RE: IDE device timeout when writing

[Carlos Milán Figueredo <cmilanf%hispamsx.org@localhost>]

I have solved the problem by switching from the CF card to mSATA disk, so the issue is definitely related to the kind of CF card. I tried with two different CF card, but I was getting the timeout error with both of them. No issues on AmigaOS so far.

As my Amiga 1200 cannot use the hard drive caddy due to the Indivision AGA mk3, I bought 3 things: a mSATA 120 GB SSD drive, a mSATA to IDE 44 pin 5v converter minibox (50x70 mm) and a mSATA to USB box (to transfer the contents of my current CF card to the mSATA drive).

I plug the setup in my Amiga 1200 built-in IDE port and set ready to made a heavier test that the one failing before:

	1. I downloaded with cURL the NetBSD-9.2-amiga.iso file. That is about 262 MB, way more than the 3 MB that usually takes a compressed kernel file.
	2. After downloading the ISO, I gzipped it; it took a while :)

Both test completed successfully without any more IDE timeout, so I can confirm there is some kind of relation with the CF card. With the new setup, atactl returns the following:

# atactl wd0 identify
Model: DOGFISH SSD 120GB, Rev: S1206A0, Serial #: GV210423L000000063
Device type: ATA, fixed
Capacity 120 Gbytes, 234441648 sectors, 512 bytes/sector
Cylinders: 16383, heads: 16, sec/track: 63
Device capabilities:
        DMA
        LBA
        ATA standby timer values
        IORDY operation
        IORDY disabling
Device supports following standards:
ATA-4 ATA-5 ATA-6 ATA-7 ATA-8
Command set support:
        READ BUFFER command (enabled)
        WRITE BUFFER command (enabled)
        Host Protected Area feature set (enabled)
        Look-ahead (enabled)
        Write cache (enabled)
        Power Management feature set (enabled)
        Security Mode feature set (disabled)
        SMART feature set (enabled)
        FLUSH CACHE EXT command (enabled)
        FLUSH CACHE command (enabled)
        48-bit Address feature set (enabled)
        SET MAX security extension (disabled)
        Advanced Power Management feature set (enabled)
        DOWNLOAD MICROCODE command (enabled)
        WRITE DMA/MULTIPLE FUA EXT commands
        General Purpose Logging feature set
        SMART self-test
        SMART error logging
Serial ATA capabilities:
        1.5Gb/s signaling
        3.0Gb/s signaling
TRIM supported

As a side effect, with the SATA drive the HDD led of the Amiga 1200 is always lit at minimum intensity. When the hard drive is accessed then is lit as usual. The problem is already well know and the fix is to put a resistor in one the IDE cables, but I am not willing to do that, I can live with the low power light :)

Even if I was able to solve the problem by switching to a true IDE device, it would be interesting to see if it is reasonable to fix it, since using a CF or SD card as Amiga hard drive is really common nowadays.

From: Karoly Balogh <charlie%scenergy.dfmk.hu@localhost>
Sent: jueves, 14 de octubre de 2021 14:07
> I think (and this is backed by the TrueIDE adapter wiki page at the
> manufacturer): what TrueIDE does is masks the "removable" bit from the
> CF card data, and doesn't do any further command conversion?
> http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/TrueIDE

My memory was really fuzzy about it. So there was not any "advanced" command conversion, just added the fixed signal... Well, is it not possible to get the adapter anymore, so I guess it doesn't matter. The mSATA way seems to be very practical to me.

Regards,
Carlos

Carlos Milán Figueredo | HispaMSX System Operator | http://www.hispamsx.org | telnet://bbs.hispamsx.org | https://calnus.com