Version of ATADisk.DLL to support CF microdrives in True-IDE mode
Dan P.
microdrives in TRUE-IDE mode? Is it possible to maybe use an ATAPI.DLL
driver instead?
Dan
Steve Maillet (eMVP)
--
Steve Maillet
EmbeddedFusion
www.EmbeddedFusion.com
smaillet at EmbeddedFusion dot com
Dan P.
"Steve Maillet (eMVP)" <nos...@EntelechyConsulting.com> wrote in message
news:emVW6H9C...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
Do you know how to set it up (i.e. registry settings) on a Windows Mobile
2003 PPC (Windows CE 4.2)?
Dan
Steve Maillet (eMVP)
1) you can't just take drivers from PB unless you are a licensed owner of
PB.
2) Any PPC device with a CF slot in true IDE mode MUST already have a driver
installed in ROM for it to be useful.
PPC devices don't wire up a CF slot in TRUE IDE mode they leave it as a
variation of PCMCIA so that the slot can be used for more devices than just
storage like wireless networking, modems, etc...
Dan P.
"Steve Maillet (eMVP)" <nos...@EntelechyConsulting.com> wrote in message
> No, you can't do that.
> 1) you can't just take drivers from PB unless you are a licensed owner of
> PB.
> 2) Any PPC device with a CF slot in true IDE mode MUST already have a
> driver installed in ROM for it to be useful.
>
> PPC devices don't wire up a CF slot in TRUE IDE mode they leave it as a
> variation of PCMCIA so that the slot can be used for more devices than
> just storage like wireless networking, modems, etc...
>
> --
Excuse my ignorance, but what is "PB"?
So are you saying that you can't install new drivers (like the ATAPI.dll) on
a PPC if it's not already in ROM? That doesn't make much sense. I hope the
operating system isn't so limited that you can't upgrade or add new drivers
to support new hardware that comes out.
My CF microdrive (the Seagate ST1) actually shows up as a device on the
system (using a Device Manager PPC program). Originally it showed up as
using the \Devices\PCMCIA\ATADisk registry key. But then I added its
plug-and-play ID as a new key under PCMCIA and now it's showing up under
that key, but it just won't show up in File Explorer. So I'm guessing that
it just needs to have a driver which can read a CF card that's locked in
True IDE mode.
On Microsoft's embedded developer's site, they actually list a CF Card True
IDE mode driver made by a company called bSquare. I've emailed them and am
waiting for info on this driver (which was listed under the ATADisk.dll
section).
I actually found a version of the ATAPI.dll driver that was optimized for
Windows CE 4.2. So is there not any way to load this onto the PPC (like
putting it into the \Windows directory) and then adding a registry key with
the correct settings to make it work?
Dan
Steve Maillet (eMVP)
CF storage cards are supposed to support 2 modes. One is a subset of PCMCIA
the other is True IDE mode. However, True IDE mode is so rarely ever used
most card vendors don't actually test it adequately and a huge number of
cards fail to operate correctly in that mode. There are NO Pocket PC devices
that use a user accessible CF slot in TRUE IDE mode that I know of.
If the card does not appear as an accessible folder when you insert the card
then you should notify the vendor of the Pocket PC you are using as they
have a bug in the driver they are using for CF cards.
Perhaps if you provided more details on the Pocket PC and CF card in
question others might be able to tell you how to get it to work.
Pocket PC devices can have new device drivers installed in them. If you have
Platform Builder (PB) then you can use the driver code in that as a
reference for building a new driver for the card, otherwise you have to
start from scratch.
Dan P.
"Steve Maillet (eMVP)" <nos...@EntelechyConsulting.com> wrote in message
I'm definitely new to all of this. But what I've read everywhere, the CF
card itself can be locked into True-IDE mode. According to the CF spec that
I downloaded from www.compactflash.org, CF cards have 3 modes, memory mode,
IO mode, and True IDE mode. According to the spec, the only way to force it
into True-IDE mode is to ground pin-9 while the host (device) is being
powered on. The manufacturer (Seagate) may have hardwired the pin to
ground, or via firmware so that it could only be used in IDE applications,
like MP3 players (that's where I got my card...from a Rio Carbon).
So that's the problem. Mine is locked into True-IDE mode and can only be
read by devices that support this mode. I have a USB card reader attached
to my PC that can read it fine, because they do support that mode. But my
PDA (and its ATADisk.dll driver) doesn't apparently.
I have a Dell Axim X50v running Windows Mobile 2003 SE and the card is a
Seagate ST1 5GB microdrive. So I'm wondering if there's any possibility of
using an ATAPI.dll driver that I've already obtained to read a microdrive
plugged into a CF slot that is setup in IO mode. Or if there is an
alternate version of the ATADisk.dll driver that can support True-IDE mode.
Also, how do you install new device drivers on a system. Let's assume I
have one that will work...what are the install procedures? I assumed it was
to copy the file into the \Windows directory and then setup the registry key
(under PCMCIA?) with the correct values. But what are these values? And
are there any other procedures required to setting up the driver?
Thanks alot for trying to help me. Like I said, I'm new to this and am
learning as I go.
Dan
Steve Maillet (eMVP)
definitely NOT new at this) re-read the CF spec, the grounding is ALWAYS in
the SOCKET - NOT the card. No manufacturer in their right mind would ever
ship a CF card permanently locked in True IDE mode. It's economic suicide.
If for some insane reason they actually did that then you cannot use that
card in a pocket PC, as pocket PC devices expect it to be in the PCMCIA mode
of operation ( BTW: Memory and I/O modes are sub sets of the PCMCIA
functionality and not really distinct modes of their own for the purposes of
this conversation)
This is not a software driver issue as much it is a hardware one.
(Theoretically, if you knew enough about the internals of the hardware for
the Pocket PC you have you "MIGHT" be able to make it work by unloading the
PCMCIA bus driver and re configuring the hardware in such a way as to accept
a TRUE IDE card but it could only be made to detect the card at boot/reset
as TRUE IDE mode is expected to be hard wired to the system and not plug and
play.
You have the procedure for installing a driver about right. The exact steps
and settings of course depend on the driver.