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USB via PS2 device on laptop

Hi my USB port is broken on my laptop (Windows 98 OS) - I tried to use a a USB to a PS2 device, but when I attach my digital camera to the USB socket, it doesn't recognise the camera as an external drive.

Any suggestions?

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Callandor

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avivak1

ASKER

And I thought I was brilliant!

Thanks a lot!

avivak1

ASKER

oh one question -- how can I tell if my card slot is not a 16-bit one?

DabRain

the other option which is much slower and cheaper is to use a serial to usb adaptor

mysticaldan

Get Everest : http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en&pageid=1
and run it. It shud tell you loads abt the system also.

Another thing. How is the USB broken? Is it broken physically or doesnt work?

Dan

Watzman

If your computer is a "modern" computer, your PC Card slots will support Cardbus cards (32-bit PC Cards). 32-bit cards are, architecturally, "PCI Cards", while 16-bit cards are "ISA Cards" (and this is literally correct in terms of the internal workings and the connection to an interface with the CPU chipset).

Cardbus (or 32-bit) PC Cards were introduced around 1997, when the common processors in new laptops were about Pentium MMX 166 MHz. In theory, a Cardbus PC Card won't fit [all the way] into a 16-bit PC Card slot, but some sockets made before Cardbus existed will accept them. If you are dealing with about a 1996 to 1998 laptop, then the situation can be more ambiguous, but hopefully it's a more recent model than that. Any PC Cards used to add USB or Firewire ports to a laptop MUST be cardbus -- the necessary speed, DMA and "plug and play" interfaces to add USB ports doesn't exist for 16-bit PC cards.

There are no "serial to USB adapters". There are, however, "USB to serial" adapters. As you found out in the case of your experiments with USB to PS/2 adpaters, even though you can get the connectors to fit together, these adapters are "one-way only". They don't work "backwards".

Callandor

How to determine if you have 32-bit Cardbus slots present:
http://www.synchrotech.com/support/cardbus-info-01.html