Hello,

I have an old laptop (Texas Instrument Extensa 610CD - Pentium 120, 48Mo
RAM, 4Go HD, win95), and I would like to add a PCMCIA (cardbus) card to have
some USB 2.0 connections. I have on my computer the slot I/II or III 32bits
(I think)

Do you think it will be ok ? Do my laptop is powerful enough ?
May I have to upgrade to win98SE ?

Thanks.

--
Bc.

First, the correct terminology is "PC Card", not PCMCIA card.

Second, you are out of luck. That machine only supports 8-bit PC Cards,
while all USB 2.0 PC Cards are 16-bit (aka "Cardbus") cards.

[Roughly, the 8-bit cards are the equivalent of "ISA" cards, and the
16-bit cards are the equivalent of PCI cards]


Bc. wrote:

Bc. <moimoi.toi2@laposte.net> wrote:
It doesn't have anything to do with the "power" of the laptop or the OS
you're running.

In order to use a USB2.0 (or even a USB1.1) PC card you _must_ have a
Cardbus (32BIT) enabled slot. The unit in question only has PCMCIA (16BIT)
slots.

--
Regards,

James

Checkout the NEW Thinkpad Forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com

Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
Ummmm.... no. 16BIT cards are ISA, 32BIT cards are PCI. you need a 32BIT
(Cardbus) slot in order to have either a USB1.0 or USB2.0 port.

http://www.pcmcia.org/ The original PCMCIA standard was for a 16BIT data
path, not 8BIT.

But you're correct that the OP is out of luck.

--
Regards,

James

Checkout the NEW Thinkpad Forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com

Barry Watzman wrote:
you also give "Correct" information. Otherwise, people will think you're...

Might want to count them bits again.
mike



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You are correct, I meant to say 16 and 32 bit, not 8 and 16 bit.


JHEM wrote:

JHEM wrote:
I want to buy an old laptop, but the only thing that is listed is that
they have a PCMCIA slot. What do I have to buy to get one with a 32Bit Carbus ?
Is a Pentium 2 333 Mhz likely to have one ?



--
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Barry Watzman wrote:


You might to explain the difference between a PCMCIA card and a PC Card
(except the name of course) ...

Regards

--
John Doue

Carla Schneider <carla_sch@yahoo.com> wrote:
It really depends on the laptop make and model, and there's no hard and fast
rule such as "all Pentium 150MHz laptops will have Cardbus slots".

But I would be astonished if a PII 333MHz laptop didn't have a Cardbus
enabled slot.

--
Regards,

James

Checkout the NEW Thinkpad Forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com

The original PCMCIA card standard (v.1.0) was for memory only (about 1990).
That was for type I and II form factors. In the early 90's, different
makers were adding their own card/socket services and that they eventually
standardized with PCMCIA 2.0 (1994?), which included a type III form factor,
but was still 16 bit.

In 1995, the 32 bit PC card standard came out, although I think Toshiba and
some of the other makers had already started building their own versions of
the 32 bit PC card before that. Barry can probably clarify that, but I
think I remember my 133 MHz Tosh Satellite had a PC card bus rather than
PCMCIA--it had it's own drivers before Windows supplied them. However, I
think the Compaq I replaced that Toshiba with (2 years later) still had a
PCMCIA slot. It came with Windows ME, and it worked well with 16 bit modem
and network cards, but never worked with some of the newer cards like
wireless, even after upgrading to Win2000.


"JHEM" <James@ESAD_SPAMMERS.thinkpads.com> wrote in message
news:x4nYc.9879$Yo2.71@trndny01...

There is no firm answer to your question other than to check the specs
for the laptop itself. But the transition from 16-bit only PC Cards to
16/32-bit cards occured in about the 1997 timeframe for most vendors,
that was the era of Pentium 120/133 MHz CPUs, approximately. There are
extreme exceptions in both directions, but I think it's safe to assume
that any Pentium 2 laptop will support Cardbus (32-bit) PC Cards.


Carla Schneider wrote:

PCMCIA is the name of the association that sets the standards for PC
Cards (PCMCIA = PC Memory Card Industry Association). The cards
themselves were once officially called PCMCIA cards (way back early
1990's, when they were for memory only), but the official terminology
was changed in the mid 1990's by the association and the cards
themselves should now be called "PC Cards" as, in fact, they are not
"memory cards" at all.

They come in two varieties, 16-bit (ISA card equivalents) and 32-bit
(PCI card equivalents). The 32-bit cards are also called "Cardbus" cards.


John Doue wrote:

Joe Davis wrote:

remember PC Card than PCMCIA ... I am always a little wary of name
changes that are only cosmetic and MS induced, like directory > folder,
program > client (which probably sounds better and more "expert" to
some...) just to mention the most obvious ...

Regards

--
John Doue

Are there any 16 bit Wireless cards produced for the old laptops

i have an old toshiba tecra that i use for training in the car and it would
be nice to have a wirelss connection

Adrian


"JHEM" <James@ESAD_SPAMMERS.thinkpads.com> wrote in message
news:TzNXc.265$hq5.16@trndny09...

A Waudby <aw@farming.co.uk> wrote:
Absolutely! One of the best ever made, the Orinoco Gold card, is a 16BIT
card and there are many others available as well.

--
Regards,

James

Checkout the NEW Thinkpad Forums: http://forum.thinkpads.com

Quite a few wireless cards (especially the 802.11b variety) are 16-bit,
as are quite a few 10mbps wired Ethernet cards.


A Waudby wrote:

Barry Watzman wrote:
the package whether the card is cardbus or not. Mail order is worse.
Dlink has a bewildering
array of cards under the dwl650 name. I've found gigafast cards that
said PCMCIA on the package but were CARDBUS inside.
I expect there are very few old 16-bit cards produced today, but there
should be plenty in the pipeline.
Make sure what you're gettin'.
mike


--
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Bunch of stuff For Sale and Wanted at the link below.
Compaq Aero floppy,ram,battery.
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http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Monitor/4710/

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:41320E9B.7040104@neo.rr.com...
I have to check in my computer's guide book.
But I bought my laptop in 1997, and I think it is 32bits compatible.

--
Bc.

My PC Card was disabled on my laptop, and after to enable it, windows 95
indicates: PC Cards (PCMCIA) 32 bits enable.
And I check in my guide book of my computer. It says I have:

" 2 types II/I or 1 type III carbus PC Card slots (formerly PCMCIA). Cardbus
improve on the 16 bits PC Card technology by expanding the bandwith to 32
bits"

So it looks ok.
But anyone has already try an USB PC Cards on this laptop because I already
had some problem with other external devices.

Thank you.

--
Bc.

The PC Card slots not withstanding, you are likely to have problems,
because the USB support in Windows 95 (which didn't even exist until a
late supplemental release of OSR 2 sometimes called OSR 2.5) was, at
best, "flakey". In fact, it outright won't work with a LOT of devices.

[Please note that comment above "which didn't even exist until a
supplemental release of OSR 2" -- you may not even have USB support --
AT ALL -- most copies of Windows 95 don't.]

If you are trying to use USB, you need to upgrade from Windows 95 to
Windows 98SE. And, please note, "SE" -- do not upgrade to 98 1st
edition, or you may find yourself right back in the same trap. First
Edition Win 98 does not support WDM model drivers, which may specific
devices now need. These are supported by 98SE.



Bc. wrote: