I was finally able to get a CompactFlash/PCMCIA ATA adapter working. This allows you to mount a 32MB CF card as a DOS drive, making it easy to move files between your GRiD and modern computers.

This image was created from a working 32MB SanDisk (Canon) FC-32M CompactFlash card. The card has a small “(C)02 SanDisk” marking on the lower right-hand corner of the back side. Some cards do not have this marking. I have confirmed that only authentic SanDisk cards work with this image because there is a one-block difference in block sizes. Other cards may work if properly partitioned and formatted, but this image will likely not work with them.

Anything larger than 32MB will probably not work due to ATA driver addressing limitations (though I could be mistaken).

The GRiD PCMCIA ATA driver (SDPGRIDC.SYS) is very particular about block and partition formatting. Use this image instead of attempting to format the card with a modern computer.

On macOS, use the following commands to write the image. First, determine the correct disk number with:

diskutil list

Identify the disk number for your CompactFlash card and replace “diskN” below with the correct value (for example, disk7):

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN
sudo dd if=/path/to/GRIDCARD.IMG of=/dev/rdiskN bs=512 status=progress

If you are not using a Mac, write the image using appropriate software for your operating system.

After writing GRIDCARD.IMG to the Canon FC-32M (SanDisk (C)02 version), ensure your CONFIG.SYS file contains the following lines, then reboot:

Dos=High,UMB
Device=C:\Windows\HiMem.Sys
Device=C:\Dos\EMM386.Exe NoEms X=C800-DFFF
Device=C:\SysUtils\SdpGRiDc.Sys
LastDrive=Z

After rebooting, type:

devices

You should see D: and E: mounted. On my system, it mounts as D:, but yours may differ.

Good luck.

Special thanks to Kirill Leifer for the inspiration. I had nearly given up on using PCMCIA to mount ATA CF cards until I watched his video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3WdydnGnbw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3WdydnGnbw)

– Larry Wolcott