pcmcia help

[gamalla 0]

we recently got new computers w/out a pcmcia port. i have a 2711-NM28 card that I used for our panelviews 550/600. I purchased a USB TO PCMCIA CARD READER from quatech part# U142. i can not get it to work. does any one know any type that will work with 2711-NM28. thanx in advance.

[BobLfoot 302]

This topic has been kicked around adnauseum in the forums and the bad news is there probably isn't one. Most USB to PCMCIA adapters are for 32 bit PCMCIA cards and don't support 16 bit cards and utilities. This is why the 1784-pcmk and most likely your 2711-nm card won't word in a usb to pcmcia adapter arrangement. IF you can spare the hardware I'd set up a 500 or 600 in your office / lab and use a 9300-USBS USB to serial adapter set as fast as it will run to tansfer programs from your pc to the local 500 / 600's memory card and then move the card to the shop floor. Not pretty but it works for us. The other option is to get a PCI to PCMCIA and place it in a desktop pc. This should work with the 2711 and pcmk's but lacks the portability of a laptop.

[Ken Roach 194]

The most common inquiry is about an ExpressCard/PCMCIA or USB/PCMCIA interface to the 1784-PCMK communications card, and that has definitely been done to death. The vendors of these PCMCIA add-on devices originally designed them for wireless broadband device applications, then added claims for universal device support later. When really hard-pressed about legacy device support, they will eventuall admit they don't test a very wide variety of devices. I am surprised the 2711-NM28 card does not work with the USB/PCMCIA interface, since it claims to support ATA type PCMCIA memory cards. The very old 2711-NM1x memory cards for PanelView E and old PanelView Standard terminals were "linear flash" and worked with only a few computers. Most computer PCMCIA interfaces built in the past 10 years will not support a Linear Flash card. The 2711-NM2x memory cards are "ATA" style, and have always been recognized by every Windows computer I've tried them in since the mid-90s. These cards, as well as most general-purpose ATA type memory cards, will work with PanelView Standard (like to 550 and 600) terminals with 3.0 or later firmware. If I were in your shoes, I would try a general-purpose PCMCIA ATA memory card of less then 2 GB to see if it works in the USB/PCMCIA adapter and in the PanelView terminals, and also test your existing Allen-Bradley 2711-NM28 in a computer with a native PCMCIA slot.

[slcman 9]

Here the reply from Rockwell