How to use CFFA on a GS with an external adapter

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How to use CFFA on a GS with an external adapter

Postby oraclemaster » Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:43 am

Hi,
I posted on comp.sys.apple2 the 30th november how I did it.

http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA9.jpg

Mauro
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Re: How to use CFFA on a GS with an external adapter

Postby rich » Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:41 am

Mauro,

Very nice hack!

I see there are more pictures than that one link suggests.
Change the "9" in CFFA9 to values from 1 to 8 also to see all the pictures.

-Rich
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IIGS Mod

Postby gsmcporet » Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:59 am

Oracle,

Where did you find the adapter?

Thanks,
Steven (gsmcporet)
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Re: IIGS Mod

Postby oraclemaster » Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:38 am

>Where did you find the adapter?

Hi Steven,
I copy here my post on comp.sys.apple2:

Hi all,
sometimes pictures are better than words:

http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA1.jpg


The original card bought on e-bay for 0,67 euro (about 1$ ?) ...
search for "IDE ATA to CF Compact Flash Internal Memory Card Reader"


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA2.jpg


Resize it for the GS


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA3.jpg


Connect the IDE cable


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA4.jpg


You must put it here!!


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA5.jpg


The CF is too large, you had to smooth the case


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA6.jpg


Now is large enough for the CF


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA7.jpg


Embed the card low and fix it up with one screw


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA8.jpg


Connect the IDE cable to CFFA (IMPORTANT: pin 1 is at the top of the
board)


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA9.jpg


Insert the CF into the adapter


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/im ... CFFA10.jpg


Connect mouse, keyboard etc and turn on the GS


http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/im ... CFFA11.jpg


It works!!!


Thank you to Richard Dreher for the CFFA.


I am not responsible for any damage to your GS or CFFA, expressed or
implied, simply because this is a DIY tutorial. USE THIS TUTORIAL AT
YOUR OWN RISK!


Be careful: the CF is not hot swappable
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Nice

Postby gsmcporet » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:06 am

Oracle,

They are some really good photo's, but I did not notice anything like a description of the process and a parts list. Did you happen to place something like that online?

Thanks, and Happy Holidays to all!

Steven (gsmcporet) :)
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Re: Nice

Postby oraclemaster » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:15 am

Hi Steven,
you need only a "one channel IDE cable" (may be a two channel -master and slave - works but I don't try) and the card that you can buy here

(PCI slot mount -very expensive)

http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_ ... didecf.asp

on ebay (3,99$)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bootable-IDE-to-CF- ... otohosting

or here (0,99 buy it now + 5,99$ shipping)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bootable-IDE-to-CF- ... dZViewItem

They are not equal so may be you must use a file to adapt it.

I use the photo's instead of describing the process because my english is not good as my Pascal ^_*

Happy Holidays to all from Italy.

Mauro
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I Found Them!

Postby gsmcporet » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:39 am

Mauro,

Hooray! I found two of the adapters for 99 cents apiece! lol

I was thinking about your mounting on the IIgs and I came up with a couple of alternative locations to mount one on a II + or IIe. Right now I have one of Riches CFFA cards in a Platinum IIe. You could mount an adapter on the back of one just like the IIgs.

I'll have to look when I get home, but you might be able to mount an adapter on a platinum IIe horizontally above the numeric keypad. A little drilling and filing, a couple of small bolts to hold it in place, and you're in business. :)

Happy Holiday's to all!!!

Steven (gsmcporet)
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Re: How to use CFFA on a GS with an external adapter

Postby DrTom » Sat Oct 04, 2008 2:49 pm

Hello Mauro,

Thank you for posting your project here and for the good photos.

I just bought the same adapter that you show at

http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA1.jpg

on eBay for about $2.00 US + $7.00 shipping from the same source in
Hong Kong that you listed. My adapter looks the same except your has
about 1.5" of the metal sawed off the on the right side of your picture.

I also got the ribbon just like the one you show. I attached the ribbon
to the CFFA as you show in your picture at

http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA8.jpg

with the red trim on the ribbon at the top of the CFFA card.

Next I attached the ribbon to the adapter as shown in your photo at

http://digilander.libero.it/apple2gs/immagini/CFFA3.jpg

with the red trim of the ribbon on the left in your photo.

