TP General - Procedures for PCMCIA ATA devices

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Document ID: YAST-3K9QLZ

TP General - Procedures for PCMCIA ATA devices

Applicable to: World-Wide

Contents
*1. General
*1.1 Purpose
*1.2 ThinkPad Types
*1.3 General Information
*2. Legacy Systems
*2.1 DOS/Win3.x
*2.2 Windows 95
*2.3 OS/2 Warp Version 3
*2.4 OS/2 Warp v4.0
*3. Current ThinkPad Models
*3.1 DOS/Win3.x
*3.2 Windows 95
*3.3 OS/2 Warp Version 3
*3.4 OS/2 Warp v4.0
*4. ThinkPad 380/385
*4.1 SystemSoft Overview
*4.2 DOS/Win
*4.3 Windows 95
*4.4 OS/2 Warp 3 /Warp v4.0 with PC Card Director
*5. Known Problems and Limitations
*5.1 Western Digital Caviar 40MB HDD
*5.2 SanDisk and other 3.3 Volt ATA Flash cards on 760E in Windows 95
*5.3 IBM "TPF" or "Solid State Mass Storage Cards" (ATA FLASH)
*6. Tips and Tricks
*6.1 How to Create Multiple Partitions on an ATA Card

*1.1 Purpose:
The purpose of this document is to describe the common procedures and tips to enable PCMCIA ATA storage cards (both rotating HDD and FLASH ATA) in DOS/Win3.x, Windows 95, and OS/2.

There are other types of PCMCIA memory cards, both SRAM (which is battery backed) and Flash cards that do not use the ATA interface (nor do they typically use a FAT file system, usually requiring a file system driver), these cards are not covered by this document.

*1.2 ThinkPad Types:
This Document will refer to ThinkPad systems in three generic categories:
A. Legacy systems - These include the older systems which use the "generic" PC Card Director software for DOS/WIN and OS/2 (currently PCTPX130 or PC36Bxxx from the BBS), and the built in, default support included with Windows 95. Examples are the 75X, 360, 365(C and E series), 701, and similar.
B. Current ThinkPads - This includes those which use the PCTPG series of PCMCIA drivers for all operating systems. This includes all 760 models, as well as the 560 and 365X machines.
C. ThinkPad 380 which uses System Soft Card Wizard software to support cards in Windows 3.x and 95. OS/2 PCMCIA support is still provided via PC Card Director on this system.

*1.3 General Information:
ATA cards typically are among the easiest PCMCIA cards to install, and with few exceptions, FLASH ATA and Rotating HDD ATA cards work the same way and with the same driver software.

Bootable ATA cards may be used as a boot device in most of the current systems. The system BIOS will provide the basic support to get the system up and running in this scenario. In order to determine if a particular system supports this option, go into Easy Setup to the start-up sequence selection. If the ThinkPad supports booting from the PCMCIA slot there will be a selection to choose PCMCIA as a boot device. There are a few limitations and quirks to watch out for, especially with OS/2 in order to make sure that the BIOS support for the device does not subsequently get overwritten or stepped on by the PCMCIA driver support during the operating system bootup. Refer to the operating system documentation and ThinkPad product announcement for this information. Actual customer use of ATA devices as boot drives has been extremely infrequent.

In some rare instances, it may be necessary to "Initialize" an ATA card prior to its first use. This performs the same function as low level formatting and partitioning the drive. Some of the PCMCIA utilities referenced within this document support initializing ATA drives, and some do not. Where they do, the instructions have been provided. It is important to note that if the card has ever been used, it will not generally be necessary to initialize it again.

*2.0 Legacy Systems:

*2.1 DOS/Win3.x Support:
Installing the Support.
Support is provided by installing the drivers from the PC Card Director diskette for the specific system (PCTPX130 for most, PC36B*** for 365 C/E series.)

This will provide support for ATA cards with the included driver DISKDRV.SYS (this driver will also enable SRAM cards). This driver allocates a drive letter for each PCMCIA slot present, as well as a letter for each slot that may be reserved (such as for a Dock-2 PCMCIA slots reserved with the /D option on the IBMDSS01.SYS line on config.sys.) Slots on the Thinkpad are recognized with the top slot getting the first available drive letter, the bottom the next, then the dock slots top and bottom in sequence. These drive letters are assigned when the diskdrv.sys line in config.sys loads, so any CD-ROM will have its drive letter assignment moved when this driver is added.

