Megatouch Emerald 2 Image Question

[Rolges]

Hello everyone, I need a little help with my Emerald 2.
I thought it might be a nice idea to copy the HDD to a CF Card so I tried several options (I'm definetly not an Computer Expert on this)

Tried several programs:
Acronis True Image (as recommended by a friend)
HDDRawCopy

Both didn't work (said something about bitlocker is activated), surely on a 20 year old Harddrive 

So I read online about chdman and tried it.
I was able to create a chd File from the HDD, about 1 GB large ( definetly too less in my opinion).

Tried to write the file on the CF Card with a Chinese Adapter onto it. Failed after 30% due to unknown reasons.
After I plugged it into the Megatouch it says something about "System not found".

And by the way the original HDD is dead now, won't start. So I waisted a whole day on ruining my beloved megatouch. 

Now that I haven't a correct image I donated 5 Bucks to a side and downloaded 2 Iso Files. But I have no Idea what to do with those.
Can anyone please give me some advice on what to do with these two files.

Definetly at the end of my knowledge.
If I can't fix it myself, can anyone make me a CF Card and Ship it to me ?

Thanks a lot

Best Regards
Rolf

[lilshawn]

the hd's are linux based. modern cloning techniques don't really work... you basically need to bit copy to clone them. but since it's dead it doesn't matter.

1- burn ISO files to 2 CD's
II - install new hd in megatouch
C: attach CD rom drive to megatouch
insert CD #1 and boot machine with it
finally, follow prompts in the install

profit

[mahkeymike]

I have had mixed results with CF to IDE adapters. Some work, some dont work at all, some even show garbled characters during boot. Best to use a SSD and a sata to IDE adapter.

[Rolges]

Big Thanks to both of you. I will try to add a SSD with a Sata to IDE Adapter and try installing it with the discs.
The original HD works when I tap it a few times with my finger 

Thanks again and have a nice week

[lilshawn]

The original HD works when I tap it a few times with my finger 

sounds like platter stiction.

quite common on 90's era drives. on powerdown the drive heads used to just naturally go to the inside edge of the platters (an unused area) and rest directly on the surface. as they age they would sometimes get "glued" to the surface... and there isn't (wasn't) enough torque from the motor on startup to break them free. usually a small knock is enough to get them usnstuck again....but it's something that will keep happening because the heads get damaged every time it does this.

now-a-days, drives have off-load ramps that remove the heads from the drive surface completely.

before that you'd have to run a program to "park the heads" that would move the drive heads to a sacrificial part of the disk (either inside or outside track) so that when you powered it off it didn't land on your data and destroy it.

[Rolges]

That's actually quite interesting, that's why everytime I shut it down the Harddrive klicks the head in it's resting position.
Well, I guess that's the end of the HD, I definetly have to switch to SSD

Is there anything I need to know on those Sata to IDE Adapters ? Slave/Master/ACD ?

[mahkeymike]

That's actually quite interesting, that's why everytime I shut it down the Harddrive klicks the head in it's resting position.
Well, I guess that's the end of the HD, I definetly have to switch to SSD

Is there anything I need to know on those Sata to IDE Adapters ? Slave/Master/ACD ?

You might be better off buying a cheap SSD IDE drive if you dont have a ssd or sata to ide adapter on hand.

[Spank]

I have used one of these before https://www.ebay.com/itm/223052804133 plugs right onto the motherboard.
Emerald was the last dos version, Ruby and later are linux based.

[Rolges]

I was wondering about that because it looked alot like DOS.

I ordered a 128GB Sata SSD and a IDE converter Card.
Excuse me for this "stupid" question but I never worked with Merit Games before. I'm going to install the SSD and try to boot it via an external Disc Drive and the 2 files I have.
I got those two iso files but they are only about 600kb each, how does this work with the original data being somewhere aroung 6GB. Something doesn't match up in my opinion.

Sorry for those questions, I was like 6 years old when the machine came out. This old system is pretty "new" for me 

regards,
Rolf

[mahkeymike]

Thats definitely wrong. If they are iso files, they should be at least 600mb each, not 600kb. So maybe you are mistaken on that? Also, and i could be wrong..., but there is some trickery needed to be done with the old Maxx DOS versions to get them to run off a non official HDD. You might need to look into how to patch that. Theres a few members here that can help you with that, but most of my lnowledge is Force/Ion/ML-1.

[Megatouchmike]

I was wondering about that because it looked alot like DOS.

I ordered a 128GB Sata SSD and a IDE converter Card.
Excuse me for this "stupid" question but I never worked with Merit Games before. I'm going to install the SSD and try to boot it via an external Disc Drive and the 2 files I have.
I got those two iso files but they are only about 600kb each, how does this work with the original data being somewhere aroung 6GB. Something doesn't match up in my opinion.

Sorry for those questions, I was like 6 years old when the machine came out. This old system is pretty "new" for me 

regards,
Rolf

I've spent enough time trying to install the old DOS versions from CD to know that it's not worth the effort.  I have an Emerald drive image saved that I can share with you.  If you have a SATA -> USB adapter and a Dropbox/Onedrive/etc I will upload for you so you can write it to your SSD.

[mahkeymike]

megatouchmike knows what he is talking about. If you dont already have a sata to usb adapter, order one. They are pretty cheap and good to have on hand when you need to copy/write/edit something on a internal 2.5 (aka laptop sata drive).