Re: [pc110] Accessing Picoflash/CompactFlash slot freezes machine

Vaughan Pratt (pratt nospam at cs.stanford.edu)
Sun, 01 Apr 2001 12:31:10 -0700

From: "Eugene Kang" <s806803 nospam at student.uq.edu.au>
Message-ID: <01bc01c0b9e6$10791040$de1aa8c0 nospam at wiredpc>
>I don't know the detail but heard that,,,,,
>Some person reconstruct right slot,
>make jump-cable from left PCMCIA-socket to CF socket.
>The result, use one CF-card and one PCMCIA-card.
>(it cannot use 2 pcmcia-slot)

The experience some of us have been having is that plugging a Microdrive
into the CF socket freezes the system. (A little plastic surgery is
needed for this.) I tried this with an early model 340, no idea if more
recent models would work better.

I asked the chairman of the Compact Flash Association, Bill Frank, what
he thought was going on and his guess was that the Microdrive current
exceeded the old Type 1 spec. So I figured that a little boost to the
card's VCC should fix that but have not had time to try it.

Any change allowing a bit more current to flow into the CF card might
do the job. Using a cable to clone a left-hand socket in the space
for the CF card sounds a lot more heavy-handed as well as wasting one
socket---that only makes sense in conjunction with a Type III drive
on the left, with a Type II anything in one slot a far simpler way of
getting the Microdrive into the PC110 is in a PCMCIA adaptor in the
second slot on the left.

Who currently is having success with Microdrives in the right slot,
and with what modifications besides the necessary plastic surgery?

Vaughan Pratt