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Date:      Thu, 3 Aug 2000 17:11:26 -0500
From:      Jerry Dunham <dunham@dunham.org>
To:        Jon Hamilton <hamilton@pobox.com>
Cc:        Harry Woodward-Clarke <Harry.Woodward-Clarke@S1.com>, FreeBSD Questions <questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: cheapest laptop for FreeBSD? winmodems?
Message-ID:  <20000803171126.D9228@rider.dunham.org>
In-Reply-To: <20000803163654.7764216F@woodstock.monkey.net>; from Jon Hamilton on Thu, Aug 03, 2000 at 11:36:54AM -0500
References:  <20000803101451.B9031@rider.dunham.org> <20000803163654.7764216F@woodstock.monkey.net>

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On Thu,  3 August 2000 at 11:36:54 -0500, Jon Hamilton wrote:
> 
> In message <20000803101451.B9031@rider.dunham.org>, Jerry Dunham wrote:
> } On Thu,  3 August 2000 at  0:44:55 -0500, Jon Hamilton wrote:
> 
> }> That might be; the propaganda clearly stated that you could have one
> }> type II _OR_ one type III, but I admit to knowing nothing more about 
> }> PCMCIA than was necessary to make my card work.  Looking at the profile
> }> though, I see my 16 bit card is too wide to fit in the "top" slot, so 
> }> if it's a type II, you definitely couldn't put two of it in at once.
> } 
> } Call 'em what you will, these days PCMCIA cards come in two basic sizes,
> } thin and fat.  Some PCMCIA slots will only take one thin one, but most
> } will take either one fat one, or two thin ones.  I can't imagine why
> } anyone would design a slot that would take a fat one or ONLY ONE thin
> } one.  That just doesn't make sense.  I suspect the bug is in your
> } documentation.
> 
> When viewed from the side, the PCMCIA opening looks more or less like this:
> 
>       +---------------------------------------------------------+
>       |                                                         |
>    +--+                                                         +--+
>    |                                                               |
>    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
> 
> My 16 bit FA-410 ethernet card fits in the bottom slot, but is too wide
> for the top slot.  There is no way one could physically insert two of
> these cards in the available opening.  I have not looked inside to see 
> whether the internal hardware could accept two such cards or not; given
> Compaq's general tendency to find at least one thing per machine to make
> hideously bogus, I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that the limitation
> is strictly one of the opening in the case being deliberately made too 
> small.

I discussed this with a friend from Dell Portables over lunch.  What we
concluded about the design team at The Other Company who designed this
we won't share in this nonpartisan mail list (particularly since I KNOW
some of those people and respect them).  I can only conclude that some
marketroid decided to save $.10 by putting only one connector in a slot
big enough for two.  None of the engineers I know at The Other Company
would have done that voluntarily.  It looks like you lose.  If you want
to form a lynch mob and go looking for the marketroid who came up with
the brilliant idea to cripple your machine, you have my support.


-- 
Jerry Dunham                     FreeBSD                (512)335-0674 (H)
jdunham@fc.net                                           jerry@dunham.org

  To vacillate, or not to vacillate, that is the question ... or is it?


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