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Micro drive Questions
Questions on using a Micro drive with the IA-1

New MessageMicro drive Questions (modified 0 times) SunMicroGuy
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My IA-1 is in the kitchen where my wife uses it to pay bills, chat, surf etc. I think a Linux install might be to much for her. I am contemplating getting a microdrive but have a few questions first...

Anyone know of a FAQ that addresses these questions? If not, and I get the answers, I can host one.

Does the drive plug right in or is any modification required?

What is Win98lite? just a pared down install?

How can I create a Win98 image?

Thanks for any help, I wasn't able to find these answers in the forum...
SunMicroGuy

05-03-2002 10:32:52

New MessageRE:Micro drive Questions (modified 0 times) radarman
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The drive is a standard CF device, so it will just "plug in" with no modifications. However, the slot is 3.3V, and the 340Mb units have problems with the lower supply. I have found that my drive works much more reliably since I modified the connector for a 5V vcc.

Win98lite is a shareware program that modifies the Windows install scripts to allow you completely customize your setup. This is the program that allows you to remove Internet Explorer.

As for the Win98 install, I used an IDE -> CF adapter and just did the install in the usual way. However, I found that the Win98 setup performed poorly due to swapping. The microdrive exhibits poor latencies, and music players would pause momentarily every few seconds. This might be improved by switching to a 5V Vcc, but I abandoned Windows before I performed the mod on my unit. I'll reload my image and try it again with the new setup and see if it performs any better.

05-06-2002 11:33:51

New MessageRE:Micro drive Questions (modified 0 times) theedge
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How did you modify you system for 5v?

I am noticing reliability issues too...

06-13-2002 19:23:52

New MessageRE:Micro drive Questions (modified 0 times) radarman
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It seems all the readily available pictures of the IA-1 mainboard have gone missing. There used to be a link at www.linux-hacker.net/ipaq. As I don't have an open IA-1 to refer to, hopefully this will help.

Anyway, on the CF connector, dead-center, are the VCC lines. There are two, at pins 13 and 38 (thankfully, they are right next to each other on the connector). You will need an exacto knife and a soldering iron to lift the leads (do *NOT* cut the PCB trace). Once you have the leads lifted, tie them together with wirewrap wire and solder the connection. I put a little hot glue around the connection, but the leads are fairly stiff on their own.

Next, look for the unpopulated serial header. It's just above the CF slot. Pin 10 is a 5V Vcc line, ostensibly for use with a level translator. Unless you are planning to populate this header, this is a good place to tie in. On my board, these were noted on the silkscreen, but it's the right-most upper pad looking from the rear. Solder the other end of that wirewrap wire to that pad, and you should have a 5V Vcc for your CF socket.

06-14-2002 06:45:06

New MessageRE:Micro drive Questions (modified 0 times) Kurlon
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Do the newer generation CF cards require this mod or do they play nice with 3.3v?
10-17-2005 10:33:19

New MessageRE:Micro drive Questions (modified 0 times) keith721
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I don't know about the 3.3V versus 5.0V DC concern, but I CAN tell you there are still pictures available, thanks to Klunk (now Jimmy on this board,) rnunes, and thinker/falcons2000:
http://thinker.falcons2000.com/ia1/klunk-20020116/
10-19-2005 07:01:18

New MessageRE:Micro drive Questions (modified 0 times) keith721
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http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/184CEC3CD133A1C886256DCC0057244F/$file/embed_a_microdrive2003WP.pdf

This 2003 PDF file from Hitachi provides a simple schematic on page 5, and it's using a 5 volt Vcc at pins 13 and 38.

12-06-2005 13:26:35

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