PC Card compatibility list

[diem]

Okay folks,

Carrying on from where I left off, I'm still trying to compile a definitive list of compatible ethernet cards for netBook. Thanks to all those who have contributed to the list so far, which is:

Lucent orinoco silver
Psion Dacom netglobal 56k+fax+10 Ethernet
Dell truemobile 1100
Psion CombineIT lan global 56k+fax+10/100 Ethernet
SMC EZConnect (#SMC2632W)

If anyone is using a wired or wireless ethernet card with their netBook that isn't on this list, please post on this thread, stating what card you have and which OS release youa re using.

Thanks!

[WolfUK]

You can add the Psion Dacom 56k+Fax Gold Card (GSM & ISDN Ready).

[ChasenRecording]

Is the Lucent/Orinoco Gold Card compatible?

[bblon]

Lucent Gold wireless card also works (158).

btw--my thanks to Diem and this forum for providing the information on wi-fi cards, OS setup, etc... No way I could have figured it out on my own. Now my Netbook seems like, well, a Netbook .

[Davidish]

Yan,

Do you think it's worth including the Option Globe Trotter GPRS card in your list? See this old boards post:

http://www.psionplace.com/boards/Netbook/messages/1536.html

OR:

http://www.option.com/products/2_1_1_specifications.shtml

David.

[Steve Moore]

I would dearly like to get this card to work but my current understanding from Option is that Psion need to change/modify their current main boards so that they have enough power for the card.

If anyone has any success with current machines *please* let me know

Thanks

Steve

[Davidish]

Hmm... well a poster on this thread in Symbcity seems to think it is possible:

http://www.symbcity.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1506

[Steve Moore]

Have you successfully used this card?

I should like to buy one and haven't seen any drivers for it, and indeed am told by Option that Psion need a few changes to be made to the netBook before it can power the card itself.

Thanks

Steve

[Davidish]

Hi Steve,

No, I haven't used the card. So I cannot vouch for it working. But maybe you should ask the person on the symbcity board?

Like you, I was hoping to get a positive confirmaiton from someone else out there. Just thought it was worth mentioning to see if anyone indeed has managed to use it in the Netbook.

I don't know if you know this, but an earlier Option PC Card (Which is only GSM and not GPRS or tri-band) DOES work with the Psion. It's called the First Fone. Check out http://www.option.com/support/firstfone_app.shtml for a link to teh drivers for the Netbook. Again, I have no personal experience of this card, but at least drivers DO exist for it.


D

[diem]

Psion have redeveloped the netBook/Series 7 motherboard to provide more current to the card slots. I have no info on how to identify a new mboard, but I do know that they're only just finished this, so even newly bought units may not yet have the new board if they have stocks of the old one to use up.

[dsiegel]

Hello, all. I see this card is listed as compatible. Any tips on configuration? My Netbok running the new 158 does not seem to accept it, aas either a Lucent or cisco card.

[diem]

the SMC supposedly uses the Lucent settings, according to this post in the old boards system:

http://www.psionplace.com/boards/Netbook/messages/1469.html

[mrkrupa]

The card is half the solution. I may have some configuration wrong but I had trouble getting this card (silver lucent wavelan ebay $38) to work with this router until I used the manual setting (not DHCP). I used the card on my Tosh laptop without a problem then when I put it in my netbook, it choked ("network problem" msg). I set the gateway and isp manually and it worked!

I am curious if anyone has had similar experience. I would like the DHCP option. Thanks.

Paul Krupa

PS I am using the USA v 1.04(453) 158 release downloaded September 9, 2002 from the "official" site.

[martyscholes]

Originally posted by diem
[B]SMC EZConnect (#SMC2632W)/B]

I don't think so. I just bought this card a coupla hours ago and can't (at all) get it to work. I did manage to get a very nice soft-reset, tho.

I wanted this card because it doesn't cover the stylus hole, keeping me from having to eject and reinsert the card every time I launch Opera (several times/day). I am concerned I am going to wear out my PCMCIA connector.

At any rate, I just discovered that this card uses the intersil prism chipset, the chipset used by pretty much everyone but Lucent and Cisco (which I think both use the same chipset).

This explains why the drivers only support these cards. Had Teklogix supported the Prism chipset, then all of the other 802.11 cards could be used.

I am now taking this card back for a refund/.

[wanman]

Anyone tried the 3Comm 3CCFEM556B combined 10/100LAN and 56K Modem. Seems similar spec to the Psion CombineIT. Link to their website here.

http://www.3com.com/prod/en_UK_EMEA/detail.jsp?tab=features&sku=3CCFEM556B

Cheers

Si

[mcurtis]

I made the original post about the SMC2632W, back on the old boards. And it's still working just fine for me, currently using the new US release 158 that I installed this evening.

