[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Connectors for PCMCIA/Cardbus



Have a look at

	http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ftp/SUPPORTED.CARDS

It's a list of supported cards under Linux and their category. Any card
listed as 16-bit (bla_cs) should be fine. I wouldn't give a carbus card
(bla_cb) a try.

Regards,
Christian


On Thu, Aug 08, 2002 at 12:56:18PM -0400, Michael D. Crawford wrote:
> Can someone tell me what kind of PC card I can use with the ancient 
> laptop someone just gave me?
> 
> A friend gave me a Toshiba Satellite T2100CS laptop this morning, 
> because it was too "obsolete" for her to run Windows on anymore.  But I 
> think it will be just dandy as a firewall and NAT server.
> 
> It doesn't have integrated ethernet, but it does have two PC card 
> slots.  I tried to plug my 3Com 3CCFE575CT 10/100 cardbus (32-bit) 
> ethernet card into it, and it won't fit.  It seems to me that the 
> socked on the card is not physically compatible with the pins in the 
> laptop slot.
> 
> But I took it to a local PC retailer, and they claimed that Cardbus 
> cards will work in 16-bit PCMCIA slots.  They said the upper 16 bits of 
> the data bus just wouldn't be used.  To prove this they pulled a 
> Linksys 10/100 PC card from one of their own laptops and popped it into 
> my ancient toshiba, and it slid right in, no problem.
> 
> They didn't have the Linksys cards in stock but said they could order 
> one in for me to pick up tomorrow, for $59.  They were hip to linux and 
> said they would investigate to be sure it would work with linux before 
> I ordered.
> 
> I thought maybe I hadn't inserted my 3Com card correctly, so I came 
> home and tried it again.  It still won't go in.  It inserts into my 
> Pentium III compaq presario 1800T without any problem, but it seems no 
> amount of wiggling will get it into the toshiba.
> 
> My theory is that the computer shop was blowing smoke about the 
> compatibility, and that their linksys card is PCMCIA (16-bit) not 
> cardbus (32-bit).
> 
> My understanding is that PCMCIA is ISA bus in a small form factor, 
> while cardbus is a small form factor PCI.  I find it hard to imagine 
> how a cardbus card could be backwards compatible with 16-bit PCMCIA.
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me?
> 
> To start with I'll be using the firewall with a hayes external 56k 
> modem.  But I'd like to also get a modem PC card, so that if there is a 
> power failure the laptop battery will works as a sort of UPS.  With the 
> external modem I'd lose my modem connection in the event of a power 
> failure.  My 56k hayes also is kind of buggy, I have to reset it every 
> now and then because it gets hung and won't dial in.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mike
> -- 
> Michael D. Crawford
> GoingWare Inc. - Expert Software Development and Consulting
> http://www.goingware.com
> crawford@goingware.com
> 
>   Tilting at Windmills for a Better Tomorrow.
> 
>     "I give you this one rule of conduct. Do what you will, but speak
>      out always. Be shunned, be hated, be ridiculed, be scared,
>      be in doubt, but don't be gagged."
>      -- John J. Chapman, "Make a Bonfire of Your Reputations"
>         http://www.goingware.com/reputation/
> 
> 
> -- 
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-request@lists.debian.org 
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact 
> listmaster@lists.debian.org
> 
> 



Reply to: