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Which 'Fixed' CF Card for IDE CF Adapter

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First post, by p6889k

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Bought me an IDE to CF adapter, but since my existing SanDisk 256MB and 32GB cards are setup from manufacturer as "removable" media, Windows won't let me install on them. I tried to convert them to fixed mode with SanDisks ATCFWCHG, but it didn't work, the utility refused to change these specific cards.

So, can anyone recommend any readily available for purchase CF cards that would work and are reasonably priced (less than $30 ?). I looked at some of the Transcend 32GB and 64GB industrial CF cards and they're fairly expensive. Can you recommend cheaper alternatives. If it's not possible to buy cheaper, then what else would you recommend that works and is reasonably fast - heard that some CF cards can be fairly slow.

This is the adapter I have: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TMDE6G/ref=twis … ding=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k, 48k+, 128k, +2
Amiga 1200, 68030/40mhz
386DX/33, ET4000, SBPro2, MT32
Dual PPro/200, Millennium II, Voodoo 2, AWE32, SC-55
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Reply 2 of 5, by GigAHerZ

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There are tools in the internet that can flip the "removable bit" on memory cards. 😉

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - And i intend to get every last bit out of it even after loading every damn driver!

Reply 3 of 5, by Jo22

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^That's right. Though from what I found by testing various OSes on CF cards, only Windows NT really cares about it.
Other OSes simply either don't know or care about the the state of this single bit.
DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 9x and OS/2 run off on any media, fixed or not.

With exception of OS/2 maybe, OSes boot from media without any partitions, even. 😀
"Super Floppy" style media so to say. Including ZIP diskettes, LS120 diskettes, USB pen drives, Disc-on-Chip modules (DOCs) and so on.
Bottom line: The CF cards don't make any use of that bit for themselves, they simply remember it. That's all.

Edit: There's special stuff for installing Windows XP embedded on CF cards.
It contains a write filter and a special INF driver. It was used by car PC enthusiasts 15 years ago or so.
If there's any interest, please let me kniw. I'll check by backups then and see if I can find out some details.

Last edited by Jo22 on 2019-11-30, 18:39. Edited 3 times in total.

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Reply 4 of 5, by p6889k

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GigAHerZ wrote:

There are tools in the internet that can flip the "removable bit" on memory cards. 😉

I tried Lexar's BootIt - didn't work, card stayed 'removable'
I tried SanDisk ATCFWCHG - didn't work, gave me errors.

Any other tools to try?

Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k, 48k+, 128k, +2
Amiga 1200, 68030/40mhz
386DX/33, ET4000, SBPro2, MT32
Dual PPro/200, Millennium II, Voodoo 2, AWE32, SC-55
etc.

Reply 5 of 5, by GigAHerZ

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https://www.partitionwizard.com/disk-recovery … r-disk-006.html

diskpart of windows itself should be able to do it.

NB! I have ordered my CF cards from aliexpress. The cheapest ones, 4-8GB and they work great on old computers.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - And i intend to get every last bit out of it even after loading every damn driver!

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