netBookBabe
09-11-2002, 08:05 PM
Does anyone know of a SmartMedia card adapter that will work in the netBook's PC card slot? I'm getting conflicting opinions.
Julie
Julie
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nclark
09-12-2002, 06:22 AM
I know Expansys sell such a thing, but whether it will work or not is a different question. I have a SC/MMC to CF adaptor which I tried in a PCMCIA adaptor in the Series 7 but it didn't recognise the SD card. It just said "Disk not present", and wouldn't even attempt to format it. This combination does work fine with the Ipaq.
It does seem a bit strange as I would have thought the adaptors would do the conversion, but there's obviously some OS support needed too.
It does seem a bit strange as I would have thought the adaptors would do the conversion, but there's obviously some OS support needed too.
Fitzer
09-12-2002, 06:54 AM
I have a 4 in 1 adaptor that I got from somewher I can't remember the name of that appears to be the same as the Expansys one and it works perfectly with memory sticks and mmc cards (Ihaven't tried smart media as yet). We had a conversation on here previously about the need to push the PCMCIA adaptor into the slot on the netbook slightly further than you would think.
It might be that I listed the website I ordered mine from, try searching the o;d boards.
Ian
It might be that I listed the website I ordered mine from, try searching the o;d boards.
Ian
netBookBabe
09-12-2002, 07:00 AM
Thanks Nick and Ian. :) Seems like it might be a possibility then - I'll do a bit more research.
Julie
Julie
nclark
09-12-2002, 07:02 AM
Nope - my set-up definitely doesn't work no matter how far I push it in. Was yours OK with an SD card?
ghitchen
09-12-2002, 08:43 AM
I got an adapter and a SMC from Expansys and they work perfectly, I use it to move files from my Olympus digital camera onto my netBook.
I stated on my order what I wanted to use them in.
Regards
Gary
I stated on my order what I wanted to use them in.
Regards
Gary
netBookBabe
09-12-2002, 09:02 AM
Originally posted by ghitchen
I got an adapter and a SMC from Expansys and they work perfectly, I use it to move files from my Olympus digital camera onto my netBook.
Gary, that is EXACTLY what I want it for! :D Cool, thanks very much for the info, I shall get one straight away. At the risk of getting slightly off-topic, which Olympus camera do you have? Mine's a C-2100UZ and I love it!
Julie
I got an adapter and a SMC from Expansys and they work perfectly, I use it to move files from my Olympus digital camera onto my netBook.
Gary, that is EXACTLY what I want it for! :D Cool, thanks very much for the info, I shall get one straight away. At the risk of getting slightly off-topic, which Olympus camera do you have? Mine's a C-2100UZ and I love it!
Julie
ghitchen
09-12-2002, 09:10 AM
Originally posted by netBookBabe
Gary, that is EXACTLY what I want it for! :D Cool, thanks very much for the info, I shall get one straight away. At the risk of getting slightly off-topic, which Olympus camera do you have? Mine's a C-2100UZ and I love it!
Julie
It's a C-100 that I bought for emailing snaps to family & friends. As an Olympus OM SLR fanatic it's as far as I intend to go with digital!
Regards
Gary
Gary, that is EXACTLY what I want it for! :D Cool, thanks very much for the info, I shall get one straight away. At the risk of getting slightly off-topic, which Olympus camera do you have? Mine's a C-2100UZ and I love it!
Julie
It's a C-100 that I bought for emailing snaps to family & friends. As an Olympus OM SLR fanatic it's as far as I intend to go with digital!
Regards
Gary
netBookBabe
09-12-2002, 09:18 AM
Originally posted by ghitchen
As an Olympus OM SLR fanatic it's as far as I intend to go with digital!
I understand just what you mean. I got the C-2100 for business reasons, hence my need to interface with the netBook, but in the process of using it, I seem to have become a digital convert!
Julie
As an Olympus OM SLR fanatic it's as far as I intend to go with digital!
