USB connectivity

[Tyler Cutshall]

Does anyone know of a CF or PC Card that provides USB connectivity to a Pocket PC? (Not for syncing - true USB peripheral connectivity).

[Dr. Phat]

No... but that would be cool!

[SonicSilicon]

Argh! I'm waiting for the day they wake up and realize that people want a USB port BUILT-IN to the organizer. Of course the peripheral market would be all but dead, and we'd no longer have a use for those serial cables that you have to pay extra. . . Yup, that unfortunately sums up the reasons why they don't.<br><br>As for USB Compact Flash cards, I think that the units would tear of the shelves, if they even made it that far. Guess the next best thing are the full fledged Serial port CF cards. Supposedly you can attach anything to it, including mice and barcode scanners. I have no idea how the driver issue is taken care of, never mind the fact that there is no cursor on screen.

[Moose or Chuck]

I just saw one maybe 3 weeks ago, I'll check for you. BRB<br>

[Moose or Chuck]

Sorry, I couldn't find any in my favorites

[Dr. Phat]

doesnt the Symbol have one built in?

[Chris Edwards]

*Cough* "Symbol" *Cough*....... Yah, I remember them from back when I was looking for a Pocket PC.

[Dr. Phat]

way back, oh .... 6 months ago!  lol! and uh chris, i dont know if anyone else is having this problem, but when i see a new post about "em-500 hard reset' or "insert other name here", i think: wowo, a new tidbit of info, a new icon! only tot find off topic posts like your's.  you wouldnt want to warn or ban youself!

[SonicSilicon]

Well, I managed to find some information on the requirements for USB and CompactFlash. It seems that that running USB off a PocketPC/Palm-size PC CompactFlash port isn't feasible.<br><br>Voltage requirements:<br>  USB - 5.0v        CompactFlash - 3.3v or 5.0v<br>Amperage requirements:<br>  USB - max 500mA   CompactFlash - n/a<br><br>Well, I couldn't get any better specifications without signing up with the CompactFlash Association, but I have learned a few things from researching other CompactFlash products.<br><br>Having contacted Casio they said IBM's new 1 GB microdrive still requires too much current to run on a Cassiopeia safely. IBM's microdrive requires 500 mA. Obviously voltage doesn't need to be acccounted for since CompactFlash can handle both  3.3v and 5.0 volt drain. So the problem must be that the CompactFlash port on most Pocket computers can not supply the reuired amperage. And if the 500mA required for a Microdrive is too much, so must the 500mA maximum required for USB be too much.<br><br>Sorry folks It just does't look like USB through CompactFlash is possible on Palm-size or Pocket PCs. Handhelds may still be in the running, as they can handle cretain PC Cards, but I'm not familiar with them.

[SonicSilicon]

Oops! I goofed. Somewhere along the line I had read that the Microdrive requires 500 mA. I rechecked and the maximum it draws is 260 mA at spin-up.<br><br>Also, I found some very useful information at the PCMCIA.org site. It seems that all PCMCIA devices are supposed to typically draw between 100 mA and 350 mA. This was in consideration for handheld devices like the PocketPC. Also, CompacrFlash is heavily based on PCMCIA.<br><br>These two pieces of information further strengthen the argument against the possibility of CompactFlash USB. If Pocket PC / Palm-size PC devices have problems supporting a 260 mA device, how are they supposed to support a 500 mA bus adapter? I guess you could get away with it if you had the power supply plugged in, but that alomst defeats the purpose.Last modification: Michael Dubois - 03/10/01 at 10:03:41

[Moose or Chuck]

Then how are the Type II PC Card adaptors that fit in the CF Type 2 port? Here's the answer... External power. All you need to do is devise a device (?) that connects directly to the CF card. It could use AA batteries, C, or it could just plug into the outlet. The card would need a power adaptor in the first place, but you could then possibly use all external devices on your PPC in the field of PC Card, CF, and USB. What you could do, however, is buy one of those Serial connectors that fit the CF port, then an adaptor cord to convert USB to Serial.

[SonicSilicon]

Ah! Found a PCMCIA-to-CompactFlash adapter with a power plug built in:<br>http://www.accurite.com/CFPCAdapter.html<br>I guess the best way to go from there is the lgihter-plug power adapter.<br><br>What's left for USB? Well, WinCE 2.11 and higher support USB hubs and ports, ergo it has basic support of USB. The other problem is finding a PCMCIA/PC-Card/CardBus USB card that only uses the first 11 adress lines and is 16-bit, because that's all CompactFlash supports. I don't know if you have to make sure it's WinCE compatible, again because of WinCE's built in support. The last real problem is finding WinCE drivers for the USB devices you attach. As far as I know, there are no USB device drivers built in to Windows CE outside of the Hubs and Ports.Last modification: Michael Dubois - 03/12/01 at 12:02:24

[Jaybot]

I'm a little confused, is everyone talking about (in general) something other than a CFslot to USB adapter?  Cause I remember seeing several of these, one on the Casio website for sale in the accessories, and a couple of these on amazon.com.  If you're talking aboutomsehting else then forgive me.

[SonicSilicon]

What is available from Casio is a USB *synchronization* card and the USB end plugs into a PC's USB port. What we're looking for is a card with the USB port on it.

[Dr. Phat]

there is a PCMCIA usb adapter. so on a casio- CF-> PCMCIA ->USB