CompactFlash boot drive - Revision history

ThinkGNU: Grammar. It is incorrect that a single business came up with SSD write reduction. Linux is only a kernel. Occasionally de-fragmenting a large SSD improves performance as metadata frag. reduces it.

2025-10-27T03:45:09Z

Grammar. It is incorrect that a single business came up with SSD write reduction. Linux is only a kernel. Occasionally de-fragmenting a large SSD improves performance as metadata frag. reduces it.

Numeric: /* CF to PATA (IDE) */ also single slave not compatible

2014-11-15T03:05:00Z

‎CF to PATA (IDE): also single slave not compatible

Numeric: /* CF to PATA adapter */ rm SATA section

2014-11-09T14:31:15Z

‎CF to PATA adapter: rm SATA section

Mgedmin: Update link to daniel-boehmer.de by request of user boehmer on FreeNode; the old URL was already redirecting to the new one.

2012-04-20T12:59:09Z

Update link to daniel-boehmer.de by request of user boehmer on FreeNode; the old URL was already redirecting to the new one.

Numeric: correct spelling

2012-02-09T05:16:43Z

correct spelling

Numeric: moved Compact Flash boot drive to CompactFlash boot drive: correct spelling CompactFlash

2012-02-09T05:14:52Z

moved Compact Flash boot drive to CompactFlash boot drive: correct spelling CompactFlash

