Important update on dealing with the "fixed" vs removable drive issue...

**SFiorito** · 02-07-2006, 07:38 AM

well even with this fixed drive filter ACPI still does not work....so: if you don't plan on using ACPI then I would say get the ExtremeIII, otherwise get an UltraII or ExtremeI.

**ramy_zohair** · 02-07-2006, 10:50 PM

you mean if i use extremeIII, i can't hibernate??

ok, does hibernation make it noticebly faster with CF cards. or it's not worth the extra space.

(i still don't understand the issue of hibernation & USB)

**SFiorito** · 02-08-2006, 08:03 AM

basically there's something in XP that causes it to freeze hard (not even a blue screen) when you try to hibernate or standby with a main drive that is "removable". I hoped that this Hitachi Fixed Drive Filter would help, but it didn't. It's gotta be something low-level on the CF card's controller.

**ramy_zohair** · 02-08-2006, 03:23 PM

so if money is'nt an obstacle, & performance wise, do u advise with Ultra II + hibernation (1GB) or extreme III (512MB). (taking into account that without hibernation i'd need a smaller CF)

**SFiorito** · 02-09-2006, 07:42 AM

well, if money wasn't an obstacle i'd go with the USB uDOC which supports hibernation and is faster than any other flash medium out there. otherwise, i'd go with the UltraII/ExtremeI and use a combination Standby/HORM. But you may want to consider a 2GB drive for whatever flash device you finally decide on because if you want to run a GPS program the maps take up a lot of space.

**ramy_zohair** · 02-09-2006, 11:17 AM

i figured 2GB if i need GPS & HORM. i guess i'll go with CF. uDOC of yours

requires hi-speed USB support in BIOS which i think isn't supported in VIA boards. anyways thanks for your help, & keep up the good work.

**mullaly** · 02-21-2006, 01:15 AM

Originally Posted by SFiorito

basically there's something in XP that causes it to freeze hard (not even a blue screen) when you try to hibernate or standby with a main drive that is "removable". I hoped that this Hitachi Fixed Drive Filter would help, but it didn't. It's gotta be something low-level on the CF card's controller.

I had the same problem and using the driver made it work.

EDIT: Using 1GB SanDisk ULTRA II

**SFiorito** · 02-21-2006, 06:48 AM

yeah, the UltraII and ExtremeI are fine when they're in "fixed" mode...it's gotta be something in the controller of the ExtremeIII that causes it to freeze though...

**CombatCQB** · 03-21-2006, 12:24 AM

Actually, this is still quite useful even for UltraII cards since I haven't had any luck getting the sandisk utility for fixed disk. This would be the alternate solution and just as easy to use.

My current plan is use the 2GB UltraII for HORM + 1GB ExtremeIII for GPS data.

**jespers** · 08-25-2007, 05:36 PM

Hi there

I have just got the Extreme III working with ACPI standby. I use the Hitachi driver, so it is possible to have two partitions on the CF card - one 3GB partition protected by EWF and one 1GB partition for data and config files. Both partitions are formatted with NTFS.

System setup:
- Via EPIA ML mainboard
- SanDisk Extreme III CF card
- SDM IDE CompactFlash adapter for CF type I/II
- 512MB ram
- Windows XP, SP2 fully updated
- Hitachi Fixed Drive filter

The only difference between my setup and most other I have read about is, that I installed XP directly on the CF card, and not on a harddrive first. The reason for this is, that the harddrive I tried to transfer an XP install from had a CRC error - so I could not transfer the partition.