| Linux Compatibility Check
With the probe command, which is included in the
PCMCIA-CS package by David Hinds you can get the type
of the PCMCIA controller. Often this shows also up
with cat /proc/pci .
PCMCIA Configuration - Survey
In the mailing lists where I'm a member, the question
"How can I set up PCMCIA support,
after the Linux installation?" comes up sometimes.
Therefore I try to give a short survey. But the
authoritative source for the latest information about the
PCMCIA Card Services for Linux,
including documentation, files, and generic
PCMCIA information is the
Linux PCMCIA Information Page
. For problems with PCMCIA and
APM see the APM chapter.
Read the PCMCIA HOWTO, usually included in the
PCMCIA-CS package.
Install the newest available PCMCIA-CS package, if
you take a rpm or deb package it is quite easy.
If necessary, install a new kernel. Note: With 2.2.x kernels
PCMCIA kernel support seems no longer necessary. I
had no time to look this up yet. Please read the appropriate documents.
Make sure your kernel has module support and PCMCIA
support enabled (and often APM support)
Make sure your kernel also includes support for the cards you want to
use, e.g. network support for a NIC card, serial support for a modem
card, SCSI support for a SCSI card and so on.
If you have a custom made kernel, don't forget to compile the
PCMCIA-CS source against your kernel.
Use the probe command to get information whether your
PCMCIA controller is detected or not.
Edit the file /etc/sysconfig/pcmcia. It should
include PCMCIA=y and the type of your
PCMCIA controller, e.g.
PCIC=i82365.
Start the PCMCIA services typically via
/etc/init.d/pcmcia start. If you get two high beeps,
everything should be fine.
If something doesn't work, check the messages in
/var/log/messages .
Check your card with cardctl ident .
If your card is not in /etc/pcmcia/config, edit the
file /etc/pcmcia/config.opts appropriately. Take an
entry in the first file as a model. You may try every driver, just in
case it might work, for instance the pcnet_cs
supports many NE2000 compatible PCMCIA network cards.
A list of supported cards is included in the
PCMCIA-CS package. The current list you may find at
SUPPORTED.CARDS.
Since there are not all cards mentioned I have set up a
PCMCIACards Survey of Cards Supported by Linux
.
If you use a X11 GUI, you can use cardinfo to insert,
suspend, or restart a PCMCIA card via a nice
graphical interface.
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