Thinkpads Forum

Ok, it's not quite a ThinkPad, or a desk setup, but there isn't a section dedicated to accessories/perepherials here so I'm adding it in anyway

Due to the recent acquisition of a TP 701c coupled with the old Toshiba 100CS in the cupboard and my love (trigger happy ebay skills) for vintage laptops I decided it was time to buy another PCMCIA CD-ROM drive as some of these devices don't have USB . I decided that an IBM one would be nice to go with the 701c, and my obsession mainly lies in IBM hardware, so off to ebay, a few clicks later and a bit of waiting and I won the auction for an IBM drive.

In perspective any old PCMCIA CD-ROM on ebay UK sells for about £15 (about $24), this one set me back £25 (about $40) including shipping, which was a price I was willing to pay, especially as it came with a few not so often seen photos. When it arrived I was a little shocked as the ebay description/photos didn't do it justice (neither do my photos really).

After unwrapping some bubble wrap I was presented with this (really wasn't expecting that ):




Then opening the box, I realised that everything was still wrapped in the original plastic bags, with the untouched manuals/paperwork on top :
















I'm not going to pass it off as brand new as it has obviously been used before... Maybe a couple of times over the last 16 years. Another thing to note is that the battery pack still holds charge (although I don't know how long for, will run a test one day).

I've seen photos of that thing.
Definitely something I've been pushing back to collect.
I think its valueble because its so obscure.

Whee! Nice. What is that d-sub connector for?

Saucey wrote:I've seen photos of that thing.
Definitely something I've been pushing back to collect.
I think its valueble because its so obscure.

I did have one a while back but all I had was the drive and it looked like it had been thrown off the top of a tower, I didn't even know they came with all these accessories! They are definitely obscure.

automobus wrote:Whee! Nice. What is that d-sub connector for?

You know what... I don't actually know, I'll have a skim through the manual at some point to see if I can find out.

That 15-pin port is a game-port.
Also check these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fuRvaMwoYA
http://ps-2.kev009.com/pcpartnerinfo/ctstips/47a6.htm

Ok, having checked the manual, it is listed as a game port.

Apparently the Stereo CD-ROM has a built in sound card, so for older laptops without a sound card it can also be used as an external sound card. The 'game' port is there for the other intended use of that port, MIDI.

So instead of connecting a joystick (although it may work) you can connect the game port to a MIDI keyboard, synth etc... to record/playback MIDI.

This brings be back a bit as I studied Music Technology at college 12 years ago, back then we were using game port MIDI leads, nowadays though, my 15 year old digital piano is connected to an old laptop via a USB MIDI cable, using Rosegarden on Linux.

Well... As interesting as that is, all my old laptops have sound cards, but then again, I'll have to test this to see how powerful it is

So does the kit operate as a multifunction 16-bit PC Card, one function is conventional PC AT Attachment (PATA) host controller, another function is audio controller (sound card)?

So then, is that PC Card module nothing but a buffer/transceiver/repeater/booster which extends 16-bit PC Card bus to external drive unit, which contains the electronics and logic of: 16-bit PC Card device, PATA controller, PC sound/audio and game port?