Formatting and using the cards:
ATA cards can be formatted by the operating system (DOS). Once you have identified the correct drive letter, you can simply use the command FORMAT x: (where x: is the drive letter assigned to the slot). Some ATA cards need to be initialized prior to their first use. This is akin to a low level format and partitioning with FDISK. EZPLAY.EXE, the DOS utility program for PC Card director will initialize ATA cards. If you are unable to read and write, or run a DOS level format on the card, use the following instructions to initialize the card. (NOTE: The option to initialize the cards is NOT provided within the Windows PC Card Director interface)

Boot DOS:
A. Run the EZPLAY program from the Thinkpad directory.
B. You will see the card identified with it's drive letter identified. If it is not identified as READY, then you may need to review that the appropriate driver (diskdrv.sys) is loaded.
C. Highlight the card on the menu and press ENTER
D. In the card information screen that comes up you will see the legend, "F9=Initailize"
Hit F9, and choose any options that may apply, Volume Label, Transfer System files (aka make bootable ), etc., and press enter to confirm.
E. The card will be initialized, formatted and made ready for use.

If the card needs to be reformatted for any reason, it can be done through the DOS format command.

Resources:
The ATA cards require some I/O space, which card services will automatically handle, no IRQ will be required or allocated if the card is being managed by DISKDRV.SYS.

Checklist:
- Proper PCMCIA Drivers (including diskdrv.sys) are installed?- Check Config.sys.
- Drive Letter identified? - EZPLAY or PC Card Director will show the assigned letter.
- Can it read and write? If not, is it formatted?
- DOS Level Format? - If not able to, you may need to...
- Initialize Card using EZPLAY.

If all the above are done properly, and the card still does not work, it is either defective or incompatible.

*2.2 Windows 95:
Installing the drivers:
Legacy systems in Windows 95 use the Windows 95 default PCMCIA support. This includes support for ATA drives. If basic PCMCIA support is not installed, it should be installed via the PCMCIA wizard invoked by selecting the PCMCIA icon within the Control Panel.

If there is a specific need to run real mode (DOS) drivers in config.sys, the drivers can be installed in config.sys from the DOS/Win3.x diskette INSTEAD of using the Windows 95 support. This is usually only done if there is a particular card which is not supported in Windows 95, which is rare.

PCMCIA Hard Disk Drives and ATA Flash cards are recognized as IDE controller devices by Windows 95, and will show up in Device Manager. The card may show up as a generic IDE controller, or with some vendor specific information to distinguish it from the IDE controller already present in your Thinkpad.

It is important to note that, like any IDE controller, this card will require the use of an IRQ, as well as an I/O range. If the drive is not recognized, checking the properties of the device manager entry for the card should be the first step in troubleshooting. Resolve any resource conflict issues before trying to go any further.

Once any resource issues are resolved, the cards will normally just work. You should get a drive letter (just one) assigned when the card is in the system.

Formatting and using the cards:
Formatting is available from the drive icon for the drive or a DOS box within Windows 95. Windows 95 does not include any utility for initializing an ATA drive, so if the drive will not read/write or format, especially if the drive is new, you will need to obtain the DOS/WIN PCMCIA driver disk and install the real mode drivers in order to run the initialization from the EZPLAY utility. This can be done without affecting your Windows 95 configuration by doing the following:

A. From the Start Menu select Shut Down - Restart in MS DOS mode.
B. From the PCMCIA features diskette run the DOS ONLY install - PCMINST (if prompted about any changes to your windows directory, refuse them)
C. After the install completes, reboot into DOS mode again, you can then run the EZPLAY utility as described in the DOS/WIN section to initialize the drive.
D. When finished, edit your config.sys and remove all the PCMCIA drivers that were installed (all reference the c:\thinkpad directory)
E. Restart the system and hit ESC when prompted to boot into Windows 95 The ATA device should now be ready for use.

Checklist:
- PCMCIA Support installed? Check PCMCIA object in control panel.
- Card recognized? Check Device Manager.
- Resource conflicts? Make sure you have a free IRQ, set it manually if you must.
- Read/Write OK? - if not, attempt a format.
- Format OK? - If not then...
- Load the DOS drivers temporarily and initialize the card that way.

*2.3 OS/2 Warp V3:
OS/2 Warp Version 3 including Warp Connect includes basic PCMCIA support for some systems that is installed either when the operating system is installed or subsequently via selective install. Since this support is not usually the most current, and is not available for all Thinkpad systems, this is not a complete solution. Accordingly, the install of ATA support in Warp is a two step process, installing the ATA support, along with the base Warp PCMCIA support, and then updating the card and socket services with the correct diskette for your Thinkpad.

