Re: Using CiderPress to copy a volume image to a card formatted for Windows...

["Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com>]

David Schmenk wrote:
> On Feb 16, 6:58 am, David Schmenk <dschm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Feb 15, 9:33 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > fadden wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Feb 14, 6:34 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
> >
> > > > > I'm doing this on a Vista laptop, and it doesn't want to allow
> > > > > CiderPress to overwrite block 128.
> >
> > > > Interesting... some sort of partition map protection?
> >
> > > > Reformatting the card in a digital camera may or may not be useful.
> >
> > > That's a good point.
> >
> > > Although I've formatted other cards, I didn't try reformatting this
> > > one in a camera first.
> >
> > > But I don't expect the card to enforce the protection.  I think it
> > > was Vista that was the policeman.  I know that it takes a dim view
> > > of any attempt to modify the MBR--perhaps even for a non-bootable
> > > volume.
> >
> > > -michael
> >
> > > NadaNet 3.1 for Apple II parallel computing!
> > > Home page:  http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/
> >
> > > "The wastebasket is our most important design
> > > tool--and it's seriously underused."
> >
> > It's possible Vista/Win7 is thinks Ciderpress is a virus, attacking
> > the "system-only" tracks of a disk.
> >
> > A question concerning the LBA mapping of an SD card on a PC vs the
> > CFFA would be "are they consistent?"  I'm unfamiliar with how SD cards
> > "look" to the system compared to a CF card.  Presumably they would
> > both look like IDE drives, but possibly with additional modes that the
> > system can put them into for more efficient access.  Since you've been
> > able to write to physical block 0 on the SD (not the partitioned
> > logical drive block 0) through CiderPress, you've overcome the first
> > hurdle (the PRODOS NOT FOUND message).
> >
> > Another problem could be timing of the SD card vs a CF card - earlier
> > CFFA cards were less tolerant of certain CF cards.  I know Rich made
> > some changes over the course of the CFFA, but maybe SD cards are more
> > like the problem cards.
> >
> > Since you've made it clear that you have no other storage options on
> > the Apple II, you can always employ the old school system monitor and
> > hand assemble some SmartPort code to access certain critical sectors
> > (like the directory) to see if they are where they are supposed to
> > be.  If they are, it could suggest a timing issue.  If not, an LBA
> > translation difference.
> >
> > Dave...
>
>
> After a quick Google search, you may have a little more uphill battle
> than originally thought.  SD card do NOT implement the ATA (IDE)
> interface; that is implemented in the CF->SD adapter.  That probably
> comes with many caveats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Embedded_systems
>
> My advice to have the best chance of success would be to use a name
> brand SDSC (not HC).  Use the CF->SD adapter in the laptop (do laptops
> still come with CardBus slots?) while transferring data with
> CiderPress.  You may also need to try out different CF->SD adapters to
> find one that works reliably in the CFFA given it's timing
> constraints.  Try Googleing "sd cf adapter" to see what issues people
> have had in other devices.  Good luck and let us know what works.

I'm using a Kingston Elite Pro 2GB SD card, not SDHC.  The SD-CF
adapter is rated for SDHC, though.

I'll definitely let everyone know the eventual results, though it
may be a few months before I get to do the experiments.

Maybe in the meantime, someone else will have better luck...

-michael

NadaNet 3.1 for Apple II parallel computing!
Home page:  http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."