HiYa Stewie - Thanks for the info on your CF to IDE experiences. I'm quite heartened about your successes. Richard
On Aug 23, 7:55 pm, stewie <[email protected]> wrote: > I think this has as much to do with the CF to IDE adapter as the card > itself. > As long as the adapter states that it works in a Mac and more > importantly that it is bootable ( not all are ), then you should be > good to go. > It should also be CF1 and CFll compatible. > See here...http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/ad44midecf.asp > and note some of its features... > Key Features > > * Enable Compact Flash (CF) to be used like ordinary 2.5" IDE hard > drive > * Compatible with CFI/II, MicroDrive™ * > * Choice of single slot or dual slots CF adapter > * Drive access LED > * IDE interface > * Mini 44-pin IDE male connector (2.5" IDE hard drive connector) > * Bootable > * Compatible** with DOS, Windows 3.1, NT4, 98SE, Me, 2000, XP, > Vista, Mac or Linux > * Supports DMA and Ultra DMA modes (only on flash media card with > such features) > > Now I bought a cheapo PCMCIA CF adapter off ebay a while back and also > a PNY 8Gb card which I installed into my Wallstreet just to see if it > would work as an emergency boot drive. I formatted it , partitioned > into two and installed OS8 into one and OS9 into the other. > Then I tried this in a 1400c, a 3400c, a Wallstreet and two Pismos - > all via the PC slot. > All booted - the 1400c and 3400c via OS8 with the others in OS9. > Next I bought a no-names Chinese CF to IDE adapter ( off ebay again ) > and removed the hard drives in the above models and installed the CF- > IDE gizmo in place of the hard drives. > All booted from the same OS's as above. > I might just have been lucky but in the ads the seller did state that > the CF cards and the adapters were all bootable although the PC card > didn't say either way whether it would work in a Mac or not , just > that it was bootable under Windows. > I wouldn't say that it was much of an improvement on say a good clean > install of a Mac OS on a newish 5400 drive but start up times were a > lot faster ( at least 50% ) and apps loaded probably 30% faster > overall. > > Stewie > > On Aug 22, 12:15 pm, aussieshepsrock <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Thanks Terry, > > the info is NOT exactly encouraging - is it! I am able to go the > > pcmcia card adapter route and booted successfully 'once' that way in > > the past but it just didn't feel very 'elegant' at all. > > > My question now is: > > > Why was it refusing to boot up off the ide/cf card adapter? > > > there had to be a specific technical reason for it. I wonder what it > > is or was? > > > Richard > > > On Aug 20, 10:14 pm, Powerbook G3 Store <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > Tried doing that using a generic CF to IDE adapter I bought on eBay from > > > Hong Kong. I first saw these in Japan so I bought one to experiment > > > with... > > > > Here are the results: > > > > The adapter came with all the pins in it so I needed to figure out which > > > side was up and down and bend the right pin away to fit in the female > > > connector slot. Then tried it using several older CF cards 60x, 133x from > > > Ridata, Kingston and Adata. They were various 2-8GB flash drives and NONE > > > of these worked as a boot drive. The OS did not recognize the adapter and > > > card or allow it to be formatted, nothing, I tried again using two other > > > adapter cards, no dice. I did further research and found only certain > > > drive brands will work, but this is unconfirmed. In a posting I saw it > > > said > > > most Sandisk CF cards work so I need to get one and try it. > > > > A SUCCESSFUL workaround is buying a cardbus PCMCIA CF adapter and loading > > > OS > > > 9 onto a CF card and using it as a boot drive. These adapters are cheap > > > less than $10. This worked for me in several older machines including a > > > Wallstreet, PB 1400c, 2400c and PB 3400c. In fact the 1400 requires 32MB > > > RAM to load OS 9 but will boot from the CF preloaded with OS 9 using > > > virtual > > > ram. Performance...there was some noticeable latency compared to a > > > regular > > > hard drive but it does not render the OS un-usable its just slower > > > > If you are willing to give up a cardbus slot this is a viable > > > alternative. > > > I bought a CF to SD card adapter to try and it doesn't work either. There > > > are newer 16bit cardbus adapters that will take an SDHC card for about $20 > > > on eBay, might buy one and try that too. > > > . > > > > TERRY > > > Irvine CA 92612 > > > > On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 7:31 AM, aussieshepsrock > > > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > Hello, > > > > I'm wondering if anyone has swapped their internal hard drive for a > > > > compact flash card using one of those 2.5" ide to cf card adapters > > > > they sell on ebay? I have a wallstreet g3 with 128mb, 60gig, os9.2 and > > > > osx10.4 via xpostfacto. I'm mulling the idea of yanking my hard drive > > > > out and going with compact flash card(s) for internal storage. It > > > > ought to ameliorate the heat a bit, cut noise, extend battery life, > > > > and speed things up quite a bit. > > > > My thoughts are that it would be almost impossible for the compact > > > > flash card to not drastically beat the pokey 5400 rpm hard drive on > > > > data throughput. I would hazard to guess that my data transfer speeds' > > > > limiting factor would be whatever the capabilities of the ide system > > > > in the wallstreet is and/or the capability of the bridgecard to > > > > sustain throughput speeds. > > > > The downside seems minimal, but if someone has tried this and has > > > > tips on pitfalls or travails they have encountered or the raving > > > > successes they've had as well - please pass em along! > > > > > I'll try to document whatever I try to the group. > > > > > Richard --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Low End Mac's G-Books list, a group for those using G3 iBooks and PowerBooks (we run a separate list for G4 'Books). 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