PCMCIA and USB on A1200, would it work?

[Gringueiro]

I had the same idea! These PCMCIA USB cards are easy to find here in Brazil, but they are all the 32 bit cardbus variety. I will try to find a 16 bit one and then look for drivers for the Amiga, but it seems difficult if not impossible to find. One possibility that I found on the internet is a compact flash card to USB 1.1 converter for PDA's sold by ratoc systems in Japan. See their web page at http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpages/cfu1u.html
In theory you would need a compact flash card to PCMCIA adapter and then plug in this card. I haven't actually tried this, so all bets are off but who knows?

[Gringueiro]

Actually there seem to be at least three of these Compact Flash USB cards on the market - follow the link to get details and a comparison:
http://www.twin-paradox.com/comparison.html
In principle, compact flash is just a miniature version of the 16 bit PCMCIA standard, so a compact flash card connected to a PCMCIA converter (just converts the 50 pin compact flash card to 68 pin PCMCIA) should work. Just bear in mind that the compact flash USB cards were build with PDAs in mind and not this purpose, so someone will have to write appropriate drivers....

[Gringueiro]

Curtis from Twin Paradox replied to my e-mail (friendly and helpful guy - e-mail: cfusbhost@twin-paradox.com) and told me that a few years ago they developed a 16 bit PCMCIA USB card, but Microsoft wouldn't lisence it due to the "upgrade" from Windows 98 to Windows ME, so they scrapped the project after it was ready to produce! I tried to persuade him to resurrect the project, but without success. Maybe a few more Amiga users contacting them will make them realise the financial possibilities and reconsider... :-)