I understand just what you mean. I got the C-2100 for business reasons, hence my need to interface with the netBook, but in the process of using it, I seem to have become a digital convert!
Julie
Davidish
09-14-2002, 10:33 AM
Fitzer,
Very disappointing news. The 4-1 pcmcia adapter card you mention from zxpro.com does not support smartmedia in the netbook. I got one today, plugged in the card and adapter - pushed all the way in (!) - and nothing. nicht. zip. squat. :( I do not have a memory stick or SD/Multimedia card to test it with, so I cannot say whether it works with these, but the smartmedia card it definitely did not like (and it was just an old 2MB card too!... which incidently works fine in my clunky old apple digital camera)
Julie,
have you bought a smartmedia to pcmcia adapter for your netbook? If so, does it work? Which one did you buy exactly? Can you post a link for it? I could not find such an adapter on the expansys site...
thanks
David
Very disappointing news. The 4-1 pcmcia adapter card you mention from zxpro.com does not support smartmedia in the netbook. I got one today, plugged in the card and adapter - pushed all the way in (!) - and nothing. nicht. zip. squat. :( I do not have a memory stick or SD/Multimedia card to test it with, so I cannot say whether it works with these, but the smartmedia card it definitely did not like (and it was just an old 2MB card too!... which incidently works fine in my clunky old apple digital camera)
Julie,
have you bought a smartmedia to pcmcia adapter for your netbook? If so, does it work? Which one did you buy exactly? Can you post a link for it? I could not find such an adapter on the expansys site...
thanks
David
netBookBabe
09-14-2002, 10:51 AM
Originally posted by Davidish
Julie,
have you bought a smartmedia to pcmcia adapter for your netbook? If so, does it work? Which one did you buy exactly? Can you post a link for it? I could not find such an adapter on the expansys site...
Expansys seem to have only the 4-in-1 that was mentioned above. It's about £41. Since I already have a CF adaptor I decided to hunt for a SmartMedia-only one, which I found at Maplin's for £25. Well, it's on order, I should have it early next week, and will of course post my findings. They *think* it should work, I'm hoping they'll take it back if not.
Julie
Julie,
have you bought a smartmedia to pcmcia adapter for your netbook? If so, does it work? Which one did you buy exactly? Can you post a link for it? I could not find such an adapter on the expansys site...
Expansys seem to have only the 4-in-1 that was mentioned above. It's about £41. Since I already have a CF adaptor I decided to hunt for a SmartMedia-only one, which I found at Maplin's for £25. Well, it's on order, I should have it early next week, and will of course post my findings. They *think* it should work, I'm hoping they'll take it back if not.
Julie
netBookBabe
09-23-2002, 01:15 PM
I finally managed to get the SmartMedia card adapter from Maplins today. It works in my netBook, although in slightly temperamental fashion. I asked them to let me try it in the shop, which they were happy for me to do.
First attempt - no files displayed, just came up with "corrupt", a tad worrying. Made sure the adapter was well seated in the slot - a little tricky - still the same result. Had a spare CF and CF adapter with me, tried that, still got the "corrupt" message but after a couple of attempts it worked. Back to the SmartMedia, and back to "corrupt". As a last ditch effort, I decided to soft reset the machine and it worked immediately!
I've seen the "corrupt" error again since I got it home, but just that little extra press of the card into the slot fixed it, so it does seem that that is probably the crux of the problem. It may turn out to be a bit fiddly, but I can live with that - it's just good to have the capability.
Card is 24.99 UKP, can be bought online from:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/
Sorry I can't seem to link to the exact page - just search on "SmartMedia" and it's easy to find.
No particular brand, just says "SM Card Adapter" - mine looks identical to the one on their website. The staff were helpful, and did say that they have a 14-day return policy should it turn out to be unsuitable, so I had nothing to lose.