Turned on my IIgs and nothing happened. Reversed the ribbon in the adapter
so the red trim on the ribbon is on the right and IIgs comes up, but says
it cannot boot. Turn IIgs off, remove CF card from adapter and IIgs will
boot.

I think I have the CFFA card, the ribbon, and adapter, connected correctly,
but it won't work.

I have tried the CF card Rich sent me with the CFFA, and some SanDisk
Ultra II 256MB cards, but it won't work with either.

I see the adapter has a jumper labeled Master (on) and Slave (off). I have
tried both, and it does not work for me.

I really need to back up my IIgs regularly. It is inconvenient to open it up
and remove the CF Card. I'd really like to have a second CF card in an
easy to access external adapter.

I've tried hard, but I can't get your project to work for me. I wonder if there
are any suggestions?

Incidentally, I now have two of Rich's CFFA cards in two separate IIgs
computers. Both getting heavy use for about a month, and both cards have
worked flawless, which I greatly appreciate. The CFFA is really good.

DrTom
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Re: How to use CFFA on a GS with an external adapter

Postby oraclemaster » Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:05 am

Hello DrTom,

>I see the adapter has a jumper labeled Master (on) and Slave (off). I have
>tried both, and it does not work for me.

Master is the right choice

>I've tried hard, but I can't get your project to work for me. I wonder if there
>are any suggestions?

A friend of mine made the same hack with an Apple IIe

http://fotoalbum.alice.it/giorgio.morocutti/apple-iie/

and I use my adapter with 128Mb and 1Gb C.F. (Sundisk and other) and Dave Lyons driver.

May be it's the release of CCFA (I think my one is a Run 4) or the adapter (I can see in the picture

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... largeimage

three jumper and in my adapter I have only the master/slave jumper)?

I use my CFFA into Rom1 and Rom3 GS with and without external adapter and with any size and kind of CFFA and I have never had problem!!!

Mauro
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Re: How to use CFFA on a GS with an external adapter

Postby DrTom » Tue Oct 14, 2008 2:30 am

Hello Mauro,

Thank you for your comments.

I tried and tried but could not get the external adapter to work the way I thought I wanted it to work.
That is, with one CF card in the CFFA and a second CF card in the external adapter. My plan was to
back up the data in the first card to the second card.

But then I realized that I don't really need two CF cards. So I removed the card from the CFFA and
moved it to the external adapter, and it works. Now I have the external adapter hanging outside
the back of my IIgs, so I can turn off my IIgs, remove the CF Card from the external adapter easily,
take the CF card over to my PC to back it up, then return it to the external adapter in my IIgs. It is
all very efficient.

I am now completely happy. The fact that I cannot get my CFFA cards to work with a CF card AND
a CF card in the external adapter is OK with me. I don't want anyone to think this is a criticism by
me of the CFFA. I love it, and with my current set up, it does everything I want it to do.

I think everyone knows that the CFFA card can be partitioned into several volumes and thus provide
me with way more space than I need. I use about 5 MB total and this number has been stable for
several years. I partitioned my CFFA into 4 volumes. Each volume has 32 mb for a total of 128 mb.
So I've got about 25 times more space than I need.

So I'm set as long as my monitors, motherboards, etc. keep working. But keeping scsi hard drives
working was not easy and I was very concerned. So Rich has really alleviated my concerns, and I
have a lot of confidence in my current system. I strongly recommend the CFFA.

DrTom
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Re: How to use CFFA on a GS with an external adapter

Postby rich » Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:21 am

DrTom,

From your posting you now know that your CF-IDE converter works! Now, if you want 2 CF cards
to work, you just need to find two cards that work together. I have had pretty good luck when
I use two SanDisk cards or two Lexar cards. But if I mix them, it doesn't work.

If you test any more "2 card" setups, always make sure you wait at least 31seconds while booting.
That is the longest timeout in the firmware. But once everything is working properly you shouldn't have
to wait. Also note that under some setups, the CFFA may hang forever at boot time. This
can happen if you setup the menu to expect 2 cards and then only install 1 card. Although it should really NEVER
hang there were a couple configurations that I did see that behavior with... mainly when the menu settings
didn't agree with the physical configuration.

-Rich
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