Installation:
If the system already has the Thinkpad specific (PCTPX130 or equivalent) drivers installed, they will have to be removed before running the install. They will be reinstalled after the ATA support is installed. It is a good idea in this case to have a copy of the config.sys the way it was before starting the install for backup. If you need instructions on this in the "PREPARE" section below, and do that BEFORE completing the "INSTALL" section.

PREPARE: (only if you have the Thinkpad PCMCIA drivers already installed.)
Open the system editor and edit the config.sys to remove or remark the following lines:
BASEDEV=PCMCIA.SYS /P
BASEDEV=IBM2SS01.SYS
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\VPCMCIA.SYS
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.SYS C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.INI
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\$ICPMOS2.SYS
Shut down and restart the system.

INSTALL:
First, install the Base PCMCIA support from Warp with ATA(PCMCIA Hard Disk) support selected. This can be done either during the Warp install, or by running selective install if Warp is already installed. Select the Thinkpad that is most similar to the one you are using. In the case of Thinkpad 760, for instance, this would be selecting 755CE as the system type. On the right side of the box for PCMCIA options there are three selections: Modem/Fax, , PCMCIA Hard Disk, and PCMCIA Flash. Make sure that the Hard Disk option (only) is selected and complete the installation. This will install the ATA drivers in addition to the Basic Card and Socket Services support. Even if your ATA card is a Flash device, do not select the PCMCIA Flash support, that option is for Bulk Flash cards. This will assign a drive letter for each PCMCIA slot present on the system for the ATA card to assume when installed. An IRQ will also be needed for a card that is installed, and will be allocated automatically by OS/2, but it is important to note that if all available IRQs are in use the card will not come ready. Restart OS/2.

You can now update the Card and Socket services drivers by running the OS/2 installation from the PCMCIA driver diskette to install PC Card Director, Autodrv, and the rest of the drivers, while retaining the ATA support from the base operating system. The install process from the Thinkpad diskette will properly remove and replace the Warp card and socket services. This installation is started from the diskette by invoking the PCMINST2 command.

Formatting and using the cards:
OS/2 will properly format and read/write these cards. There is documentation to state that initialization of a new card prior to use is not required, and there is no utility to initialize a new card. You should be able to just format it from an OS/2 window and it will be ready for use.

*2.4 OS/2 V4:
OS/2 Warp v4.0 contains current drivers for the legacy systems. Therefore, you can just use the drivers that are supplied with Warp v4.0, installing the ATA support via selective install.

Installing the Drivers:
When Installing v4.0, or when running selective install to install or reinstall the OS/2 base PCMCIA support, there is a selection on the right side of the selection box to choose what optional support you wish to install. Select "PCMCIA Hard Disk" for ATA cards. This will install the Card and Socket services an well as the ATA support drivers necessary to support ATA. This will assign a drive letter for each PCMCIA slot present on the system for the ATA card to assume when installed. An IRQ will also be needed for a card that is installed, and will be allocated automatically by OS/2, but it is important to note that if all available IRQs are in use the card will not come ready.

Using and formatting the cards:
ATA cards may be formatted by the operating system. There is no provision for initializing an ATA card, should that be necessary, however this should not be necessary in OS/2, so this should not be an issue. You should be able to run the OS level format and then be able to read/write the card. Searching the online help for ATA will turn up all the config.sys command like switches having to do with the ATA driver, reserving drive letters, etc.

There is a utility (ATAMNT.EXE) in the inside the "Plug and Play for PCMCIA" object, (inside the system setup folder) which will allow various partitions on an ATA card to be mounted, additional drive letters to be assigned or reserved, etc., see the help within the utility for that. IBM does not provide any way to create more than one partition on an ATA drive*, but this utility may be useful for someone who does have more than one partition on an their ATA card.

See Tips and Tricks section for a solution

Checklist:
- Drivers Installed - Selective install - Update with Thinkpad diskette if the OS support is outdated.
- PC Card Director sees the card and identifies drive letter?
- Resources OK? The card will not report OK if all available IRQs are already in use or reserved.
- Read/Write? If not, may need to ...
- Format - If unable to , you may need to initialize the card, but the current OS/2 support does not have this as an option. In this case, you might want to make sure that the card is usable in another system/device. If so, then initialization is not the issue and there is either a compatibility issue or hardware problem.

*3.0 Current Thinkpad Systems:
The current model ThinkPads including the 760's 560's and 365X/XD series machines are basically similar to the legacy systems except that they use a newer version of the PCMCIA driver diskettes, PC Card Director, and use IBM supplied card and socket service drivers within Windows 95. Accordingly, this section looks similar to that for the legacy systems, with a few exceptions.