Another source of supply I found is
http://www.valuemedia.co.uk/smartmedia.htm
They have the Dane-Elec branded one at 19.96 UKP (incl VAT, plus postage) which sounds like a very good price, but since I got the Maplin one working I decided to just go for it. :)
Julie
First attempt - no files displayed, just came up with "corrupt", a tad worrying. Made sure the adapter was well seated in the slot - a little tricky - still the same result. Had a spare CF and CF adapter with me, tried that, still got the "corrupt" message but after a couple of attempts it worked. Back to the SmartMedia, and back to "corrupt". As a last ditch effort, I decided to soft reset the machine and it worked immediately!
I've seen the "corrupt" error again since I got it home, but just that little extra press of the card into the slot fixed it, so it does seem that that is probably the crux of the problem. It may turn out to be a bit fiddly, but I can live with that - it's just good to have the capability.
Card is 24.99 UKP, can be bought online from:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/
Sorry I can't seem to link to the exact page - just search on "SmartMedia" and it's easy to find.
No particular brand, just says "SM Card Adapter" - mine looks identical to the one on their website. The staff were helpful, and did say that they have a 14-day return policy should it turn out to be unsuitable, so I had nothing to lose.
Another source of supply I found is
http://www.valuemedia.co.uk/smartmedia.htm
They have the Dane-Elec branded one at 19.96 UKP (incl VAT, plus postage) which sounds like a very good price, but since I got the Maplin one working I decided to just go for it. :)
Julie
spegru
09-24-2002, 04:51 AM
Julie and Co - from what you have said, there is strong dependency for the card adaptor to pushed in properly. However I'd be suprised if people were plugging in so badly that that some of the contacts are being made at all. I therefore wonder if there is a current limit (high resistance) being set by not pushing it in properly[/i].
Sooo - I wonder if this is the problem some peole are having with ethernet cards :eek:
rgds
spegru
PS. I will cross post this.
Sooo - I wonder if this is the problem some peole are having with ethernet cards :eek:
rgds
spegru
PS. I will cross post this.
netBookBabe
09-24-2002, 05:09 AM
Interesting theory, spegru.
Just a point - the SM card adapter is slightly more tricky to push right in than a CF one, or a LAN card. The delicate edge of the SM card is exposed in the centre, so you can only press on the two outer edges. It's a bit of a knack!
Julie
Just a point - the SM card adapter is slightly more tricky to push right in than a CF one, or a LAN card. The delicate edge of the SM card is exposed in the centre, so you can only press on the two outer edges. It's a bit of a knack!
Julie
Fitzer
09-25-2002, 10:00 AM
Davidish
I have only tested the adaptor on Memory Stick and SD cards, a colleague is going to bring a Smart Media card into work tomorrow and I shall test that and post the results here.
Ian
PS I would have replied earlier but I am just back from holiday.
I have only tested the adaptor on Memory Stick and SD cards, a colleague is going to bring a Smart Media card into work tomorrow and I shall test that and post the results here.
Ian
PS I would have replied earlier but I am just back from holiday.
Fitzer
09-26-2002, 05:19 AM
Tried the smartmedia card this morning in the zxpro 4 in 1 adaptor in both the S7 and a laptop and each time it wasn't recognised. The card tried was a Hitachi 32mb 3v card. I have mailed zxpro about this, I don't use SM but the product should work as adverstised.
netBookBabe
09-26-2002, 05:43 AM
Originally posted by Fitzer
...I don't use SM but the product should work as adverstised.
Agreed. It sounds like the advice to those who need SM access might be to buy a dedicated adapter, rather than the 4-in-1. The total cost of my two adapters, CF and SM, still came to less than the price of a 4-in-1.
Be interesting to know how many people use all four card formats!
Julie
...I don't use SM but the product should work as adverstised.
Agreed. It sounds like the advice to those who need SM access might be to buy a dedicated adapter, rather than the 4-in-1. The total cost of my two adapters, CF and SM, still came to less than the price of a 4-in-1.
Be interesting to know how many people use all four card formats!
Julie
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