Roo: /* useful links */

2011-12-27T18:59:44Z

‎useful links

Tonko: Reverted edits by Mexxx (Talk) to last version by Hablatus

2010-11-24T15:18:37Z

Reverted edits by Mexxx (Talk) to last version by Hablatus

Mexxx: /* useful links */

2010-11-24T13:20:19Z

‎useful links

Hablatus: typo

2010-11-05T19:45:08Z

typo

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Changing your HDD for a CF boot drive (CompactFlash card on CF-PATA/SATA adapter) is an alternative to using SSD to boost the performance.
-This is primarily done by ThinkPad {{X40}}, {{X41}} and {{X41 Tablet}} series owners due to the extremely slow speed of 1.8" HDD.
+This is primarily done by ThinkPad {{X40}}, {{X41}} and {{X41 Tablet}} series owners due to the extremely slow speed of the 1.8" HDD.
 Previously, using CompactFlash cards meant giving up on storage capacity. Nowadays the biggest available CF sizes are up to 100 GB so you even gain more storage space compared to a classic 1.8" HDD.
-ThinkPads utilizing PATA controller for the HDD slot can recognize both CF cards installed on a dual adapter. While newer ThinkPads, such as X41, which utilize SATA controller, can only recognize the single card installed on the primary slot.
+ThinkPads utilizing a PATA controller for the HDD slot can recognize both CF cards installed on a dual adapter. While newer ThinkPads, such as X41, which utilize a SATA controller, can only recognize the single card installed in the primary slot.
 ===Advantages of CF boot drive===
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 * Higher read throughput for >8KB blocks (may differ depending on brand, model, partition type and cluster size)
 * Higher write throughput for >64KB blocks (may differ depending on brand, model, partition type and cluster size)
-* Minimal risk of mechanical damage due to shock and vibration. [[Active Protection System]] is therefore unnecessary)
+* Minimal risk of mechanical damage due to shock and vibration. The [[Active Protection System]] is therefore unnecessary
 * Does not generate any noise or vibrations
 * (Possibly) a slight increase in battery life
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 * Invoke boot error 2010 on certain ThinkPads, including the X41 series
-{{NOTE|A often mentioned disadvantage of flash-based storage is the limited number of write cycles (typically 100,000 for the current generation Single-Level Cell (SLC) NAND, the type usually used in the faster CF cards). This should not however be as much of an issue because...<br>
+{{NOTE|A often mentioned disadvantage of flash-based storage is the limited number of write cycles (typically 100,000 for the current generation Single-Level Cell (SLC) NAND, the type typically used in the faster CF cards). This should not however be as much of an issue because...<br>
 * The 100,000 write cycles applies to each address block separately in the card, not to the card as a whole<br>
-* The flash controller automatically distribute write operations evenly (wear leveling), so that the number of writes to each address block is kept low<br>
+* The flash controller automatically distributes write operations evenly (wear leveling), so that the number of writes to each address block is kept low<br>
-Therefore, it should take years of typical real world usage to render a current flash memory card based on SLC NAND unusable<br>
+Therefore, it should take years of typical real world usage to render a flash memory card based on SLC NAND unusable<br>
-However, manufacturers have started in 2008 using Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND to make SSD. MLC NAND typically has only about 10,000 write cycles. To complicate things further a company called EasyCo claims her Managed Flash Technology (MFT) "increases the write-life of Flash Disks more than 50-fold", which could be what made possible the launch of SSD based on MLC NAND. <br>
+However, manufacturers beginning in 2008 started using Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND to make SSDs. MLC NAND typically has only around 10,000 write cycles per block. But there are techniques that flash controllers can use to reduce write amplification and therefore extend SSD lifespan - for example a company called EasyCo claims Managed Flash Technology (MFT) "increases the write-life of Flash Disks more than 50-fold".<br>
 If in doubt, check with the manufacturer directly for details.
@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 {{WARN|
-Most CompactFlash cards by default identify themselves as '''removable media''' instead of '''fixed disk'''. Which is fine for Linux, but not for Windows.
+Most CompactFlash cards by default identify themselves as '''removable media''' instead of '''fixed disk'''. Which is fine for GNU/Linux, but not for Windows.
 If you have to use a CF card that has the type bits set to Removable and want to install Windows XP you can work around it as follows;
-* Use Linux to partition the drive with a FAT32 partition (you can boot from one of the LiveCD/LiveUSB distributions for this), and set the partition bootable.
+* Use fdisk & mkfs.fat or (g)parted in GNU/Linux to partition the drive with a FAT32 partition (you can boot from one of the LiveCD/LiveUSB distributions for this), making sure to set the partition as bootable.
 * Start the install of Windows, during install you will be given the opportunity to migrate to NTFS
 * After the install is finished you will need to install the Hitachi microdrive disk drivers (google for XPfildrvr1224.zip), which will mask the removable bits and should allow suspend and other operations that fail on a removable drive to work.}}
@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 ===SanDisk Extreme===
-SanDisk used to provide a utility (when asked) under NDA to change the type bit to Fixed disk. It has however changed it stance on this and now refuses to provide it. This utility (ATCFWCHG.COM) however can be found for download at various places (try Google).
+SanDisk used to provide a utility (when asked) under NDA to change the type bit to Fixed disk. It now refuses to provide it. This utility (ATCFWCHG.COM) however can be found for download at various places (try a search engine).
 You will need to boot DOS and run it with the CF configured as either the master on the primary IDE interface or the master on the secondary interface. It will not work if the drive is attached as a slave or to any other interfaces.
@@ Line 114: / Line 114: @@
 * (If network access is readily available) Store the files on a network drive (e.g. server disk/NAS)
-==Linux issues==
+==GNU/Linux issues==
 With the Addonics adapters listed above (and possibly with other ones as well), the kernel's libata driver might warn about a 40-wire cable and default to UDMA/33 operation:
@@ Line 134: / Line 134: @@
 With the patch enabled, the above system achieves 42MB/sec read performance according to <tt>hdparm</tt>.  Without it, performance suffers: 23MB/sec.
-==Linux tuning==
+==GNU/Linux tuning==
 * edit /etc/fstab and add the option noatime to disable writing of last access timestamps on each file or directory access for each ext3 filesystem
   LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults,noatime 1 1
-* disable swap (remove swap volume from /etc/fstab), just make sure you have enough memory installed (which since memory is cheap, should be easy to just max out the machine!)
+* disable swap (remove swap volume from /etc/fstab), just make sure you have enough memory installed (as old memory is now cheap, should be easy to just max out the machine!)
 * increase writeback time (add the following line to /etc/rc.local)
   echo 1500 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs
@@ Line 144: / Line 144: @@
 == Windows tuning==
-*** Instead of throwing together all kind of tweaks here, it's probably better to keep the tweaks be CF boot-specific... And link to another page showing the more generic tweaks... ***
+{{NOTE|Instead of throwing together all kind of tweaks here, it's probably better to keep the tweaks be CF boot-specific... And link to another page showing the more generic tweaks...}}
 Due to the space constraints of CF, you will want to do some tuning of Windows. In addition there are some tunes that help performance, and can even help in the case where your not changing your HDD to CF.
 * Do a minimal Windows XP install (not a recovery) with nLite, this allows you to remove components of Windows before they even get to the HDD, such as Movie Maker, Windows Messenger and Outlook Express that you might not need, while at the same time slipstreaming the latest ServicePack (SP3 for XP). Alternatively if you cannot reinstall, you can try the public domain xplite program, but for it to be useful you need to pay, and it does not work with SP3.
@@ Line 159: / Line 159: @@
 * Disable HW devices in device manager that you do not need (in my case, the Modem and Infrared)
 * Only install drivers you actually need (video, ethernet, wireless and sound in my case), and remove the C:\DRIVERS directory after your done.
-* Do not run defrag, it is pointless on flash media and just causes unnecessary writes!
+* Do not run defrag, it is pointless on CF type media and just causes unnecessary writes!
 With this I was able to Install Windows XP (SP3) with Office 2003 (SP2), IE7, WMP 11, Symantec Client Security, Adobe acrobat reader, Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin and Palm Desktop in addition to the necessary drivers in under 4GB of an 8GB CF card on a ThinkPad X40.