*3.1 DOS/Win3.x Support:
Installing the Support.
Diskette = PCTPGW31.EXE.
Support is provided by installing the drivers from either the PC Card Director diskette for the current specific system.

This will provide support for ATA cards with the included driver PAWATA.SYS. This driver allocates a drive letter for each PCMCIA slot present, as well as a letter for each slot that may be reserved (such as for a Dock-2 PCMCIA slots reserved with the /D option on the IBMDSS01.SYS line on config.sys.) Slots on the Thinkpad are recognized with the top slot getting the first available drive letter, the bottom the next, then the dock slots top and bottom in sequence. These drive letters are assigned when the diskdrv.sys line in config.sys loads, so any CD-ROM will have its drive letter assignment moved when this driver is added.

Formatting and using the cards:
ATA cards can be formatted by the operating system (DOS). Once you have identified the correct drive letter, you can simply use the command FORMAT x: (where x: is the drive letter assigned to the slot). Some ATA cards need to be initialized prior to their first use. This is akin to a low level format and partitioning with FDISK. EZPLAY.EXE, the DOS utility program for PC Card directory will initialize ATA cards. If you are unable to read and write, or run a DOS level format on the card, use the following instructions to initialize the card. (NOTE: The option to initialize the cards is NOT provided within the Windows PC Card Director interface.)

Boot DOS:
A. Run the EZPLAY program from the Thinkpad directory.
B. You will see the card identified with it's drive letter identified. If it is not identified as READY, then you may need to review that the appropriate driver (diskdrv.sys) is loaded.
C. Highlight the card on the menu and press ENTER.
D. In the card information screen that comes up you will see the legend, "F9=Initailize".
E. Hit F9, and choose any options that may apply, Volume Label, Transfer System files (aka make bootable, ) etc. and press enter to confirm. The card will be initialized, formatted and made ready for use.

If the card needs to be reformatted for any reason, it can be done through the DOS format command.

Resources:
The ATA cards require some I/O space, which card services will automatically handle, no IRQ will be allocated if the card is being managed by PAWATA.SYS.

Checklist:
- Proper PCMCIA Drivers (including diskdrv.sys) are installed? Check Config.sys.
- Drive Letter identified? EZPLAY or PC Card Director will show the assigned letter.
- Can it read and write? If not, is it formatted?
- DOS Level Format? - If not able to, you may need to...
- Initialize Card using EZPLAY.

If all the above are done properly, and the card still does not work, it is probably either defective or incompatible.

*3.2 Windows 95:
Installing the drivers.
Diskette=PCTPGW95
Current Thinkpad models with Windows 95 use the IBM PC Card Director PCMCIA support which provides card and socket services, and the PC Card Director status interface. The Windows 95 Plug and Play hardware system includes support for ATA drives. It is important to note that IBM PCMCIA support should be installed in Windows 95 in order to make ATA cards work properly. If the Windows 95 default PCMCIA support is installed, ATA and other PCMCIA cards may or may not function properly. The easiest way to determine if the correct drivers are loaded is to look at the PCMCIA controller entry in Device Manager for the description, " PCIC or Compatible Controller on IBM system" If this support is not installed please install the correct drivers before continuing. See the diskette for details. Once the IBM PCMCIA software is properly installed, Windows 95 will pick up and enable ATA cards.

Once any resource issues are resolved, the cards will normally just work. You should get a drive letter (just one) assigned when the card is in the system.

SanDisk/Dual Voltage ATA Flash Note:
If you have a SanDisk or other manufacturers Flash ATA card with the following symptom, please see the note in the known problems and limitations section at the end of this document.

Symptom:
On a 760E/X system only, in Windows 95 only, when the card is inserted it is not recognized at all, the slots report as being empty. There is never any indication in device manager or anywhere within the system that the card has been inserted.

*3.2.1 OS/2 Warp V3:
OS/2 Warp Version 3 including Warp Connect includes basic PCMCIA support for some systems that is installed either when the operating system is installed or subsequently via selective install. Since this support is not usually the most current, and is not available for all Thinkpad systems, it is not a complete solution. Accordingly, the install of ATA support in Warp is a two step process, installing the ATA support, along with the base Warp PCMCIA support, and then updating the card and socket services with the correct diskette for your Thinkpad.