Taking a quick look at the SMC website, I see that SMC has changed the card (I'm using a card I purchased sometime last year). If you look at the picture, they are now labeling it "Model No.SMC2632W V.2" (although everywhere else on the site they leave off the V.2). Perhaps this is what is causing the problems? SMC has changed the hardware? As martyscholes posted, the card he bought this week isn't using the Lucent chip set. I'm assuming the one I have does, since it has worked effortlessly with the 802_11-Lucent settings since the first time I tried release 158.

I suppose we should add a flag to the SMC2632W, that only the first version works. Unfortunately, it's not labeled as version 1 or V.1 or anything helpful like that. If you want to try to find an older version, here are some distinguishing characteristics I can make out from comparing mine to the picture on SMC's product page.

Most significantly, on my card the model number reads simply "Model No.SMC2632W"; no V.2. It is located on the lower right hand corner of the label.

On the black plastic antenna, my card has a single light on top, versus the two lights on the side of the v.2 model. Plus, my card has SMC in block letters, versus the oval logo on the V.2 model.

When reading the label, the antenna is on the right on mine; on the left on the V.2 model.


All this assumes, of course, that the picture on the website is accurate.


MJC

[martyscholes]

MJC,

Many thanks for clearing this up. Yes, the pics on the website look just like the card I bought.

While I am no expert, every card I have seen that uses the lucent chipset covers the stylus hole. Does your card have this "feature?"

Marty

[nclark]

I have two wireless cards that don't cover the stylus hole. The first is a Cisco Aironet 340 series and the aerial is only fractionally thicker than the card itself. The second is a Symbol Wireless Networker CF card, which doesn't cover the hole when in a PCMCIA to CF adaptor.

I don't know if either work as I haven't upgraded my 7 yet, although the module arrived today. I'm not sure whether to wait until the DIMM arrives so that it's only 1 hard reset, as I have a lot of synchronised email messages and calendar items.

Another concern is the power consumption of the Cisco card, as mine is a pretty old 7. The Activity light does come on though when I first insert it, so perhaps there's some hope. I'm more pessimistic about the CF card despite its lower power consumption as I haven't heard of anyone using one of these - unless you know differently :confused:

[dukibean]

Originally posted by nclark
The first is a Cisco Aironet 340 series and the aerial is only fractionally thicker than the card itself.

I don't know if either work as I haven't upgraded my 7 yet, although the module arrived today.


It would be great to know if this card does, indeed, work with your upgrade.

[wanman]

Hi NClark,

I had the same dilema, do I wait for the DIMM (looks like a couple of weeks wait) or do I go for the upgrade and then rebuild again later.

I chose to upgrade now and again when the DIMM arrives because:

a) I could not wait that long.....aaaahhh need 7book now !!
b) After completing the upgrade, adding the DIMM will only be a matter of taking a copy of the C: drive before the upgrade and replace it when the OS is back in again afterwards. All settings and software should be restored as before.

I found the majority of the upgrade time is taken up with extracting the settings, data and apps from your 7 backup and moving them onto the netbook OS without copying uneccessary rubbish. I solved this by reinstalling all apps from scratch and then copying my original .ini & .reg files in the c:\system\apps\ folders drive so that my settings and registrations were maintained. You will not have to do this with the DIMM upgrade as you should, by then, have a new backup of your Netbook.

Any problems, then post them here.

Regards

Si

[mcurtis]

Marty

No, the card I have doesn't cover the stylus hole. It's the same thickness all the way across.

I did a quick search through mySimon for SMC2632W. The card being offered at Amazon looks very similar to mine, but not quite exactly. But it doesn't have a V.2 in the model number, so it might work. Here's the link.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005ML58/pictures/14/14/002-0678678-0168005?v=glance&s=electronics&vi=pictures#more-pictures

Best of luck finding something that works out for you.

MJC

[martyscholes]

MJC

Very cool of you to do the research; thanks.

I just ordered the card. When it gets here I will try it out and post the results here.

Marty

[alserrano]

Originally posted by bblon
Lucent Gold wireless card also works (158).

btw--my thanks to Diem and this forum for providing the information on wi-fi cards, OS setup, etc... No way I could have figured it out on my own. Now my Netbook seems like, well, a Netbook .


I also need this info .I have an Avaya gold card ( the new name for the Lucent Orinoco Gold card ) and I simply cant get it to work.
What I get when I try to edit ( or creat a New profile ) I simply get the message that the Information already exists. I am not allowed to do nothing more ( with or without the card inserted ).
I followed strictly the instructions on the file PsionTek published toghether with the new OS. Someone help me please so I can finally begin to get some use to my Netbook.

