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Everything Else => General Support and Discussion => Zaurus General Forums => Archived Forums => Hardware Mods => Topic started by: wrc4 on August 21, 2006, 11:14:29 pm

Title: Pcmcia - Ide Adaptor, What About Cf?
Post by: wrc4 on August 21, 2006, 11:14:29 pm

I just bought a PCMCIA - IDE Adaptor, it has a PCMCIA card in one end, and a 2.5 inch IDE HD plug on the other end. I hooked up a regular 2.5 inch HD and it worked perfectly on my Dell Notebook.

My question is: Can I take off the PCMCIA end and replace it with a CF? I know that a CF can be adapted to PCMCIA via a simple adaptor, so the wiring could be easily changed, but I don't know if CF standard allows the same functionality as PCMCIA for a regular IDE HD.

If this can be done, I should be able to use this adaptor to connect any HDD to my Zaurus.

Title: Pcmcia - Ide Adaptor, What About Cf?
Post by: Reaper on August 22, 2006, 12:25:44 am

Well, there ARE some adapters that let you install PCMCIA cards into devices with CF slot. A friend of mine successfully used this adapter with PCMCIA modem and Ethernet cards on his Z. But with a hard disk a matter of power becomes critical - either provide you provide external power for your HDD (and risk a reasonable chance to fry your Z), or it will not work due to lack of current from CF slot.

A solid-state HDD (e.g., NAND one, like one installed on last Sony UMPCs) has a slight chance to work as-is, though.

Title: Pcmcia - Ide Adaptor, What About Cf?
Post by: Da_Blitz on August 22, 2006, 01:58:33 am

Quote

My question is: Can I take off the PCMCIA end and replace it with a CF? I know that a CF can be adapted to PCMCIA via a simple adaptor, so the wiring could be easily changed, but I don't know if CF standard allows the same functionality as PCMCIA for a regular IDE HD.

not without some sort of IDE to pcmcia chip, the PCMCIA allows for direct hookup of an IDE hard drive however the circutry in the xscales dosent support it

if you can f ind one with a bridge chip then you should be able to, but usb is most likly a better choice

Title: Pcmcia - Ide Adaptor, What About Cf?
Post by: wrc4 on August 22, 2006, 09:38:21 pm

Thanks Reaper and Da_Blitz,

The seller told me that this was used with some old laptops without USB. Yes, USB is a better choice.

BTW, I have a HP Jornada 680 and trying jLime (www.jLime.com) now. I'm thinking that I might be able to hook up a HDD to it. (680 came with a standard PCMCIA slot).

Title: Pcmcia - Ide Adaptor, What About Cf?
Post by: Da_Blitz on August 23, 2006, 12:17:20 am

if it uses a strong arm then it has the same limitations as the xscales (too bad, that would make for a nice terminal)

Title: Pcmcia - Ide Adaptor, What About Cf?
Post by: wrc4 on August 23, 2006, 01:15:16 am

Quote

if it uses a strong arm then it has the same limitations as the xscales (too bad, that would make for a nice terminal)
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It uses SH3 CPU

Title: Pcmcia - Ide Adaptor, What About Cf?
Post by: Da_Blitz on August 23, 2006, 04:36:30 am

well then i would break out the sh3 manual =D