Installation:
Diskette=PCTPGOS2
If the system already has the Thinkpad specific (PCTPGOS2 or equivalent) drivers installed, they should be removed before running the install. They will be reinstalled after the ATA support is installed. It is a good idea in this case to have a copy of the config.sys the way it was before starting the install for backup. If you have these drivers already installed, see the "PREPARE" section below, and do that BEFORE completing the "INSTALL" section

PREPARE: (only if you have the Thinkpad PCMCIA drivers already installed)

Open the system editor and edit the config.sys to remove or remark the following lines:
BASEDEV=PCMCIA.SYS /P
BASEDEV=IBM2SS01.SYS
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\VPCMCIA.SYS
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.SYS C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.INI
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\$ICPMOS2.SYS
Shut down and restart the system.

INSTALL:
First, install the Base PCMCIA support from Warp with ATA support selected. This can be done either during the Warp install, or by running selective install if Warp is already installed. Select the Thinkpad that is most similar to the one you are using. In the case of Thinkpad 760, for instance, this would be selecting 755CE as the system type. On the right side of the box for PCMCIA options there are three selections: Modem/Fax, , PCMCIA Hard Disk, and PCMCIA Flash. Make sure that the Hard Disk option (only) is selected and complete the installation. This will install the ATA drivers in addition to the Basic Card and Socket Services support. Even if your ATA card is a Flash device, do not select the PCMCIA Flash support, that option is for Bulk Flash cards. This will assign a drive letter for each PCMCIA slot present on the system for the ATA card to assume when installed. An IRQ will also be needed for a card that is installed, and will be allocated automatically by OS/2, but it is important to note that if all available IRQs are in use the card will not come ready. Restart OS/2.

OS/2 V4:
OS/2 v4.0 contains current drivers for the most systems. Therefore, you can just use the drivers that are supplied with Warp v4.0, installing the ATA support via selective install. If at some point the PCMCIA support that Warp v4.0 provides for a specific system is not sufficient, you could use the Warp type installation instructions (above).

Installing the Drivers:
Diskette=none
When Installing Warp v4.0, or when running selective install to install or reinstall the OS/2 base PCMCIA support, there is a selection on the right side of the selection box to choose what optional support you wish to install. Select "PCMCIA Hard Disk" for ATA cards. This will install the Card and Socket services an well as the ATA support drivers necessary to support ATA. This will assign a drive letter for each PCMCIA slot present on the system for the ATA card to assume when installed. An IRQ will also be needed for a card that is installed, and will be allocated automatically by OS/2, but it is important to note that if all available IRQs are in use the card will not come ready.

* see Tips and Tricks section for a solution

Checklist:
- Drivers Installed - Selective install - Update with Thinkpad diskette if the OS support is outdated.
- Plug and Play for PCMCIA/PC Card Director sees the card and identifies drive letter?
- Resources OK? The card will not report OK if all available IRQs are already in use or reserved.
- Read/Write? If not, may need to .....
- Format - If unable to , you may need to initialize the card, but the current OS/2 support does not have this as an option. In this case, you might want to make sure that the card is usable in another system/device. If so, then initialization is not the issue and there is either a compatibility issue or hardware problem.

*4.0 Thinkpad 380/385:

*4.1 SystemSoft overview:
The Thinkpad 380/385 comes with PCMCIA driver support for all operating systems (except OS/2 Warp) licensed from SystemSoft These drivers are commonly referred to as the CardSoft or CardWizard drivers.

There is a package available from the education department with detailed information on CardSoft drivers.
It is strongly advised that this package be obtained by technicians attempting advanced troubleshooting with these drivers. They are not common with any other Thinkpad systems at this time.

*4.2 DOS/Windows 3.x:
There are DOS mode only drivers available on the BBS/WWW, however, most DOS users also use Windows 3.x, so the instructions below are for the Windows version of CardWizard These drivers support most all PC Card Memory types including bulk flash and SRAM. See the education package or online help for more information on these configuration options.

Installation:
Diskette=PCW38W31.EXE
Start the system into Windows, insert the diskette and start the installation by selecting File | Run and typing a:\setup in the dialog box. If PC Card software has already been installed, you will be warned to remove all PC Cards before continuing. The installation will prompt you to select EXPRESS or CUSTOM install. Select custom to install the ATA (or any other memory card including SRAM and all types of flash) support. Selecting Custom also offers you the opportunity to add the drivers to any or all sections of the config.sys if the user has a menu for selecting boot options. When you get to the driver selection dialog box, make sure you choose to install the ATA support. Continue with the installation and it will make all the required updates to the system.

Using the Cards:
As with any other PC Card software, ATA drives are mounted at boot time and can be accessed just as any other drive. Drive letters are assigned for 2 drives (by default) at bootup. This may be changed to one by adding the following paramater to the c:\cardwiz\atadrv.exe /D:1 (this assumes that the line c:\cardwiz\mtddrv.exe is not loaded, if it is, the ATA driver can be configured to share drive letters with that driver). There are more options available with this driver as well as some interaction with other memory card drivers which may be installed. See the Cardwiz education package for details, it can get fairly complicated.

