Laptops :: PCMCIA cards not 'noticed' by Compaq Armada

I am a fan of older computers -- they seem simpler to me. However, the biggest thing that I dislike about old computers is the lack of integrated USB, since transferring huge files over floppy drives (remember the sneakernet days?) is slow and complex.

I now have a Compaq Armada 4131T laptop (no CD-Rom, no USB, no network, no modem, no anything useful) with 80MB of RAM and a 3.2GB hard-drive unto which I installed DSL (Linux kernel 2.4.31) by popping out the HDD and putting it into a more recent laptop, installing DSL and putting it all back together.

I thought I was doing fine until I popped in a wi-fi card and it would not turn on. Not that it just didn't know what the card was, it didn't know a card existed. Popped it in my brothers newer Dell and got the same story: Dead card? Thought so, since my ancient-of-days 3Com 56K Pcmcia modem works just fine on my laptop.

Then I thought to myself, if I buy a USB card, I can kill two birds with one stone, since I already have a USB wi-fi dongle. Well, I did something I now regret and bought a card without any research: "Best Connectivity" knock-off brand, whose web-site to this exact card is here. When I got home, I plugged it in and here is what I found:

Nothing. No beeping when inserted. Running 'cardctl status' just says "no card" to both sockets. Running 'cardctl info' is the same as empty sockets. Booting with the pci=assign-busses flag (suggested around the interwebs for various pcmcia problems) changed nothing. Looking at 'dmesg | tail' brought up nothing interesting:

Code Sample

<6>ttyS02 at 0x03e8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
<6>parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [PCSPP,TRISTATE,EPP]
<4>Registering unionfs 1.0.14
<4>EXT2-fs warning: mounting unchecked fs, running e2fsck is recommended
<6>usb.c: registered new driver hiddev
<6>usb.c: registered new driver hid
<6>hid-core.c: v1.8.1 Andre....
<6>hid-core.c: USB HID support drivers
<6>mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
<6>apm: BIOS version 1.2 Flags 0x03 (Driver version 1.16)

Running 'lspci -v' returns the same info as an empty socket. Running 'lsmod' gives this readout (unfamiliar with it's meaning, but it was usually asked for in trouble-shooting):

Code Sample

Module Size Used by Not tainted
soundcore 3428 0 (autoclean)
apm 9768 1 (autoclean)
mousedev 3832 0 (unused)
hid 22788 0 (unused)
input 3168 0 [mousedev hid]
unionfs 67168 7
nls_iso8859-1 2844 0 (autoclean)
nls_cp437 4348 0 (autoclean)
serial 52228 0 (autoclean)
ieee1394 183300 0
ds 6536 2
i82365 12580 2
pcmcia_core 39840 0 [ds i82365]
ide-cd 28768 0
rtc 7036 0 (autoclean)
cloop 39204 2
usbcore 58016 0 [hid]
ide-scsi 9040 0

So I tried what I know, and I plugged around online for several hours, but could not find much even dealing with PCMCIA to USB cards at all, let alone my situation. Then I tried looking for what people said about the computer not even noticing a card being plugged in. Again, not much available.

Summary: Card is plugged in, computer doesn't notice. It is not the card: Used it in another computer. A different card works in the slot, so I don't think it is the slot. Another card does [l]not[/I] work in the computer, and receives the same treatment as above, so maybe there is an issue with certain kinds of cards or chipsets? Is there an issue with voltages (working card is 5V, this one is 3V)?

I have become completely stumped on this issue, and I hope someone can help me figure out what to do next. I have the windows drivers on a disc, but I don't know a) if they are useful, or b) if they are, how to use them. Anyones help would be very appreciated!

I just noticed the forum tree might suggest a better place for this as under "Non DSL / Hardware" which may be right. I think this is a DSL/software issue, since both cards work on other Windoze machines... However, the activity of absolutely no response from the computer makes me wonder if it is a hardware issue instead of software. On the third hand, other cards work in the ancient laptop, so I don't think this is hardware based. AUGH! My frustration is not that it won't work, it is that I don't know why and I can't figure out how to figure it out!

Anyway, not that my opinion will really assist in finding a solution, just apologizing ahead of time if the thread was categorized incorrectly.

Your pcmcia dongle is a 32 bit version, it doesn't work in an old computer with a 16 bit pcmcia slot.
You have to buy a 16 bit version.
I have a Compaq Armada too and pcmcia dongles for:
modem
wi-fi
usb
netcard
and bluetooth
all in 16 bit versions and all works correctly.
If I try with a 32 version dongle, it doesn't work.

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11303213/New_Philip_7134_Cardbus_PCMCIA_TV_Tuner_Card.jpg

Pic of a 32-bit card; they have those gold knobs in the end. I also think this is your issue, most old laptops only support 16-bit pcmcia cards.

Thank you both! I am absolutely certain that is what is wrong, so hopefully the shop I bought the card at will take it back...

Man, I looked around online forever and I never found that information. Well, I did find someone who said "older computers sometimes can't handle newer cards, you need an adapter" or something along those lines.

The moral of the story is: If you have a 16-bit computer, make sure you buy 16-bit cards! 32-bit cards are no backwards compatible with 16-bit PCMCIA card controllers. The 32-bit cards have that gold strip down by the pins -- visible in the posted image.

Anyway, thanks again for your help! Hope this helps somebody else out there as well, I didn't find that information after a lot of searching.

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