[bobbyr]

Help me out here folks, I am interested in the networking thing, but not sure what I would do with it. Yes sounds kind of strange as I have been working with Psions for years, but just wondering since I have all the stuff including the DACOM gold card, 56K+Fax and Ethernet. But wondering how to use it with my PC since as is most of the Windows OS. I am wondering if I am missing out on something good. So I am just asking, when you use the Network Card and hook up, what can you do with it all.

I have done lots of stuff but not the networking thing.

Thanks,

Bobbyr

[martyscholes]

Originally posted by bobbyr
Help me out here folks, I am interested in the networking thing, but not sure what I would do with it. Yes sounds kind of strange as I have been working with Psions for years, but just wondering since I have all the stuff including the DACOM gold card, 56K+Fax and Ethernet. But wondering how to use it with my PC since as is most of the Windows OS. I am wondering if I am missing out on something good. So I am just asking, when you use the Network Card and hook up, what can you do with it all

I can only answer what I have done, as I use the networking A LOT (several times/day). In short, I have ditched the PC. I am composing this now in my living room on my netBook. I have all of my e-mail on the netBook. My attorney just e-mailed me a PDF of a legal document that I read last nite (you guessed it) on my netBook.

Hope that helps,
Marty

[bobbyr]

Thanks Marty, but I can and do, do that now without any networking. I can sit in my livingroom and do all that with my netbook including email and do it wirelessly or by land line. I thought that you guys were talking about networking your Netbooks to your PCs and doing PC work using your netbook. Maybe I had the wrong impression here. I am thinking that at work when you have a network, you network all the PCs together and have a server and all that stuff. So I thought that you were using your PC as a server.

Thanks,

Bobbyr

[diem]

I give up on starting this as a new thread. Software won't let me move a single posting :mad:

okay, so I think what's in your mind is something like Microsoft Networking, whereby you can browse shared folders and such. There is no Microsoft Networking client for EPOC, so this is not directly possible (and a good thing too - their protocols are hellish slow!)

The nearest you can get to this is to set up an ftp server on your PC - 98 and upwards come with Personal Web Server that will support doing this - then use nFTP on the netBook to up/download files. A damn sight faster than Psiwin :)

Obviously you'll need the appropriate hardware - ethernet network cards for the PC(s), patch cables and an ethernet hub. Alternatively, if its just one PC and your netBook, you can connect them together using a 'crossover' or 'MX' patch cable. Cheapest network in the world... ;)

[bobbyr]

Thanks. I was just trying to figure out what I could do different on my Netbook, having it networked to what ever you guys are networking to and see what benefit, I would get out of since I have the DACOM Eethernet card, but it sounds like nothing that I can't do already with my Netbook on its own. I thought that you were networking to your PC, but now I am not sure what you are networking to. Just bear with me, as the networking thing is something that I haven't tried yet.

Thanks, I apprecate the info.

Thanks,

Bobbyr

[diem]

I am indeed networking from my netBook to my PC. Since the late eighties, all computer networks follow the ISO 7-layer protocol; the bottom layer is the physical layer, i.e. the network cable. Each layer stacks on top of this - TCP/IP is layers 4/5. Above this, are the actual client protocols, examples of which would be CIFS (Microsoft's protocol for sharing directories and printers etc.), FTP, HTTP, ICQ, etc.

Thus, we can only 'network together' the netBook and PC using a protocol that they both support. FTP is the most obvious one to use, since there is no support for CIFS on the netBook.

Does that answer your question?

[wanman]

Yan,

Going back to the original topic on this thread, I note that you will be updating your web site (when you are less busy !!) with a new list of compatible ethernet/wireless cards for the netbook. Would it be possible to list alondside, the power consumption on all compatible cards as users who have upgraded their 7 to Netbook will need to know this before rushing out and getting a card.

Anything over the 300mA total consumtion will probably not work. Split modem/ethernet cards such as the Psion CombineIT 10/100 LAN +56k modem have a total consumption of around 300-330mA but only if the modem and ethernet is used at eactly the the same time. This is almost halved when used individually which enable them to be used on the 7.

Regards

Si

[nclark]

This needs to show not just the power consumption but also the voltage requirements.

[wanman]

Good thinking Nick. I notice that the Netbook supports both 3.3 & 5 Volt cards but I cannot find serious technical details on the 7 but assume it supports both aswell??

Anyone out there know for definite? Does anyone out there know more about this power supply differences between the Netbook & 7. Were these differences lifted when the motherboards were combined?