Formatting and Initializing ATA Cards:
Most ATA cards are shipped from the factory having already been "initialized", which basically means that they are ready for a DOS level format and immediate use. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to initialize a card prior to a DOS format. This will normally only be done once, with a new card. Thereafter, DOS can be used for formatting.

If the card needs to be intiailized, follow these steps:
- Install and configure the CardWizard software as described above.
- Restart the system and exit windows to a (true) DOS prompt. (Note the drive letter assignment that the ATA device has been assigned)
- Change to the CardWizard directory (c:\cardwiz by default).
- Run ATAINIT X where X is the drive letter associated with the ATA drive you wish to initiailze.
- Confirm the drive geometry presented and press enter
- When the operation is finished you will be reminded to run a DOS format on the card.

*4.3 Windows 95:
Loading the Drivers:
The Thinkpad 380/385 ships with, and is intended to be used with System Soft CardSoft PCMCIA drivers. On the preload, the drivers are already installed, and can be installed from the diskette in diskette factory. CardSoft's Windows 95 drivers consist of some real mode drivers loaded in config.sys, as well as a protected mode PCMCIA driver stack loaded in Windows 95 There is an interface to integrate the support between the two sets of drivers, so there are a couple of ways that an ATA card can be used within Windows 95.

By default, when an ATA card is installed, Windows 95 will find it and enable it as an IDE controller just as with any of the other system types. The Card Wizard is launched when the card is first inserted, but the actual enabling is being done by Windows 95 The status panel in the CardWizard window indicates that the card is being handled by Windows 95. This configuration (with Windows 95 handling the card) results in the same resource usage as any other system running Windows 95 The ATA card will have a Device Manager entry under Hard Disk Controllers, and will use some I/O space and an IRQ. If there are any problems with any of the configuration steps, the CardSoft wizard can be used to assist and suggest the proper course of action.

It is also possible to use an ATA card in "CardSoft mode", this is most simply described as using the CardSoft drivers in config.sys to enable the card before Windows 95 even loads. The advantage to using CardSoft mode is that the card will not require an IRQ, and it will also be available if the machine is started in DOS mode. This is also necessary to initialize an ATA card in the (rare) case that a new card needs to be initialized before use, as the initialization utility must be run in DOS mode.

The procedure for this is well documented in the CardSoft readme file in the Cardsoft directory and on the installation diskette. Briefly, to enable Cardsoft mode, you will need to edit the cardid.ini file in the \Cardwork directory. The change that needs to be made is to remove the semicolon in front of the CardLib=GENATA.CLB line, to allow the CardSoft drivers to load the generic ATA support when it finds an ATA card. Then after rebooting, you can use the CardWizard to change the card to "CardSoft mode". From the CardWizard interface, right click on the card, and select "Properties", then select "Change Card Driver" and "Cardsoft Mode". The card will then be enabled by Cardsoft and will then NOT show up in Device Manager. Note: If the card is not recognized by the CardSoft wizard, it will usually come back to the issue that the genata.clb file was not loaded, check the cardid.ini file and ensure that the CardLib=GENATA.CLB is present and not commented out.

Initializing and formatting the cards:
To initialize an ATA card, follow the procedure above to convert the card to CardSoft mode. Make sure you know which drive letter the card has been assigned to, this can be learned by using the CardWizard interface, and selecting "Properties" for that card. Next, Shut down Windows, and restart, hitting F8 to bring up the boot options menu and select "Command Prompt only". The CardSoft real mode drivers will load and configure the card. Change to the Cardwork directory and run the command ATAINIT d:, where d: is the drive letter assigned to the card. This will initialize the card, and you will be prompted to run the DOS format command to complete the initialization of the card.

Subsequent formatting can be done from the operating system either via a DOS window, command prompt, or "My Computer". Read and write operations are done as for any writeable drive.

*4.4 OS/2 Warp versions 3 and 4:
The Thinkpad 380 and 385 systems do not use system soft drivers in OS/2. The drivers shipped with the machine are PC Card director for OS/2. Therefore, the ATA installation and configuration is the same as on the other current systems with PC Card Director.