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 {{WARN|Many of the adapters sold in eBay may not be usable for x40 as their #1 pin is on the left side (looking from the top, usually marked by a white diagonal line). The #1 pin should be on the right side as the Addonics series. Flipping the insertion of popular "V B1" adapter works but there is no guarantee of performance and space may not permit. On the other hand PA-CF18H adapter has been reported to work fine and may be a good alternative for Addonics converters. Please read page 15 of the forum discussion link below this page.}}
-{{WARN|The second (slave) slots on dual slot adapters do not work on newer ThinkPads, including the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}. Because their ATA interface is actually connected to the SATA controller via a PATA-SATA bridge.
+{{WARN|The second (slave) slots on dual slot adapters, or a single slot configured as slave (Device 1), do not work on newer ThinkPads, including the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}. Because their ATA interface is actually connected to the SATA controller via a PATA-SATA bridge.
 The second slot works fine on the others, like the X40, which use a native PATA controller, and 2 separated drives will be recognized.}}
-{{WARN|On the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}, the system will complain that an unsupported disk is installed (Error 2010), but will continue to boot after 5-10 seconds or after pressing enter (assuming you have a recent BIOS installed). The beeps can be muted by using the hardware mute button before the last shutdown/reboot}}
+{{WARN|On the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}, the [[Problem with non-ThinkPad hard disks|system will complain that an unsupported disk is installed (Error 2010)]], but will continue to boot after 5-10 seconds or after pressing enter (assuming you have a recent BIOS installed). The beeps can be muted by using the hardware mute button before the last shutdown/reboot}}
 ==CompactFlash cards==

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 ** (Preferably) 266X speed or better
-==CF to PATA/SATA adapter==
+==CF to PATA adapter==
 ===CF to PATA (IDE)===
 These adapters will work with both ThinkPads with 1.8" and 2.5" HDD slot with PATA interface
@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 {{WARN|Many of the adapters sold in eBay may not be usable for x40 as their #1 pin is on the left side (looking from the top, usually marked by a white diagonal line). The #1 pin should be on the right side as the Addonics series. Flipping the insertion of popular "V B1" adapter works but there is no guarantee of performance and space may not permit. On the other hand PA-CF18H adapter has been reported to work fine and may be a good alternative for Addonics converters. Please read page 15 of the forum discussion link below this page.}}
-{{WARN|The second (slave) slots on dual slot adapters do not work on newer ThinkPads, including the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}. Because their IDE interface is actually connected to the SATA controller via an IDE-SATA bridge.
+{{WARN|The second (slave) slots on dual slot adapters do not work on newer ThinkPads, including the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}. Because their ATA interface is actually connected to the SATA controller via a PATA-SATA bridge.
 The second slot works fine on the others, like the X40, which use a native PATA controller, and 2 separated drives will be recognized.}}
 {{WARN|On the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}, the system will complain that an unsupported disk is installed (Error 2010), but will continue to boot after 5-10 seconds or after pressing enter (assuming you have a recent BIOS installed). The beeps can be muted by using the hardware mute button before the last shutdown/reboot}}
 ==CompactFlash cards==