Si

[diem]

will do. I can tell that this compat list is going to be a much bigger area of my site than I'd envisaged :eek:

[nclark]

I've just check the manual that came with the 7 (as a last resort ... and all that :p) and it says "PC card interface accepts 3V/45V Type I and Type II PC cards". So I was mistaken in thinking it only supplied 3.3 V.

I have retried the Dell Truemobile WiFi card, but it definitely doesn't work, which is strange given the power consumption ratings listed on the site Yan quoted, and that it is a rebadged Lucent with the FCC ID: IMRWLPCE24H. I have selected the Lucent 802.11 driver in the Ethernet settings. Is there something obvious I'm not doing to enable it?

[wanman]

Just managed to dig out a 7 manual and according to the stats, the PCCard supports both 3.3 & 5 volt Type I & II PC Cards aswell. If this is the case, why has Psion restricted the power consumtion of cards to 300mA on the 7 and 650mA on the Netbook?

Hopefully Yan's thoughts about the differences only applying to the older boards (i.e. before they were rationalised into one generic board) is true and we can all use cards as per the Netbook.

We could make the wild assumption that if your 7 was fitted with a personality modul with a build of 756, then you probably have the rationalised board. (Any extra info on detecting which motherboard you have would be helpful aswell)

So the question now is, has anyone who has upgraded their 7 to a 7book tried any of the supported wireless cards or wired cards which exceed this 300mA limit?

Regards
Si

[nclark]

Yep - as mentioned previously I've tried the Cisco 340 and the Dell Truemobile (Lucent) and neither work.

Mine was a 751 Series 7.

[wanman]

Although I am not sure but I think the 751 build personality boards were fitted to the original 7 unique motherboad. We could do with an old Psion employee to let us know the actuals. If the current 7 MB board which accompanied the 756 personality boad has also been restricted to the 300mA limit, how was this achieved on the generic 7/netbook MB

I have checked out the Cisco 340 & Dell.

Cisco 340 has been replaced by the 1200 and this is a Type II PC Card running 3.3v with a consumption of 520mA Transmit and 580mA Receive.
Cisco 350 needs 5v but the consumtion is reduced to 450mA Transmit and 270mA Receive

Dell Truemobile 1150 is again a Type II PC Card running at 5v with a consumption 285mA Transmit and 185mA Receive. Although this would not seem compatible as I cannot find it within the Ethernet setting. Have you just used the Lucent/Orinoco standard settings?

Regards
Si

[nclark]

The Cisco 1200 series are 54Mbps 802.11a devices, although the access point is compatible with 11Mbps 802.11b clients. The Cisco 350 series have replaced the 340, and I would assume are compatible although I haven't tried them yet. The Cisco site indicates the maximum transmit power requirements of the 350 client as 450mA.

Regarding the Dell - yes I used the Lucent settings.

[wanman]

Nick, I assume the Dell didn't work for that reason. Yan's compatible list does include the 1100 but I am not sure how similar/different the 1500 is to it.

Unfortunately I think the ethernet compatibility will be a sore point for the time being or until Psion/Users come up with some extra drivers. What they have done is supplied the basics to get the things going but I can imagine they are very device specific. I have also learned today that the same applies to wired ethernet/modem cards. Unless you get hold of the actual card specified or an OEM with same architecture/chip set, I think you may continue to struggle.

One point to be cautious about is that you could have the cards set up correctly and working in your Psion but if the base station has not been set up with the same level of detail your card may never be heard. If you have not already done so. it may be wise to check them in a laptop to ensure the base station is configured correctly for the card you are trying before putting them in your Psion, then you know for sure that it is a Psion problem rather than network.

Of course this could all be bs but until the likes of PDSStreet members try out these cards, we will never really know what will and won't work so keep up the good work !!

Si

[nclark]

It seems the members of this group are the only resource when it comes to testing these things! Good job everyone's an enthusiast.

You are right regarding the base station set-up, but the Psion isn't even seeing the card - "Card not active" as though it's not even present. The Cisco and other cards work fine in an Ipaq with this base station (a Cisco 350). Even though I have use Mac Address filtering to provide security, the base station still normally sees a new card, just doesn't let it through.

It's at times like these the Jornada 728 looks tempting as it supports all these options natively, and is cheaper. Just needs a copy of EPOCWin!

[stumac]

This is pretty much a copy of information posted in the S7 forum, but I thought it would be worth reposting here.

I had a S7 (751 build) that I have upgraded with the 7book personality module using netbook s/w build 158.

I've tried an SMC WLAN card that didn't work so checked out the power consumptions of various Lucent cards and ordered an Avaya Gold card yesterday with a 5v 285mA max current drain.

