Addonics CF to IDE Adapter

Capsaicin · Post by **Capsaicin** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:31 pm

Product page: www[dot]addonics[dot]com/products/flash_memory_reader/ad44midecf.asp (Replace the [dot]s with dots...)

I'm waiting for some benchies, but maybe this could tide some of us over until the SSD flood.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:54 pm

Welcome to SPCR!

Very interesting kit...

http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_ ... midecf.asp

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:21 pm

Haven't these been available on eBay from HK for years?
Looked at them for a linux project but not financially viable when compared with normal HDD's

Capsaicin · Post by **Capsaicin** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:08 am

Thanks for the welcome.

And yes, there have been a number of these adapters floating around for a while. From my reading, your chances using one to boot from a CF card (for Windows anyway) were kinda low... and required using an unsupported tool from SanDisk to put the CF card in "fixed disk" mode. Also, this is the first one (that I've seen) that supports using two cards (but /may/ be a sacrifice of performance for capacity).

At $25/$30 (single/dual), this could be a fun toy to try with some old CF cards lying around, if nothing else.

Towermax · Post by **Towermax** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:49 am

Capsaicin wrote:required using an unsupported tool from SanDisk to put the CF card in "fixed disk" mode. Also, this is the first one (that I've seen) that supports using two cards (but /may/ be a sacrifice of performance for capacity).

What is this tool and where does one get it? (I took a quick look at the Sandisk site and didn't see any driver that looked like your description.)

Capsaicin · Post by **Capsaicin** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:55 pm

Towermax wrote:What is this tool and where does one get it? (I took a quick look at the Sandisk site and didn't see any driver that looked like your description.)

Try googling for "atcfwchg". (DISCLAIMER: I have no experience using it. Do not blame me if you kill your computer and/or CF.)

Edit: Found this while looking around, too: http://www.prime-expert.com/flashboot/

Squirrel · Post by **Squirrel** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:21 pm

I got one of those off ebay. 1$ + 2$ shipping. For two cards.

I haven't used it yet (going to use it for my new build--whenever that is) but I don't think you need any special drivers or anything. It's just pin adapters (and some cool LED:s on mine). The one thing would be wear levelling.

Since it's only an adapter, you can't really bench it. Like benching a SATA cable.

Towermax · Post by **Towermax** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:08 pm

Capsaicin wrote: Try googling for "atcfwchg". (DISCLAIMER: I have no experience using it. Do not blame me if you kill your computer and/or CF.)

I googled and found references to atcfwchg, but it appears that no downloads are available. If anyone has it, please send me a copy.

Capsaicin · Post by **Capsaicin** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 7:07 am

Squirrel wrote:I got one of those off ebay. 1$ + 2$ shipping. For two cards.

I haven't used it yet (going to use it for my new build--whenever that is) but I don't think you need any special drivers or anything. It's just pin adapters (and some cool LED:s on mine). The one thing would be wear levelling.

Since it's only an adapter, you can't really bench it. Like benching a SATA cable.

I was hoping this one would get around this issue (from viewtopic.php?p=329946#329946):

jojo4u wrote:CF vs USB stick
Since the fast CF mediums can't be set to "fixed disk" and USB sticks are a lot cheaper and portable. So the decision was easy

Addonics also has CF to SATA adapters, but I don't know that they help any either...

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 12:37 pm

Transcend have complete flash memory & IDE connectors in one already but I don't know the price...

Squirrel · Post by **Squirrel** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:12 am

Capsaicin wrote:I was hoping this one would get around this issue (from viewtopic.php?p=329946#329946)

Why do you need to set it to fixed disk?

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:36 am

I think it's something to do with Windows refusing to install/boot on a disc which reports itself as removable.

kocoman · Post by **kocoman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:46 pm

Does anyone know where to buy these locally in Toronto?

mellon · Post by **mellon** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:48 pm

Well, actually you can boot from a removable disk but you probably won't be able to put the virtual memory on one. This is my experience with win2K, might work differently with XP.