@@ Line 170: / Line 170: @@
 * [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/index.html Flash memory speed - check out the UDMA CF link]
 * [http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite - Utility to create a minimal Windows install CD with fixes and drivers]
-* [http://www.daniel-boehmer.de/cf-ssd.html using Compact Flash cards as SSD alternative]
+* [http://www.daniel-boehmer.de/thinkpad-cf using Compact Flash cards as SSD alternative]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 This is primarily done by ThinkPad {{X40}}, {{X41}} and {{X41 Tablet}} series owners due to the extremely slow speed of 1.8" HDD.
-Previously, using Compact Flash cards meant giving up on storage capacity. Nowadays the biggest available CF sizes are up to 100 GB so you even gain more storage space compared to a classic 1.8" HDD.
+Previously, using CompactFlash cards meant giving up on storage capacity. Nowadays the biggest available CF sizes are up to 100 GB so you even gain more storage space compared to a classic 1.8" HDD.
 ThinkPads utilizing PATA controller for the HDD slot can recognize both CF cards installed on a dual adapter. While newer ThinkPads, such as X41, which utilize SATA controller, can only recognize the single card installed on the primary slot.

← Older revision	Revision as of 05:14, 9 February 2012
(No difference)

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:59, 27 December 2011
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	* [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/index.html Flash memory speed - check out the UDMA CF link]		* [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/index.html Flash memory speed - check out the UDMA CF link]
	* [http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite - Utility to create a minimal Windows install CD with fixes and drivers]		* [http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite - Utility to create a minimal Windows install CD with fixes and drivers]
		+	* [http://www.daniel-boehmer.de/cf-ssd.html using Compact Flash cards as SSD alternative]

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:18, 24 November 2010
Line 170:		Line 170:
	* [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/index.html Flash memory speed - check out the UDMA CF link]		* [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/index.html Flash memory speed - check out the UDMA CF link]
	* [http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite - Utility to create a minimal Windows install CD with fixes and drivers]		* [http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite - Utility to create a minimal Windows install CD with fixes and drivers]
−	* [http://www.speedmycomputer.net/ How to speed up computer]

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:20, 24 November 2010
Line 170:		Line 170:
	* [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/index.html Flash memory speed - check out the UDMA CF link]		* [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/index.html Flash memory speed - check out the UDMA CF link]
	* [http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite - Utility to create a minimal Windows install CD with fixes and drivers]		* [http://www.nliteos.com/ nLite - Utility to create a minimal Windows install CD with fixes and drivers]
		+	* [http://www.speedmycomputer.net/ How to speed up computer]

@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 The second slot works fine on the others, like the X40, which use a native PATA controller, and 2 separated drives will be recognized.}}
-{{WARN|On the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}, the system will complain that an unsupported disk is installed (Error 2010), but will continue to boot after 5-10 seconds or after pressing enter (assuming you have a recent BIOS installed). The beeps can be muted by using the hardwrae mute button before the last shutdown/reboot}}
+{{WARN|On the {{X41}}, {{X41T}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} and {{R52}}, the system will complain that an unsupported disk is installed (Error 2010), but will continue to boot after 5-10 seconds or after pressing enter (assuming you have a recent BIOS installed). The beeps can be muted by using the hardware mute button before the last shutdown/reboot}}
 ===CF to SATA===