PCMCIA USB Adapter?

[carvedeye]

Would it be possible to plug one of these into the PCMCIA port and use for usb? are there drivers for something like this? Would be a great way to use usb devices

[som99]

Im quite sure ive seen 16-bit PCMCIA USB controllers but I have not seen any Amiga drivers for any, sorry
Would be a great thing to have tho

[LoadWB]

One of the first issues which comes to mind is whether the card is a "real" PCMCIA card or Card-Bus.  Not saying PCMCIA USB cards are not out there, just that all of the USB cards I've come across are the 32-bit Card-Bus type which will not work in the A1200 or A600 PCMCIA port.

[mendark]

One of the first issues which comes to mind is whether the card is a "real" PCMCIA card or Card-Bus. Not saying PCMCIA USB cards are not out there, just that all of the USB cards I've come across are the 32-bit Card-Bus type which will not work in the A1200 or A600 PCMCIA port.

Yeah, the last time I dug into this matter I found out a lot of PCMCIA cards actually have the all-round NEC chip in it (like the Spider USB card). That made me wonder if there could be such thing as a PCMCIA driver. Unfortunately, they're all 32bit cards since it's USB2.0.

There could be a very small possibility of an 16Bit card when you find a USB1.1 interface card. Untill then... hope for a alternative driver.

[LoadWB]

Yeah, the last time I dug into this matter I found out a lot of PCMCIA cards actually have the all-round NEC chip in it (like the Spider USB card). That made me wonder if there could be such thing as a PCMCIA driver. Unfortunately, they're all 32bit cards since it's USB2.0.

There could be a very small possibility of an 16Bit card when you find a USB1.1 interface card. Untill then... hope for a alternative driver.

It gets really funny/complicated with some devices.  For instance, I have a Sony Ericsson PC-300 3G data card.  It's built on the NEC USB chip and uses the internal hub to connect the SIM reader and the 3G modem (with some other device, as well.)

[desiv]

Actually, no.
You can't do it..  It's not the protocol, it's the power...

16-bit PCMCIA doesn't provide 5v, so there's not enough voltage for USB.
Cardbus has the 5V option, which is why you'll see cardbus PCMCIA cards...

desiv

[psxphill]

It gets really funny/complicated with some devices. For instance, I have a Sony Ericsson PC-300 3G data card. It's built on the NEC USB chip and uses the internal hub to connect the SIM reader and the 3G modem (with some other device, as well.)

Alot of express cards are just usb devices. I bought an express card serial card thinking it would be better than a usb one, but it's identical.

[LoadWB]

Alot of express cards are just usb devices. I bought an express card serial card thinking it would be better than a usb one, but it's identical.

Makes sense.  The Express Card interface, IIRC, is just made from a single lane of PCI Express and a USB 2.0 port.

[platon42]

Would it be possible to plug one of these into the PCMCIA port and use for usb? are there drivers for something like this? Would be a great way to use usb devices

There's one card that is 16 bit and could work. alexh has the info as AFAIK he helped develop it. It needs a driver though.

[desiv]

There's one card that is 16 bit and could work. alexh has the info as AFAIK he helped develop it. It needs a driver though.

Found the thread you talked about.  The card is a "Oxsemi CFU950."

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=38391

Looks like anyone who wants (is ABLE ) to write a drive could probably get that working.  But the odds there...  ;-(

Considering the power issues (especially drawing power from the Amiga, which can be picky about power draw), if you got it working, you'd want to attach it to a powered HUB, to keep the draw light.

I wonder if Giloo (who wrote ANAIS, the USB stack) would be interested in that?  He's probably got the best skill set for a driver with his understanding of Amiga USB.
Of course, someone would have to source some cards and get him one and the info alexh had.
 
desiv

[bloodline]

It would probably be quite easy to build one using the rather inexpensive Atmega16U2 chip...

[ncafferkey]

Actually, no.
You can't do it..  It's not the protocol, it's the power...

16-bit PCMCIA doesn't provide 5v, so there's not enough voltage for USB.
Cardbus has the 5V option, which is why you'll see cardbus PCMCIA cards...

desiv

The A1200's 16-bit PCMCIA slot does use 5V, but can't provide 3.3V. 3.3V is used by some PCMCIA and CardBus cards. There are notches on PCMCIA cards and slots to prevent you inserting a 3.3V-only device into a 5V-only slot.

BTW, any other questions people might have on this topic have probably already been answered in previous threads on this and other Amiga forums.