From: Frank Gruendel (newtontalk_at_pda-soft.de)
Date: Mon Apr 19 2004 - 16:13:04 PDT
> I mean, not much use to custom-design a 4-port
> PC Card platform together with Cirrus and then not
> implementing it in the OS, is there?), and then there's
> hardware issue: What to attach the slots to?
> The way I understood Frank, 2x00 provides two CL-PS7030,
> and eMate only one. So it's exactly one controller per
> PC Card. But *IF* there's a controller for every slot,
> how's that cascadeable aka "serial" - one controller
> per port looks more like a parallel architecture, no?
Ok...
1) The Newton 2x00 has two CL-PS7030 PCMCIA controllers
2) The eMate has one CL-PS7030 PCMCIA controller
3) The N2 spec at Unna says that you need one CL-PS7030 per slot
4) Newton system architect Mike Culbert says the same:
http://pd.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=Archives&Subsecti
on=Display&ARTICLE_ID=52439
(be aware that the end of this link is "52439")
From all this I think we can safely assume that we need one
controller per slot. Cascadeable in this context does in all
likeliness mean that the controllers can be cascaded, not the
slots.
You can have a look at the two controllers on a 2x00 main logic board
here: http://www.pda-soft.de/2x00_disassembly43large.jpg
They are the two square chips to the left of the white
display ribbon cable, below the ROM daughterboard.
I did not count the pins and didn't find a datasheet on the web
that would tell me the number, but believe me, there are many, and
they are very close together. Something not even I would try
with the equipment I have available is soldering such a chip.
Nor would I try soldering a PCMCIA connector.
Now let's assume PCBMan suddenly finds he has way too much time,
and he hasn't the slightest what to do with it. So he develops
a board with two CL-PS7030 on it. Certainly they would be soldered
perfectly, but where would he put it the board? I doubt
that all the signals that act as input signals for the CL-PS7030
are available on the only connector on the board (the one where
the SER001 lives). But even if that was the case, how would he
connect the PCMCIA slots?
If you read the article linked to above, you will notice that
Apple, for a very good reason, put very much thought on the
shielding below the PCMCIA slots. You wouldn't be able to achieve
a fraction of that if you connected a PCMCIA connector via a
ribbon cable to the board that PCBMan manufactured to reduce
his boredom.
I hate to bring bad news, but, in a nutshell, I'd say: Forget it.
Frank
-- Newton Software and Hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
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