Thinkpads Forum

There appears to be a lot of confusion regarding what kind of card is suitable for these computers and what operating system they work in.

Let me just mention my understanding of the situation, summarized from quite a bit of practical work (I have two 760ELs, a 765L and a 765D) and around a year of checking forums and reading product descriptions.

The subject Thinkpads have two 16 Bit PMCMIA slots, NOT CardBus (CardBus cards are 32 Bit and will not fit in the slots). The onboard controller is the TI 1130 from Texas Instruments and only functions properly under Windows 95/98. It can be set up, but does not work properly under either Windows 2000 or Windows XP. I have read in one place that the problem is that the driver for this controller needs to be loaded into low memory, but by default is loaded into high memory under everything except Windows 95/98. I have not yet been able to determine whether this is true, and if so whether there is a fix for the problem.

The port replicator for these two models (FRU 66G3574) has two PMCMIA slots with an Intel controller. This controller functions properly even with Windows 2000/XP, and thus offers a "workaround" for anyone who wants to work with these two operating systems but needs the use of the PCMCIA slots as well.

That is the state of my knowledge to date. If anyone has better information, or additional information, I would be pleased to hear from you.

This might explain why my external CD-RW wouldn't work on the XD. I've had other cards run fine, but always had an issue with that.

Cardbus works fine on my 760...

@gearguy:

"Cardbus works fine on my 760..."

As mentioned, "Cardbus" is 32 Bits and definitely does _not_ work in a 760 or 765 (I have several of both models). Look at the "nose" of the PCMCIA card, left hand side looking down from the top, and you'll see it's thin for 16 Bit, thick for 32 Bit. The 32 Bit Cardbus cards don't fit in a 760x or 765x and if you try to force them in, they'll damage the slot.

I have 16 Bit PCMCIA cards that work just fine with my 760/765 Thinkpads (and other older models), and 32 Bit Cardbus cards that work with my Thinkpad 600x and T21, but not with the 760/765.

The basic problem here is that the term "Cardbus" is so often misused. It would be clearer and better to simply refer to 16 Bit or 32 Bit PCMCIA.

Check the twbook.pdf for your particular 760xx model to see if it supports Cardbus. This is from the twbook for the 760E PC card slots:

"2 Type I or 2 Type II or 1 Type III / CardBus 32 bit PCI / PCMCIA 2.1 compatible"

Some 760xx models don't support it, e.g. the 760LD. Thanks robbyrobot for the info on the port replicator. Cheers...

The 760C, CD, L and LD do not support CardBus. However, all other 760s do but the feature has to be specifically enabled in the ThinkPad Configuration Utility under Windows before CardBus cards will function properly.

Exactly. I was generalizing too much. Thanks for the comment.

Thanks robbyrobot for the info on the port replicator.

My pleasure. I only found this out by chance after installing Windows XP on one of my TP 765s (I have both the 765D and the 765L).