but not in this one.

What size CF?  One consideration is that the CF controller runs
Power-on test.  It might take longer to test the bigger chips.  If it
does not complete the test before the PC query the controller, it will
not be recognized.

On the other hand, it could be wiring problems with your adapter.  You
can try ours with 32M CF as boot device and mount your 256M or bigger
CF.  We provide full refund if it does not work for you.

See: http://cfd.linnix.com

> 
> Suggestions welcome.
> 
> Regards,
> Paul.

On 2005-08-16 19:40, Paul Marciano wrote:
> linnix wrote:
> 
>>I doubt that's the problem.  We have experienced same problem even with
>>the ATA pin ground on our adapter.  It is likely a power-up problem,
>>but not for the mode selection.  If the on-board CF controller can't
>>communicate with the PC, the PC would not recognize the card.
> 
> 
> That's the problem - this motherboard is not recognizing the card at
> all.
> 
> This is on an Intel D945GTP motherboard.  Out of the box, the BIOS does
> not see the CF card.  The BIOS finds no bootable devices and no drives
> are found when looking at the BIOS setup screens.
> 
> If I disable "Use Automatic Mode" in the Drive Setup in the BIOS it
> hangs at the Intel splash screen.
> 
> I have tried SanDisk, Lexar and PNY CF cards.  All work in a different
> Intel motherboard model (a D865GVHZ) but not in this one.
> 
> Suggestions welcome.
> 
> Regards,
> Paul.
> 

FWIW, I recall an issue I had when the Sandisk started supporting DMA on 
their compact flash cards; the custom adapters I used then did not have 
DMA wired, but as the flashdisk reported DMA capability, the BIOS tried 
to use it and hung at boot.

(The workaround for me was a to use a utility from Sandisk to disable 
DMA on the compact flash device, until the adapters were fixed.)

/Rolf

Rolf Blom wrote:
> FWIW, I recall an issue I had when the Sandisk started supporting DMA on
> their compact flash cards; the custom adapters I used then did not have
> DMA wired, but as the flashdisk reported DMA capability, the BIOS tried
> to use it and hung at boot.
>
> (The workaround for me was a to use a utility from Sandisk to disable
> DMA on the compact flash device, until the adapters were fixed.)

Thanks Rolf.   In this case none of the SanDisk, PNY and Lexar flash
cards support DMA.  They work on one Intel motherboard model (with a
CF-IDE adapter that works in some other motherboards I've tried), but
not this new 945 chipset one.

All the motherboards that work are similar (3GHz P4 or Athlon64
equivalent).  Only this model motherboard (so far) is failing.

Could this be a BIOS issue, or a hardware fault/feature?


Regards,
Paul.

On 15 Aug 2005 10:33:16 -0700, "Paul Marciano" <pm940@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>
>I have an compact flash attached to an IDE<->CF adapter that boots fine
>in one motherboard but isn't recgonized as a hard drive in another.
>
>Does anyone here have any experience with Compact Flash in IDE mode and
>suggestions/explanations?
>
>The card I'm using in a SanDisk 256MB and the converter is the
>http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040705&p_id=2105&style=&seq=1&format=1#largeimage
>
>
>Thanks,
>Paul.


One thing I have found is that CF cards are very sensitive to the IDE
cable that is used.  Quite often if the cable is the standard length
there will be errors.  The timing of the IDE interface can be changed
on the motherboard settings, default is usually Mode 4 which is the
fastest, if you use Mode 2 or 3, it will run a bit slower which can
help.

regards,
Johnny.

On 2005-08-17 19:35, Paul Marciano wrote:
> Rolf Blom wrote:
> 
>>FWIW, I recall an issue I had when the Sandisk started supporting DMA on
>>their compact flash cards; the custom adapters I used then did not have
>>DMA wired, but as the flashdisk reported DMA capability, the BIOS tried
>>to use it and hung at boot.
>>
>>(The workaround for me was a to use a utility from Sandisk to disable
>>DMA on the compact flash device, until the adapters were fixed.)
> 
> 
> Thanks Rolf.   In this case none of the SanDisk, PNY and Lexar flash
> cards support DMA.  They work on one Intel motherboard model (with a
> CF-IDE adapter that works in some other motherboards I've tried), but
> not this new 945 chipset one.
> 
> All the motherboards that work are similar (3GHz P4 or Athlon64
> equivalent).  Only this model motherboard (so far) is failing.
> 
> Could this be a BIOS issue, or a hardware fault/feature?
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Paul.
> 

Either.

Try hooking up a standard disk to verify that the IDE interface on the 
motherboard works at all. (Cable/Power/motherboard problems possible)

Did you play with the 5V/3.3V settings on the adapter?

If a std IDE disk works, then it could be a BIOS issue; I see Intel has 
a recent BIOS update, posted 4th of Aug 05; though I couldn't read the 
release notes.
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/tp/tp_bios.htm

Another BIOS thingy is that some Phoenix BIOS I came across won't talk 
to a slave device on it's own; it will rely on the master to query the 
slave at bootup, and in some situations this can be a problem.

/Rolf