OS/2 Warp V3 and V4:
OS/2 Warp Version 3 including Warp Connect includes basic PCMCIA support for some systems that is installed either when the operating system is installed or subsequently via selective install. Since this support is not usually the most current, and is not available for all Thinkpad systems, it is not a complete solution. Accordingly, the install of ATA support in Warp is a two step process, installing the ATA support, along with the base Warp PCMCIA support, and then updating the card and socket services with the correct diskette for your Thinkpad.

Installation:
Diskette=PCD38OS2.EXE (or that from diskette factory.)
If the system already has the Thinkpad specific (PCTPGOS2 or equivalent) drivers installed, they should be removed before running the install. They will be reinstalled after the ATA support is installed. It is a good idea in this case to have a copy of the config.sys the way it was before starting the install for backup. If you have these drivers already installed, see the "PREPARE" section below, and do that BEFORE completing the "INSTALL" section

PREPARE: (only if you have the Thinkpad PCMCIA drivers already installed)

Open the system editor and edit the config.sys to remove or remark the following lines:
BASEDEV=PCMCIA.SYS /P
BASEDEV=IBM2SS01.SYS
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\VPCMCIA.SYS
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.SYS C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.INI
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\$ICPMOS2.SYS
Shut down and restart the system.

INSTALL:
First, install the Base PCMCIA support from Warp with ATA support selected. This can be done either during the Warp install, or by running selective install if Warp is already installed. Select the Thinkpad that is most similar to the one you are using. In the case of Thinkpad 380/385, selecting 755CE as the system type will work. On the right side of the box for PCMCIA options there are three selections: Modem/Fax, , PCMCIA Hard Disk, and PCMCIA Flash. Make sure that the Hard Disk option (only) is selected and complete the installation. This will install the ATA drivers in addition to the Basic Card and Socket Services support. Even if your ATA card is a Flash device, do not select the PCMCIA Flash support, that option is for Bulk Flash cards. This will assign a drive letter for each PCMCIA slot present on the system for the ATA card to assume when installed. An IRQ will also be needed for a card that is installed, and will be allocated automatically by OS/2, but it is important to note that if all available IRQs are in use the card will not come ready. Restart OS/2.

You must now update the Card and Socket services drivers by running the OS/2 installation from the PCMCIA driver diskette to install PC Card Director, Autodrv, and the rest of the drivers, while retaining the ATA support from the base operating system. The install process from the Thinkpad diskette will properly remove and replace the Warp card and socket services. This installation is started from the diskette by invoking the PCMINST2 command.

*5.0 Limitations and Known Issues:

*5.1 Western Digital Caviar 40MB HDD:
There is a problem with the support of the Western Digital Caviar 40MB PCMCIA HDD. This card, unlike almost all other PCMCIA devices, does not contain a CIS (Card Information Structure) which is generally used by card services to identify the type and characteristics of a PCMCIA card. This card will not work properly with IBM's card and socket services within any operating system. The Thinkpad 380 will use this card with the Cardsoft drivers in Cardsoft Mode, if the Wizard is used and told that it is a WD Caviar 40MB drive (yes, there is a selection especially for that card). It can also be enabled in DOS with the Phoenix card and socket services that ship with PC DOS 7.0. This is a limitation of the particular card, and IBM has no plans to rewrite the PC Card Director software to address this situation.

*5.2 SanDisk/Dual Voltage (ATA Flash):
Symptom: On a 760E/X system only, in Windows 95 only, when the card is inserted it is not recognized at all, the slots report as being empty. There is never any indication in device manager or anywhere within the system that the card has been inserted. This problem is not present in other operating systems, nor other systems, as it is particular to the particular driver/controller combination.

Symptom:
Newer SanDisk (and possibly others) ATA Flash cards utilize 3.3volts, as opposed to the 5 volts that was standard with previous cards. On 760 Enhanced (E and X series, and possibly future systems) these cards are not recognized when inserted. The problem lies within the TI controller implementation and IBM's Socket Service driver for Windows 95 (IBMCSS01.VXD).

Solution:
There is a new version of this driver, which is on the newest version of the PC Card Director for Windows 95 diskette. AT THE TIME OF THIS WRITING (5/14/97) this has not yet been publicly released. It is available in the Mobiles Private area of the BBS, and is expected to be released shortly. The filename is currently I7P102US.EXE. There is a readme.1st file on this diskette (the private version anyway) which explains how to update the drivers. Basically, you go into Device Manager and select the PCMCIA Controller object, then "PCIC or Compatible controller on IBM System", then the "Driver" tab, and select "Change Driver". Feed it the diskette, and you will update the IBMCSS01.VXD driver in your \windows\system directory. This will solve the above problem. It is also imperative that an older version of the IBMCSS01.VXD NOT be in the \windows directory, this condition (which was present on at least one Japanese language preload) will prevent the "fix" from working. Delete the file from this location if it is found there.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The above procedure will install a new socket services driver which will NOT support the IBM "TPF" or "Solid State Mass Storage" cards which were previously sold by IBM. The failure symptom with these old cards used with the new drivers is the same as detailed above for a new dual voltage card used with the old driver, it will not be seen. Once the new drivers are released, we may get some calls where the update has broken the support for the old cards, in this case they should use the older drivers to support that card. In effect, the dual voltage support is an "either or" situation with the old IBM Flash ATA cards.