It arrived this morning and I plugged it straight into the 7book with the Lucent settings. Nothing works, no lights, no nothing (and I know how to set the WLAN stuff up!).

Seriously annoyed now that my upgraded 7book personality modle has got me a few extra MHz, but not the network connectivity. I've asked this before, but is there anyone who can help me upgrade this system to give me network access?

Thanks.

[diem]

much discussion has been made of wireless cards that do/do not work. I'm wondering what the story is with wired cards? I am naively assuming that a wired card (if well-designed) should draw less current than a wireless card since it does not have to do radio. Thus I'm thinking that it'd be good to try a Psion Dacom or better CombineIT card in a 7book. Any takers?

[martyscholes]

A coupla quick notes here.

I ordered the SMC WiFi card that MJC did the reseach to find which showed a picture on the website of a non-V.2 card. They shipped the V.2 card, which is known not to work and I am shipping it back.

Also, I will point out that there is a VERY simple solution to all of these networking issues that I have been using for years, even back in my S7 days. Clarinetsys.com sells a product that costs less than an access point and a WiFi card. It has an infrared port on one side of it and an ether port on the other. If you have a LAN with a DHCP server, then you can aim any EPOC device at it and go with no config on the device. With the netBook you just choose the IrLAN setting. With the others, you have to fake out a PPP session over infrared. Either way it is fast and very nice. Recently my IT manager made me stop using my 802.11b access point at work, and I have been back to the infrared device and still pretty happy with it.

[nclark]

I also use the Clarinet and find it very good, but it does tie you to one place. I can't roam either on the wireless network, or connect to other wired ports unless I lig around the clarinet device, the IR module, and the power supply. Not exactly portable!

Looking at all the threads here it seems that the Lucent/Avaya cards do work with the 7book unless it is an upgraded 751 version (like mine :( ). I guess these older ones have a different motherboard.

[pro2type]

Where exactly is the versionnumber 751 shown ?

On the S7 software when the 7-rom is inserted, or directly on the rom ?

Finding out if an opgraded S7 can do WLAN is crucial to the future of this machine, with all the WLAN hotspots found a lot of places these days.

Can some wlan cards function on newer upgraded S7s ?

[wanman]

Hi pro2type,

The Build number (751, 754 & 756) is, or should be, displayed on the sticker on the 7 personality module. Although this is not definite, it is assumed that that the 751 module was fitted to the older more unique motherboard with the 756 fitted to the later more generic board. The 754 module could be an either/or scenario. This is only an assumption though and it would be handy if a Psion engineer could fill us in on the facts.

Re the wlan cards, if at all possible you should try and keep under the 300mA total power consumption (not sure if this is possible with the wlan cards). If your 7 personality module has a build no of 756 you may be ok with higher rated cards but try and stick with the cards which Psion and this forum say are definitely supported by the netbook.

Hope this helps.......slightly

Regards

Si

[spegru]

I noticed this thread on using smartmedia card adaptors http://www.pdastreet.com/forums//showthread.php?s=&postid=6797#post6797

There seems to be some dependency fo the card adaptor to be well pushed home.

I said:

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.

Sooo - I wonder if this is the problem some people are having with ethernet cards.

Worth experimenting with? ....


rgds

spegru

[wanman]

Spegru, additional conversation is going on on a different thread re wireless cards for the 7book and we have come up with a query. Can you help.

http://www.pdastreet.com/forums//showthread.php?threadid=1850&goto=newpost

Do you know if the lucent drivers included in the latest netbook OS supports both the WEP 64bit encryption cards (silver) and also the RC4 128 bit encryption cards (gold). There seems to be discussion here that the golds to work (well one post anyway) but the silvers seem more compliant with both the netbook and 7book.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Si

[ias]

I believe the SMC2632W-v2 uses the Atmel chipset whereas the older SMC 2632W uses the Intersil Prism chipset.

A possible reason that the older card works may be that the Lucent/Avaya/Agere Orinoco cards use part of the Prism chipset (the MAC?) and are "sort of" compatible with the older SMC cards.

Has anyone tried a Linksys WPC11 which also has the Prism chipset?

Ian

[walterk]

Hi,

I got a Toshiba Wireless LAN PC Card Gold, which is in fact a Lucent Card.
This worked fine from the first moment. The only problem is also with the pointer stick.

Now I managed to get a Psion DACOM 56k + Fax + 10/100 Ethernet Gold Card which is also marked as Multi-funktion CardBus.

Is there a chance to get it working?

Walter

[wanman]

You can but try but the cardbus cards are 32bit whereas the port only supports 16bit cards so doubt it will work.

Regards

Si