PCMCIA-GBIP card problems

[Darwin]

This card was originally purchased in 1997 for use with a Mac 1400 portable. It still works fine in that system, through MacOS's 7.5 through 9.1.

The card also works fine with a PCMCIA reader in an ISA slot in a Pentium MMX. This adapter uses the Cirrus chip set.

Attempts to use this card in other systems has not met with much success.

MAC's:
All newer G3 and G4 models (including latest Titanium) with PCMCIA slots,
If system is running: insertion of card causes finder to crash.
If Computer is off: insertion of card prevents startup.

PC's:

Sony, with Ricoh chip set. Works OK, is recognized upon insertion.

Sager, older notebook with 133 MHz CPU. Works fine

Dell,and others, with TI chip set. Card is not reco
gnized. Does not crash system.

Does the card need a firmware update, or is it too outdated to work with newer systems. This was a very expensive (for my business) device, and is needed for field work.

Thanks

[Randy Solomonson]

The PCMCIA-GPIB will not work with third-party socet services installed in Windows NT. This is typically known as Softex on Dell systems. Unintalling this utility and installing the native Windows NT PCMCIA driver is preferred.

Another common issue is the BIOS setting. Our cards are 16-bit pcmcia cards, not PCIC or cardbus. There may be a conflict if another PCMCIA card is in a slot.

Also, be sure the latest driver is installed.

Randy Solomonson
Applications Engineer
National Instruments