How to Configure a Hard Disk Drive on a CEPC

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When you design your Windows CE–based platform, determine whether you need to add a hard disk drive to your CEPC. Hard disk drives, which contain hard disks, are a form of removable persistent storage media. With persistent storage media, you can access data after restarting your CEPC.

Hardware and Software Assumptions

  • You are familiar with how to add a hard disk drive to a desktop computer.
  • You have selected one supported Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard disk drive, with power supply and ribbon cable.
  • You are configuring your single hard disk drive as the primary master device on the CEPC.
  • You have a built an OS image and have downloaded it to your CEPC.

To track your progress in the following table, select the check box next to each step.

  Step Topic
1. Add your IDE hard disk drive to the CEPC.
  • Connect a power supply and a ribbon cable to the hard disk drive and configure the jumper settings. Consult the hard disk drive manufacturer's Web site or documentation for information on configuring jumper settings.
  • To verify your hard disk drive configuration, view the BIOS when your CEPC boots. Verify that the hard disk drive appears as the primary master device. If the hard disk drive does not appear as the primary master device, check to be sure your power supply and ribbon cable connections are secure, and verify the jumper settings of the hard disk drive with the manufacturer's Web site or documentation.
 Choosing Miscellaneous CEPC Hardware
2. Add a driver and a file system for the hard disk drive, and an application that can create a text file.

The following list shows the features to add from the Platform Builder Catalog:

  • Expand the Catalog node, navigate to Device Drivers\Storage Devices, and then choose ATAPI PCI/IDE Storage Block Driver. Right-click on ATAPI PCI/IDE Storage Block Driver and choose Add to Platform.
  • Expand the Catalog node, navigate to Core OS\Display based devices\File Systems and Data Store\Storage Manager, and then choose FAT File System. Right-click on FAT File System and choose Add to Platform.
  • Expand the Catalog node, navigate to Core OS\Display based devices\Applications – End User, and then choose WordPad. Right-click on WordPad and choose Add to Platform.

If you try to add a component to your platform, but your platform already contains that component, Platform Builder does not notify you that the component is already in your platform.

To verify that you added these features, view the tree in the Workspace window.

 Adding a Feature from the Catalog
3. Rebuild the OS image.

You must rebuild the OS image because you have added a driver, file system, and application to your platform.

 Building a Platform
4. Download the OS image.

You must download the OS image because you have added a driver, file system, and application to your platform.

 Downloading an OS Image to a Target Device
5. On the CEPC, dismount the hard disk, format the hard disk, and set up a partition. Setting Up a Partition on a CEPC
6. Set up a test file and save it to the hard disk. Setting Up a File to Test Data Persistence on a CEPC
7. Reboot the CEPC, download your OS image again, and then verify that the test file exists on the hard disk.

After downloading the OS image, on the CEPC, navigate to the Hard Disk directory, and verify that your test file is in the directory.

 Downloading an OS Image to a Target Device

See Also

CEPC How-to Topics | Block Drivers | Enabling an ATAPI Slave Device | Partition Driver | Partition Manager | Storage Manager

Last updated on Wednesday, April 13, 2005

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