~Toughbooktalk~

I have been trying to get an Aleratec adapter, which uses the Marvell 88SA8052 chip, to work in a CF-29LCQGPBM. I have a SanDisk 64GB mSATA SSD (thanks Cleve) in the adapter and the whole system is installed in a factory caddy. The ssd is recognized in the BIOS, main screen as well as the Boot screen.

I tried to install Mint 17 onto the ssd but the install froze the 29, needing a hard reset to thaw, at the screen were you input username, computer name, password, etc. I next installed the ssd and adapter into a usb housing, booted the install disc and installed the OS onto the 64GB ssd while in the USB housing. The 29 will boot off the mSATA SSD while in the USB housing but will NOT boot when in the caddy inside the 29. I even tried jumpering the adapter for cable select and slave with the same results. Also, tried wrapping the fpc in tinfoil, not change.

As a side note, I am on the CF-29LCQGPBM with a 1/8" ssd in a micro-SSD to IDE adapter running Mint 17. The install was no problem. Cleve has the same mSATA to IDE adapter in a CF-18.

Anyone have a clue as to what the problem might be?

Sounds like a bus issue so my first guess would be Master/Slave/CS setting on the mSATA adapter. Needs to be Master for a Pany drive. Maybe it was CS for the USB install? If so might see if it can do the USB install again with Master set.

Or might try moving it to CF-18 host, install Linux then transplant back to the 29.

I ran the other one on a CF-18mk2 in Mint ,quit breakin' stuff.

Let me throw that in the CF-50 I have to see what it does and I will report back later.

Kerry,
Did you get email? Respond PM.

Morgan, Is that your only 29 right now? Inspect connections with a strong light??

Good luck...it was a false alarm.

Springfield, the install was done when the adapter was set as Master and the adapter was set to Master when it was in the factory caddy in the 29 and wouldn't install. I tried the CS and Slave jumper settings as a last resort kind of thing, like wrapping tinfoil around the fpc in the caddy. I don't have a CF-18 anymore so I can't try the adapter in it, this 29 is the only IDE unit I have.

If I can't get it working in a factory caddy, I guess I will pay it forward and run with the micro-sata to ide adapter setup I am using now.

10-4 on the connections Jeff. Not all false alarms are bad, good to hear it was nothing.

Morgan I have a beater CF18N I can send your way..I don't have a use for it..It's missing doors and such, but it does work. Actually I have a parts one also...I would love to send them far away......
Say yes and they are yours...

Shawn wrote:Morgan I have a beater CF18N I can send your way..I don't have a use for it..It's missing doors and such, but it does work. Actually I have a parts one also...I would love to send them far away......
Say yes and they are yours...

Shawn, Thank you for the offer, I appreciate it, but I will decline. I see no reason to believe that the outcome, using a CF-18 to load the OS, will be any different than using a USB housing to load the OS. There is something about the CF-29 IDE bus that does not like this adapter, seems to work in other IDE unitsbut not a 29. Thanks again.

Morgan, did you try the original setup you mentioned above using a different distribution of linux, that might be thriftier on resources? I would try something like MX-14, #!, or MicroWattOS r8, or maybe even Mint 13 XFCE. Worth a try just in case.

Thanks for the input Cleve. I will give it a try.

My somewhat random ideas.

How is it formatted.. fat16, fat32,NTFS? Try fat16...How is it partitioned? What are the partition limits of a CF29?
USB is considerably slower..Maybe the data rate is too fast and the HDD bus in the caddy gets confused. I have seen somewhat similar types of issues in the past. Usually it's the other way around the PC is too fast for the software.
Interesting to consider is that the mk4 and mk5 CF29's were the ones that had problems with the Samsung 160gb drives. BIOS"s are finicky on those mks
Maybe try an early edition BIOS flash, if you can find one.
What's that PAE stuff Jeff always talks about?
If it was a master/slave issue, it would not boot at all.