How do I know if my PCMCIA slot is type 1 or 2?

[50]

Hello, I have a 7 year old laptop and just got a wireless adaptor. I put the card in and nothing happens, on the box it says its PCMCIA type II. Is my slot type 1(are they backwards compatible?)? I tried an old modem and it is recognized under win ME but this wireless card isn't. Any ideas?

 

[John]

PCMCIA Type 1 (3.3mm), 2 (5mm), 3 (10.5mm) refer to the physical specifications of the card (thickness). The problem with your old notebook is that it may not support 32-bit cardbus, and that's what your WiFi card probably is. Check your notebook mfg's website for specifics on your PCMCIA slots.

 

[TerryMathews]

AFAIK the only non-Cardbus WiFi cards are the older revision Orinoco WaveLAN cards. They're available in OEM form from several different vendors - mine are Enterasys.

 

[50]

Originally posted by: John
PCMCIA Type 1 (3.3mm), 2 (5mm), 3 (10.5mm) refer to the physical specifications of the card (thickness). The problem with your old notebook is that it may not support 32-bit cardbus, and that's what your WiFi card probably is. Check your notebook mfg's website for specifics on your PCMCIA slots.

Thanks John and Terrymathews. I don't have any documentation or a website(I can't tell what the manufacturer of my laptop even is!). Is there anyway I can tell through computer diagnostics whether it is 32 bit or not? Also are these Orinoco WaveLAN cards available in 802.11g?

 

[50]

I just checked my laptop and it is 32 bit according to win ME in the system properties. I RMA'd the card and will wait for another.

 

[Rocket01]

Everything you ever wanted to know about the PCMCIA card standards... check out: http://www.pcmcia.org/pccard.htm
Here's 3 pics demonstrating the difference.
http://www.pcmcia.org/images/Type_I.jpg
http://www.pcmcia.org/images/Type_II.jpg
http://www.pcmcia.org/images/Type_III.jpg

Included is the following:
"The PC Card Standard provides physical specifications for three types of PC Cards, with additional provisions for extended cards. All three card types measure the same length and width and use the same 68-pin connector. The only difference between the card types is thickness. The thicknesses are 3.3, 5.0, and 10.5 millimeters for Type I, Type II, and Type III cards respectively. Because they differ only in thickness, a thinner card can be used in a thicker slot, but a thicker card can not be used in a thinner slot.

The card types each have features that fit the needs of different applications. Type I PC Cards are typically used for memory devices such as RAM, Flash, OTP, and SRAM cards. Type II PC Cards are typically used for I/O devices such as data/fax modems, LANs, and mass storage devices. Type III PC Cards are used for devices whose components are thicker, such as rotating mass storage devices. Extended cards allow the addition of components that must remain outside the system for proper operation, such as antennas for wireless applications.

The release number refers to the version of the PC Card Standard that a particular card or system was based on. Basically, release 1.0 supported memory only, and 2.X releases supported memory and I/O applications. "

 

[redbeard1]

The side notches on each type pcmcia cards are slightly different. You can, however, force a type II card into a type 1 slot. When forced in, it usually will not detect the card. Type II usually uses 32 bit cardbus.

32 bit card bus is a hardware feature, while the 32 bit thing you found was telling you that you are using a 32 bit software OS.

A generalization for whether or not yours is cardbus or not, is related to speed and USB ports. Laptops that use pentium 233 or below usually don't have cardbus. If you have a PII cpu with a USB port, it should handle cardbus.

 

[Rocket01]

Incidently, does anyone know if the 3Com (USRobotics) XJ1560 56k PCMCIA modem was 8bit or 16bit?
Does the IBM Thinkpad 365x have 8bit or 16bit slots? Can you answer either of these?