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To make a notebook more rugged, I have changed the hard disk to a 2GB compact flash card connected to an IDE adaptor. With this, I managed to install Win XP. Win XP takes up about 1.2GB, and I still have about 700MB of free space in the CF.
However, when I tried to install Java Virtual Machine, I am not able to install it.
When I go into MY COMPUTER, I notice that the OS detects it as a "Device with Removable Storage". How do I make it to be a "Hard Disk Drive".
Well, I try to go into Device Manager and look under policies for the Disk Drive, I notice that the "Optimise for Quick Removal" and "Optimise for Performance" has been disabled.
How can I make the system detect as a Hard Disk?
While we're at it we'll just turn water into wine... It's a cf NOT a harddrive, 2 differnet things, 2 different sets of specs, 2 different methods of i/o
Let's make a long story short...you can't.
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Have you set the jumpers on the adapter to Master? I presume you are using this type of adapter?
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=39&products_id=644
Also Compact Flash Media is ATA66 complient, as far as I am aware it will not work on older Laptops which I presume would be equivelent to pre 32bit cardbus PCMCIA. One a side note CF Media is prone to failure due to the limitation of read/writes.
Blackbill you are an idiot.........please read and educate yourself:http://www.compactflash.org/
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To Hiho,
Thanks. Yes, mine is something like the one in the url you quoted. My laptop is able to use the adaptor, as I'm able to install Win XP into it. It's just that I am unable to install anything else after it.
How do you set the jumper to Master?
Do I need to set something into the Register to make it a hard disk?
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Hi
just to add having read the above i was curious could this be done?
apparently so,some ppl have xp on cf albeit not fully operational , probs with swap file etc , the cf adapater should have a jumper for master /slave
http://www.pcengines.ch/cflash.htmand link;
http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=425http://www.acscontrol.com/index_ACS.asp
ive seen it done on a linux distro like gnoppix but well thats another forum :)
http://cyti.latgola.lv/ruuni/index_en.html
hey post back if succesful plz :D nice to see somthing new
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I kind of agree with blackbill. A CF is not a solid state hard drive. I think your issue is with XP. The OS tried to put that device in the correct spot. You would need to re-write the driver or reflash the chip ID.
The issue is how the product you bought to adapt the CF to works. There might be one that fools XP into thinking there is a solid state drive instead of a CF flash adapter.
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Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas.
Does anybody know how to write the driver or reflash the chip ID?
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I must admit I have only undertaken this with MS-DOS and W9x, therefore XP may be different but as far as I am aware if the CF Card and the BIOS is ATA66 complient the BIOS should see the CF as a hard drive:
http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/products_id/337
http://www.mini-box.com/site/resources/html/freedos-install.html
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HIHO:
First I read your so called article and it proved to help very little on this issue.
I repeat: A CF is not a HD and XP was built to be placed on "C" drive of a HD. Even if you place XP on D E F G... drives of a HD, it's start up files will always be places ON C DRIVE OF THE HD.
It is possible for a CF to SIMULATE a HD but tring to tell XP that it IS a HD won't work, hence the term MASS STORAGE DEVICE instead of HARD DRIVE.
Secondly, I strongly object to the term IDIOT. You don't know me from a hole in ground and although my wife and kids may have earned the right to deem me as such, YOU HAVE NOT. In future please keep those kinds of comments to yourself.
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Sorry Blackbill, but hiho is right...
Although a CF card is not the same as
a hard drive obviously (since one is Flash memory and the other is magnetic, and they have different capabilities of course), the interface is an ATA standard, which effectively makes them both electrically identical, so a CF card will work just like a hard drive. The reason it gets detected as 'removable storage' is because the device contains an identifier string which identifies it as such. Its incorrect to say that XP is intended to install on "C" of a hard drive. This means nothing. Its correct to say XP installs on an ATA-IDE device. This does not have to be a "hard disk".
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Elecboy,
You mentioned an identifier string. Where is this found? On the CF itself? Is there anyway to make XP detect as a hard drive?
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YES, the PID is built in to the CF Card, if you can install the CF into a USB Card Reader, XP can identify.
In CONTROL PANEL SYSTEM HARDWARE DEVICE MANGER the USB CF CARD Properties under DETAILS lists the PID.
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Hi,
you can fix your CF card if your card supports this. Scan disk has a tool on their web side for this. But I have to say that your CF card will break soon, since they have limited write cycles 2x10^6 for industrial grade cards. If you are using a normal card it is even less. Since a normal windows is always writing to your storage it will distroy you CF cards very fast.
There is a solution for this problem with the EWF and XP embedded. But that will give you a lot of trouble to get the same functions like a normal XP.
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Scandisk? What's the URL? I thought it's a software in Windows? Tried to find it in google...
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Sorry my mistake.
http://www.sandisk.comBut that will only fix your CF if supported by your CF.
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Dietmar
I'm sorry to disturb u again... I went to the sandisk.com, but cannot find the tool you mention.
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Hi,
sorry bad news for you, scandisk stoped the industrial line of CF cards and so also ATCFWCHG.COM is no longer available.
try one of these
M-Systems' iDOC (mini IDE Flash) or uDOC (USB 2.0 flash)- www.m-sys.com
PSIM - http://www.psism.com/flashdrive.htm
Pretec - www.pretec.com
Reactive - http://www.reactivecomputers.com/flashdisks/k3mide300025.htm
Mini-itex.com store - http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=16Did you had a look at your vendors site if your CF supports to get fixed? I remind you again that a normal CF card has only 200000 write cycles. Be careful or your CF will be soon destroyed. Switch at least pagefile of.
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I've finally managed to do this (install JVM) with one of my friends...
What I did was to manually configure the registry. And then, I copy the whole JVM (that was installed on another notebook) into this CF. After that, I install the JVM again. The computer then detects that there is a previous installation, and try to repair it...
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Hi Anthony,
Hiho...it's off to SCHOOL you go!!
Yes Compact flash can be made to be seen as a fixed HDU by XP.
If your using Sandisk C/F cards the ATCFWCHG utility IS still available. ATCFWCHG sets a flag of the flash's ID to FIXED.
Your XP system will then see the flash as a hard disk. You can even assign multiple partitions on your flash and format as NTFS.
This is all assuming the flash is plugged into your system via IDE . If your using it via usb port it will still be seen as unfortunately as removable media regardless of the unit's ID.
(But believe their is also a working around for this)
Their is no internal jumper or setting to make the flash primary or secondary. It's external so check the cable or interface PCB to see if their is a jumper.Now that I've got you all excited a word of warning:
Flash has limited amounts of writes , if your running standard XP you'll wear it in no time.If your serious about making your system run from flash, XP Embedded is the answer.
Once you've discovered the XPE world to HiHo's amazement you'll find you can run XPE from a USB thumb drive.
Rob.P.S. If you ask nicely..I "may" know someone who has ATCFWCHG wink wink
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Sorry Hiho,
It's blackbill who needs to go to school!
P.S. XPE isn't for the light heart, getting XPE up and running does have it's fair share of pain!
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