Created Thursday 26/7/2007
This how-to covers cardbus (PCMCIA type I, II, III), also known as PC Card, in the context of Fedora Core linux. The Cardbus technology has been arround since the mid 1990's and is particularly useful in mobile hardware, such as laptops. In recent years, the proliferation of usb devices has reduced the utility of cardbus, given that usb devices can be easily daisy changed with cheap usb hubs. However, for some applications, especially those involving data transfer, the cardbus technology may prove a better choice given that the throughput rates are better than for USB 2.0 (or 2.5 for that matter). The pcmcia site is a good source of information for cardbus.
Cardbus devices are classified as Type I, Type II or Type III devices. This classification only refers to the tickness of the card and a typical card bus slot on, e.g., a laptop is capable of supporting two Type I cards or type Type II or one Type III. This is purely because some cars, such as wireless adaptors or mini harddisks are quite bulky and take up the entire cardbus slot.
There are heaps of external links to Cardbus technology. Most notably:
Stuart Moorfoot © 26 July 2007 foo@bund.com.au