X21 - Compact Flash slot I/O compatible ?

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GpsPasSion · #1 Post by **GpsPasSion** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:30 am

Looking at picking up a cheap X21 as a backup for my X31 that needs to repaired and was wondering if anyone had successfully tried using a WiFi or Bluetooth or GPS CF device in the CF port ? They work fine on my X31 and that can come in handy especially with the lack of WiFi or BT on the X21. Thanks.

bhtooefr · #2 Post by **bhtooefr** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 6:57 am

Nobody's tried it, but we HAVE recieved reports that the CF slot is hanging off of the CardBus controller, and not a separate CF controller. Therefore, CF IO should work no problem, as long as there's drivers. If it would work in a CF to PCMCIA adaptor, it will work in the X21's CF slot.

GpsPasSion · #3 Post by **GpsPasSion** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:07 am

Thanks for the good news, will give it a try when I check them out in the shop, likley on Thursday and will report back here

Talking about the CF slot, I've found that transferring large files/pictures maxed out the CPU on my X31, same with a CF adapter in the PCMCIA slot, any work around ?

bhtooefr · #4 Post by **bhtooefr** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:18 am

The only workaround I can think of is a Mini-PCI to PCI adaptor, with an IDE controller on that, but that means you'll have to run with the keyboard popped out (so the Mini-PCI slot is uncovered).

GpsPasSion · #5 Post by **GpsPasSion** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:02 am

Doesn't sound very practical

you're saying the limitation is on the bandwidth of the miniPCI ? I guess it can't be made to use DMA ? As long as it doesn't slow down the X21 when using WiFI I guess that's ok.

Not sure it's worth it getting a PCMCIA to USB2.0 adapter then as the speed would probably not be very good and/or high CPU use.

bhtooefr · #6 Post by **bhtooefr** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:40 am

There's no cheating the CPU usage problems, in a practical way.

However, for sheer CF file transfer issues, there's an idea I came up with.

Go get yourself an UltraBay 2000 Hard Drive adaptor. Get a laptop HDD to Compact Flash adaptor. 2 + 2 = 4.

(Note that this requires the UltraBase.)

Also, my X21 has perfectly fine CPU utilization and speed using WiFi - when the card works at all...

(not an X21 problem, rather a "using a damaged card" problem)

GpsPasSion · #7 Post by **GpsPasSion** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:48 am

bhtooefr wrote:Go get yourself an UltraBay 2000 Hard Drive adaptor. Get a laptop HDD to Compact Flash adaptor. 2 + 2 = 4.

Interesting idea, does that mean the UlraBay has a standard IDE connector in it ?

bhtooefr · #8 Post by **bhtooefr** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:25 am

No, it doesn't. The UltraBay 2000 Hard Drive adaptor converts the proprietary plug in there to a bog-standard 44-pin IDE connector. However, it does use the IDE protocol, so it's simply changing the pinout when it does the conversion. In fact, I think it's possible to take a dead UltraBay 2000 CD drive, remove the rails and adaptor from the back, and use it like a hard drive adaptor. Getting it out will be a pain, though, which is why I recommend the IBM part.

em500 · #9 Post by **em500** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 6:14 am

GpsPasSion wrote: Not sure it's worth it getting a PCMCIA to USB2.0 adapter then as the speed would probably not be very good and/or high CPU use.

Actually a Cardbus USB2 adapter is a very good option, I have this one, and combined with a USB2 CF card reader it is much faster than the built-in CF reader and has low CPU utilization. XP and W2K already have built-in drivers for the Transcend adapter so it's really plug-and-play. The X31 already has USB2 built in, you can plug in a USB2 CF reader to try.

The problem with the internal CF slots on the X2*/X3* is that they're just standard PCMCIA/Cardbus slots (with different pin arrangement). Just like when you use a straight PCMCIA CF card adapter, it uses a slow 16-bit transfer mode for CF cards. You can buy a fast 32-bit Cardbus adapter from Delkin or Lexar, but I find the USB2 a lot more flexible, as it gives you two USB2 ports (which the X2* series don't have). The disadvantage is of course that it sticks out a bit.

GpsPasSion · #10 Post by **GpsPasSion** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:02 am

Sounds good thanks, just found an X23 for a good price so it looks like I'll be picking one up over the X21.

GpsPasSion · #11 Post by **GpsPasSion** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:46 pm

Did get that X23 and it's rather nice, but I can't connect an external 2.5" HD to the PCMCIA/USB2 adatper, it locks up the X23, works fine with USB card readers. Tried plugging in a DC adapter but it doesn't help, anyone seen that before ?

X21 - Compact Flash slot I/O compatible ?

X21 - Compact Flash slot I/O compatible ?

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