VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Springboard Modules (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=10)
-- PCMCIA, darnit! (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=10601)

The Visor's springboard slot uses the same connector that PCMCIA cards use. Great idea!

But the pinouts are different. BAD idea!

I noticed someone has altered a PCMCIA/compact flash module so that it will work with the Visor. It's a shame it's not as easy to modify any other PCMCIA module. I've got a PCMCIA 10/100 ethernet adapter that I'd love to be able to slide into my Visor and use to connect to my University's network.

Think of all the modules we would have if existing PCMCIA cards could be simply slipped into a sleeve, then plugged into the springboard slot! All you'd need would be software!

What WERE they thinking!


OK, I'm calm now. Can anyone point me to a comparison chart showing springboard pinouts next to PCMCIA pinouts? I'm not using my PCMCIA ethernet card, so maybe I'll hack it up to work in the Visor.

Dave

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Pin outs

You can find this infromation from handsprings developer's website. Down load the PDF for springboard development and the infromation is on page 46. Good Luck!

Where are you going to get the software?

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Originally posted by DBrown
...Think of all the modules we would have if existing PCMCIA cards could be simply slipped into a sleeve, then plugged into the springboard slot! All you'd need would be software!

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Originally posted by DBrown
...I'm not using my PCMCIA ethernet card, so maybe I'll hack it up to work in the Visor.

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So write some software, dang it!

MPM,

I'll agree software is required. As far as I can tell, the Visor hardware and PalmOS are open source, or at least well documented. Can it really be that hard to write a driver for the things? Yes, it's a problem. It certainly doesn't seem like it should be one that completely stops development. With all the .coms dying off, there ought to be thousands of qualified programmers out there looking for work.

Now a hardware incompatibility... THAT would stop development. No matter how hard you try, you can't squeeze blood from a turnip.

Dave ;-)

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Another reason you won't find a SB<->PCMCIA adapter is power consumption (among numerous other things). PCMCIA cards generally consume 200-600mA, whereas the Visor can only supply 100mA

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Originally posted by Card Access
Another reason you won't find a SB<->PCMCIA adapter is power consumption (among numerous other things). PCMCIA cards generally consume 200-600mA, whereas the Visor can only supply 100mA

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amazing that you brought this up DBrown, I was just searching in the basement and found a PCMCIA modem, and ethernet adapter. I took them up and noticed the pin arrangments were identical. I was very excited and tried to push the card gently into the springboard slot. didn't go. it would be great if this could work. i will look at the developers site, and if anyone has any luck please post

brandon

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brandon
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quote:

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Originally posted by pcgamingnet.com
I took them up and noticed the pin arrangments were identical. I was very excited and tried to push the card gently into the springboard slot. didn't go.

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The connector core is a PCMCIA style, 68-pin connector with different keying features. These unique keying features are designed to prevent accidental insertion of an incompatible card.

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God bless America, my home sweet home...

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Also, the Springboard interface is different from that of PCMCIA. Even if a PCMCIA card could work in the Springbaord slot, there's still the issue about driver's, etc.

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brandon
drop me a line

quote:

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Originally posted by pcgamingnet.com
if anyone gets it to work, let me know

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The Springboard slot is designed to be very similar to a PCMCIA slot. The connector is the same, and the majority of the signals are identical. Unfortunately, there are just enough differences to make adapting regular PCMCIA cards to work in the Springboard slot impractical. However, the CF interface is a subset of the PCMCIA interface. In addition, CF storage cards can operate in a memory mapped mode that ignores most of the signals that are absent from the Springboard slot. This means that there are only a few CF signals that don't map to the Springboard slot exactly as they map to PCMCIA

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God bless America, my home sweet home...

OK, so it's hard. Someone should do it anyway!

Thank, Mark, for pointing out all the reasons why we can't shove our PCMCIA cards right into out Visors.

Of course, that was my original point.

Handspring would have done us all a tremendous favor if they had designed that springboard slot TO accept PCMCIA cards. 90% of the complaints on this websight would not exist, since they are about the lack of promised springboard modules to buy.

But they didn't.

A new semester starts in a few days. I'm scheduled to chat with a professor in the EE department about making springboard module design a class project. He seemed very positive about the idea on the phone, but has never seen a Visor. My department includes product design courses, and I think I can get that professor to make the case/packaging for these designed modules a class project, coordinated with the EE kids.

Why? Because...

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Re: OK, so it's hard. Someone should do it anyway!

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Originally posted by murph
Not really a problem, you can take the approach Compaq took with the iPaq PC Card adapter and give it it's own battery.

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quote:

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Originally posted by DBrown
90% of the complaints on this websight would not exist, since they are about the lack of promised springboard modules to buy.

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Of course, there are no Springboard NICs, wired or wireless.

Once we are past that hurdle, the PCMCIA/Springboard debate will slow.

Will anyone actually ever ship a wired Ethernet springboard now? Xircom has apparenly pulled back on their decision to do so.

You could always argue that using "standard" PCMCIA cards would offer a broader product selection than we have today with Springboards alone, but without a battery powered adaptor, most would drain the Visor in a heartbeat.

Without drivers, most would be useless. If there is not enough of a market for a device maker to change his PCMCIA device to be a Springboard device, will there be enough of a market to have him write a Visor driver for his PCMCIA device running in an adaptor?

-Tim

Just because you can doesnt mean ya should

There used to be a pcmcia adaptor in development for the palm3 called the parachute. It used a serial interface with the palm which unfortunately made it a little slow. Outside of that the standing issue of drivers for pcmcia cards was still present and the company refused at length in the statement on the page where they gave info on buying beta hardware that they would in no way shape or form write any drivers at anyones request. The reason being that no company is going to port drivers for hardware that they dont manufacture or license. It is simply not cost effective and impossibile to rationalize. That and the adaptors only tested uses involved the pcmcia-serialATA interface which is alot easier to address than ethernet or any other pcmcia cards. As I understand it the interface is very similar to compact flash. So in theory if you had an adaptor to pcmcia from springboard. If you accually had software writen into the rom on the adapter it would have to load a serialATA interface and then after that you would have to load a driver for whatever the pcmcia card is.
Making that work is way too messy for anyone to really get all that interested in it with the prospect of not having any pcmcia cards with drivers. Unless some very large electronics/computer-hardware firm with an important manager/project-lead with severly handycaped math skills got working on it....... it simply won't happen.

Maybe I'm being pesimistic. But if its just pesimism then howcome there arent any springboard2pcmcia adaptors ?


Bane
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[Edited by Bane on 01-08-2001 at 08:51 PM]