SE/30 bus errors writing CF in a PCD-50B

[bbraun]

FWIW, I run all my old machines on CF->cheap IDE adapter->R-IDSC-E SCSI setup. Normally, this is a great setup.

However, on my development IIx where I frequently hang, crash, or otherwise just have to power cycle the machine, I started getting problems saving my source files, which I commonly had open, probably during most of these reboots. Booting from a disk tools floppy and repairing the volume resolves the issue for me until a few more power cycles go by. But keep in mind repairs like that are on filesystem metadata, not on the data stored in the filesystem. In my case, some chunks of data were lost from my source files, but if the data were lost or corrupted from an app you're running or something, you may have worse results. I don't believe this is specific to flash media, although it may be exacerbated by certain characteristics of CF cards or the SCSI->IDE command translation. The moral of the story for me is not to do development on the test machine.

 

[JDW]

What driver are you using? (How did you format your CF cards?)

OWC recommended Intech HD SpeedTools to me for use with their LEGACY SSDs under OS 9 and earlier. One of our forum members tried that on his CF card solution and found that it improved the READ performance to be on part with normal spinning platter drives. Read more about that here:

viewtopic.php?p=162316#p162316

 

[theodric]

[...]where I frequently hang, crash, or otherwise just have to power cycle the machine[...]

I think this is the key, really. I generally see the errors start to creep in after I have to powercycle the system following a crash. Probably owing to how hard I flog the system, this is often more than once a day.

What driver are you using? (How did you format your CF cards?)

I've been using HDT 2.0.6, mainly out of habit after I ran into so many problems with Lido and A/UX HD SC Setup 3.0.1 being unwilling to write to cards in my PCD-50B card reader. I see in this post http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=162316#p162170 from the thread you linked that I'm not the only one who's had stability issues during CF use, so I am heartened that my issues may stem only primarily, rather than completely, from my own incompetence. Unfortunately I don't have a copy of Intech HD SpeedTools, nor is it in my budget for the time being to purchase it, so I think I'm stuck for now.

 

[IamSpartacus]

theodric, you may or may not find an older copy of speed tools here: http://themacarchive.net/

 

[JDW]

Thanks for posting that info, Spartacus. I actually PM'd theodric a few hours ago to PM you, but apparently he hasn't yet read my PM.

Anyway, for those of you following this thread in hopes of putting an SSD in your vintage Macs, I'd like to mention that OWC kindly listened to my plea for lower pricing on their Legacy SSDs, and they also have some other great specials too. I mention that in detail here:

viewtopic.php?p=162937#p162937