Specifications

158004.B00 G1
APPENDIX G: CF100 COMPACT FLASH IDE DRIVE
G.1 INTRODUCTION
The CF100 is a small add-on board for the TP400. It allows Compact Flash memory
cards to be used in place of standard IDE disk drives for increased operational
efficiency.
Compact Flash cards have the advantage of being small, high speed, low power and
very reliable. This provides a suitable industrial alternative to conventional mechanical
hard disk drives.
At the time of writing, Compact Flash cards are available in sizes from 2M bytes up to
128M bytes, with capacities of several hundred megabytes likely to become available
shortly. IBM supply mechanical disk drives in Compact Flash format with capacities of
up to 1G byte. The Compact Flash cards are used extensively in digital cameras, and
are thus available at moderate cost from multiple sources. DSP Design can supply
Compact Flash cards - see Appendix D for ordering information.
We have found that not all Compact Flash cards will operate with the TP400 – we
think this is more a fault of the Compact Flash cards than the IDE code in the BIOS.
Users who are considering buying their own Compact Flash cards should take care,
or contact DSP Design for advice.
The Compact Flash cards can be removed from the CF100 and read or written to on
a desk-top PC. A reader/writer unit is available that plugs into the printer port of a PC
to do this.
G.2 INSTALLING THE CF100 ONTO THE TP400
The CF100 has three connectors. The Compact Flash connector J1 is the Compact
Flash card connector. Due to connector polarisation it is not possible to insert a
Compact Flash card into the J1 connector the wrong way round.
Connectors J2 and J3 are 44-way 2mm IDE connectors. They allow for a number of
alternative ways to connect between the CF100 and the TP400. These are detailed
as follows.
G.2.1 Direct Connection
In this configuration the CF100 J2 female connector plugs directly onto the TP400
J100 male IDE connector, pin for pin. That is, pin 1 of the CF100 J2 connector
connects to pin 1 on the TP400 J100 connector. A polarising plug on the CF100 J2
connector will prevent horizontal misalignment of both connectors.
DSP Design recommend that the CF100 is bolted to the TP400 for increased
mechanical stability, using two 7mm long M3 spacers between the CF100 and the
TP400 using the aligned holes provided in both PCBs. These spacers are provided
with the CF100. Two further spacers can be added on top of the CF100 to match the
0.6" spacing required between PC/104 boards.