Adding a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card to X30? (PIC)

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emoticonartist · #1 Post by **emoticonartist** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 12:33 pm

Has anyone added a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card to a X30? I'm reluctant in spending $$$ on one for I don't know if the card can be sufficiently powered by the X30's usb 1.1 port.

I'd appreciated any X30 users opinions on a good USB 2.0 PCMCIA card and if the card needs to powered at all from the X30's usb!

MOD EDIT: Pic warning added.

qviri · #2 Post by **qviri** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 12:45 pm

What do you mean by a "USB 2.0 PCMCIA card"? The X30 has a couple of USB 1.1 slots, as well as a full PCMCIA type II slot.

ExpressCards are the ones that comes in either USB or PCI-E, but the X30 predates that specification.

emoticonartist · #3 Post by **emoticonartist** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 1:06 pm

Sorry if I wasn't clear!

I'm talking about a PCMCIA card that has USB 2.0 ports in it - to pretty much add USB 2.0 ports to the X30.

Like such (as an example):

qviri · #4 Post by **qviri** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 1:23 pm

These cards get power from the PCMCIA slot. The X30's USB 1.1 slots would not be involved at all.

emoticonartist · #5 Post by **emoticonartist** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 1:31 pm

Thanks for fast reply!

I was wondering why cards such as these have a power connector in the middle in the first place then?

I'll go and purchase one and see how it works!

kippen · #6 Post by **kippen** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 6:33 pm

qviri wrote:These cards get power from the PCMCIA slot. The X30's USB 1.1 slots would not be involved at all.

That's not entirely true. Some of the cheaper ones do require an external power source. I've had a couple of cheap ones and they're not worth it.

On the other had, some cheap cards that claimed to need no external power source would freeze up my thinkpad, especially if I was using both USB ports.

Do a little research and send a little more money for a decent one, it will save you strife in the long run.

mfbernstein · #7 Post by **mfbernstein** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:10 am

The DC power jack on most USB 2.0 Cardbus cards is to power external USB devices with, not to power the Cardbus card (which as stated earlier, gets all its power from the Cardbus connector).

Most of these cards output only 500mA per port, which means that for devices requiring a fair bit of power (like bus-powered 2.5" hard drives), you'll need to connect two USB ports to the device (many such devices include a USB Y-cable that makes this easy).

cofreth · #8 Post by **cofreth** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:45 am

mfbernstein wrote:The DC power jack on most USB 2.0 Cardbus cards is to power external USB devices with, not to power the Cardbus card (which as stated earlier, gets all its power from the Cardbus connector).

Most of these cards output only 500mA per port, which means that for devices requiring a fair bit of power (like bus-powered 2.5" hard drives), you'll need to connect two USB ports to the device (many such devices include a USB Y-cable that makes this easy).

So Mfbernstein, you are trying to explain is the DC power jack found on the PCMCIA card are mend for powering up external devices only.
And for this case the USB data port of the 2.5" hardisk will connect to the PCMCIA 2.0 USB port, the power source for the hardisk will connect to the PCMCIA DC power jack, is this correct?

Thank you

msol77 · #9 Post by **msol77** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:51 am

I use one all the time in my X24 and it works great-
no external power needed.
mj

emoticonartist · #10 Post by **emoticonartist** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:09 am

You know, I bought one eventually and the transfer rates were much faster (of course). However, after having this usb pcmcia card installed: (http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3675123) my computer received a BSOD stating "Unmountable Boot Volume". This happened when I tried to take my computer out of standby mode w/ the card still in the slot. Perhaps my hard drive was on its last legs but it was working fine the day before I bought the card.

My bios did not recognize the HD after that (except for one time after reseating the drive but the HD number under the + was all garbled) - so I had to get a new HD.

Should I gamble on using this card again or did my HD just crap out w/ eery coincidence?

cofreth · #11 Post by **cofreth** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:55 am

I just bought one USB 2.0 2 Port PCMCIA here, after buying it then I realise that the centre power adapter port of the PCMCIA bus card need to connect a cable to existing 1.0 USB port inorder for my mouse or 2.0 USB wireless adapter to work. Is this the usual way to use it?

Adding a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card to X30? (PIC)

Adding a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card to X30? (PIC)

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