It has a single 2GB CF card installed, and the jumper is on position B (master/slave). I am booting the Falcon with HDDriver 9.06 and it detects the 2GB CF card on IDE 0.0, and nothing on IDE 0.1 which is correct. I have partitioned the card in TOS format with the first partition of 200MB (C:), and the remaining two partitions of 900MB each. The drives appear fine on the desktop and I can read and write files to each partition. I have installed the HDDriver to the C partition. I have tried partition with and without byte swapping.
The Falcon will not boot from the CF card, when switching on the machine I get a brief flash of activity on the CF card after the memory test is complete then it just starts up with the default desktop, no sign of any of the partitions created. I have tried partitioning a couple of times now, just wondering if there is anything that I might be missing?
If I understand you correctly, when starting HDDRIVER from a floppy disk everything is fine, but booting does not work? Did you install HDDRIVER exactly as described in the manual?
Note that it is TOS that handles the bootstrap process, by first reading the root sector on the memory card, and then executing it. If TOS has a problem accessing your memory card hardware it will not be able to bootstrap HDDRIVER. In this case there is not really anything you can do about it, except using a different card reader and/or memory card.
I even installed the HDDriver to all partitions to see if that made a difference. I'm using a Kingston 2GB CF card, thought that might be a good brand for compatibility. As to the IDE to CF device, http://www.atari-wiki.com/index.php/Ata ... lity_Table mentioned compatibility for this hardware but doesn't break things down as to whether stuff will boot. As this example uses Sandisk media though I'll get hold of one of those and start the process of elimination.
Just to clarify, the installation of the HDDriver is via the menu, "Install HDDRIVER", or by double clicking on the partition where it will ask if you want to install it. I presume there is nothing else to take into account here?
In general I would not rely on any compatibility list. In cases where they say something should work they may be fine. In cases where something is said not to work, this is often wrong. Anyway, looks as if you installed everything correctly.
Please send me an email with your HDDRIVER.SYS file. I will check the configuration with my Falcon, which has been booting from CF cards for ages. I've never had any adapter/card combination that did not work, by the way. It's not that I tried hundresds, but some. I guess the hardware of these adapters is constantly being changed and slightly modified models are offered, and if you order one from Amazon, for instance, you might get a different one each time.
By the way, HDDRIVER 9.08 was released today. The new release will resolve your problem, but using the latest version is nevertheless recommended.
I just replaced the HDDRIVER.SYS file on my Falcon's C: drive by the HDDRIVER.SYS file you sent me. After doing that I had no problems booting from my (Transcend 8 GB) CF card. This means that the problem you have is not a configuration issue. TOS not being able to properly access your hardware during the bootstrap process, as already mentioned, is the most likely explanation.
Eventually I erased the CF card through HDDRIVER and started the partitioning process from scratch. Now it boots ok :) Must have done something wrong the first few times, perhaps something had been left behind on the CF card. Also made sure that the byte swapping was not checked.
