Bootable CF

[Nicolas]

Hi,

I've read some posts about making CF cards bootable and I have the
following question (kind of a newbie question).

Some time ago, I purchased a 4.0GB CF card (part number
SDCFB-4096-201-00). I use the following way to make the card bootable:

(1) insert the CF card in the development board
(2) attach a CD-drive to the development board
(3) insert the Windows XP CD in the drive and boot from the CD
(4) format the CF card as NTFS
(5) copy the XPe image to the CF card by using a CF PC Card Adapter

This works for the CF Card. But now I purchased another 4.0GB CF card
(part number SDCFB4096A10) and I can't manage to boot from the CF
card.

Does anyone know how I can make the new CF card bootable?

Best regards,

Nicolas

 

[Gustaf]

Hi!

You should contact Sandisk directly and get them to send you the
atcfwchg.com utility to make your CF marked as FIXED instead of
REMOVEABLE.
I got my tool for dhoang(REMOVETHIS)@sandisk.com. You got to sign a NDA
before you can obtain the utility.

You might also be able to boot from the CF if you install a 3rd party
bootmanager (This is what I did as a temporary sollution before I got
the utility).

//Gustaf Sandmark

Nicolas skrev:

 

[Nicolas]

Hi Gustaf,

I indeed contacted Sandisk and received a NDA. But what kind of CF
cards do you use then? Industrial, Standard, OEM Standard card?

Best regards,

Nicolas

 

[Gustaf]

Hi Nicolas,

I use the atcfwchg.com utility to make Sandisk Standard grade CFs
marked as FIXED.
My Industrial CFs is set as FIXED default.

You could check http://www.psism.com/sdcfbi.htm in order to identify
your Sandisk CF by part number.

//Gustaf Sandmark

 

[Paolo Dematteis - Delta Visione S.r.l.]

Hi,

I'm using this tip to make removable devices bootable without using a
specific tool:

- put the CF in a IDE slot (it doesn't work with external card readers like
USB devices) on a NT 4.0 workstation (NT embedded works fine too)
- boot the system
- remove all the partitions on the CF e create a new primary one
- make the partition active and format it with a NTFS file system
- copy the XP OS files and the CF is ready to boot!

You can use a compressed NTFS as well, but the root has to be uncompressed
or the CF won't boot.



Paolo Dematteis

 

[Nicolas]

Hi Gustaf,

I contacted Sandisk and after signing the SLA I received the
atcfwchg.com utility. Is it possible for you to explain to me the
method you use to make the CF card fixed?

Nicolas