*5.3 IBM "TPF" or "Solid State Mass Storage Cards" (ATA FLASH):
If you are using a 760 Enhanced system and experience a problem with these cards please make sure you have read the section, 5.2 - SanDisk

*6.0 Tips & Tricks:
OS/2 Warp v4.0 ATA drivers allow more than one partition of an ATA card to be mounted, but there is no provision for creating more than one partition. The partitioning is usually done at the time of manufacture, and in those cases where initializing the card is available via software utility, these utilities create one partition and cannot be manually configured.

*6.1 How to Create Multiple Partitions on an ATA Card:
There are two ways to partition an ATA drive, one that has been tested, and one that has not. The one that has not, would be to use a utility like Partition Magic, which should work.

A known way to do this, is to set the ATA drive to be the second boot device, (after FDD) and boot up to the DOS installation diskettes as if to install DOS. You can then exit the install and run FDISK, and create the partitions. This would also be the most likely scenario for someone to want to do this as there is generally not a way to access a second partition on an ATA drive. If it is a boot drive, however, it can be seen as an extended partition on the primary HDD.

Search Keywords

Hint Category

PCMCIA (PC Card)

Date Created

23-07-97

Last Updated

22-01-99

Revision Date

22-07-99

Brand

IBM ThinkPad

Product Family

ThinkPad 355, ThinkPad 360, ThinkPad 365X/XD, ThinkPad 365C/CS, ThinkPad 365CD/CSD, ThinkPad 365E/ED, ThinkPad 370, ThinkPad 380, ThinkPad 380D, ThinkPad 380E, ThinkPad 380ED, ThinkPad 380XD, ThinkPad 385D, ThinkPad 385E, ThinkPad 385ED, ThinkPad 385XD, ThinkPad 560, ThinkPad 560E, ThinkPad 560X, ThinkPad 701, ThinkPad 750, ThinkPad 755C/CS, ThinkPad 755CE/CSE, ThinkPad 755CX, ThinkPad 755CV, ThinkPad 755CD, ThinkPad 755CDV, ThinkPad 760C, ThinkPad 760E, ThinkPad 760CD, ThinkPad 760L/LD, ThinkPad 760ED, ThinkPad 760XD, ThinkPad 760EL/ELD, ThinkPad 760XL, ThinkPad 765L, ThinkPad 765D

Machine Type

2619, 2620, 2625, 2624, 9545, 2635, 2640, 2630, 9546, 9547, 2419, 2337

Model

Various

TypeModel

Retain Tip (if applicable)

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	Search Keywords
	Hint Category	PCMCIA (PC Card)
	Date Created	23-07-97
	Last Updated	22-01-99
	Revision Date	22-07-99
	Brand	IBM ThinkPad
	Product Family	ThinkPad 355, ThinkPad 360, ThinkPad 365X/XD, ThinkPad 365C/CS, ThinkPad 365CD/CSD, ThinkPad 365E/ED, ThinkPad 370, ThinkPad 380, ThinkPad 380D, ThinkPad 380E, ThinkPad 380ED, ThinkPad 380XD, ThinkPad 385D, ThinkPad 385E, ThinkPad 385ED, ThinkPad 385XD, ThinkPad 560, ThinkPad 560E, ThinkPad 560X, ThinkPad 701, ThinkPad 750, ThinkPad 755C/CS, ThinkPad 755CE/CSE, ThinkPad 755CX, ThinkPad 755CV, ThinkPad 755CD, ThinkPad 755CDV, ThinkPad 760C, ThinkPad 760E, ThinkPad 760CD, ThinkPad 760L/LD, ThinkPad 760ED, ThinkPad 760XD, ThinkPad 760EL/ELD, ThinkPad 760XL, ThinkPad 765L, ThinkPad 765D
	Machine Type	2619, 2620, 2625, 2624, 9545, 2635, 2640, 2630, 9546, 9547, 2419, 2337
	Model	Various
	TypeModel
	Retain Tip (if applicable)
	Reverse Doclinks and Admin Purposes