VG-469, PCMCIA FAQs

AMPHUS PC-CARD SOCKET CONTROLLERS IN MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95 ENVIRONMENT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q 1:
Does Windows 95 supports Vadems PC-Card socket controllers or do I need other drivers?
A 1:
You don't need any other driver for Vadem PC-Card socket controllers since they are all supported by Windows 95.

Q 2:
My desktop computer has an ISA add-on board that is implemented with Vadem PC Card socket controller VG-365 (or VG-465, VG-468). How do I set it up to work with Windows 95?
A 2:
Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, then double click on Add New Hardware icon. When "Add New Hardware Wizard" window pops up, click on Next, then select No (since you don't want Windows 95 to search the new hardware) and Next. Scroll down the window and double click on PCMCIA Socket entry. Select Vadem as the manufacturer and Vadem PCIC Compatible PCMCIA Controller as the model name, then click on Next. Your system should load the necessary drivers for the Vadem chip.

If you want Windows 95 to automatically search for your new hardware, then you should select Yes when asked for this information. This step will take a few minutes and then Windows 95 will report that "Vadem PCIC Compatible PCMCIA Controller" is detected. Please follow the instruction for loading the necessary driver. To verify if Windows 95 recognizes your PC-Card socket controller, please follow the above description. If your system still doesn't recognize the PCMCIA port after all the above procedure, then you may have to re-install Windows 95 from scratch. DON'T FORGET TO BACKUP ALL YOUR FILES FIRST!

Q 3:
My desktop computer has ISA add-on board that is implemented with Vadem PC Card socket controller VG-469. How do I set it up to work with Windows 95?
A 3:
The VG-469 supports both Plug and Play and Non-PnP modes.
If your add-on board is designed with Plug and Play feature, your system would automatically detect and initialize the VG-469 socket controller. If your add-on board does not support Plug and Play mode, you have to manually configure the controller as described in question (2) above. Please check with your board manufacturer about the configuration (PnP or non PnP). To verify if Windows 95 recognizes the PC-Card socket controller, please do the following:

Right click on My Computer icon, then left click on Properties line. When "System Properties" window pops up, click on the Device Manager tab, then double click on PCMCIA Socket line. You should see "Vadem PCIC compatible PCMCIA controller" or "Vadem PCIC compatible Plug-and-Play PCMCIA controller" or "PCIC compatible PCMCIA controller"; This means the Vadem socket controller has been initialized and enabled properly. When the "System Properties" window pops up and you don't see the "PCMCIA Socket" entry or an entry with a yellow exclamation (!), you know that Windows 95 didn't configure the socket controller correctly.

Q 4:
How do I set up the Vadem PC-Card socket controller in my laptop computer (or desktop computer with built-in PC-Card port) to work with Windows 95?
A 4:
Please refer to questions (2) and (3) above.

Q 5:
Why doesn't my Ethernet PCMCIA card (or other PCMCIA card) work with my system even though I did verify that Windows 95 has initialized and enabled my computer's socket controller?
A 5:
Each time you insert the PCMCIA card into the socket, Windows NT loads the card-service driver and configures the card accordingly. If your system doesn't execute this step properly, you will not be able to use the PCMCIA cards. In this case, please contact your card manufacturer to verify that your card is compatible with Windows NT and if there is any specific card-service driver or card-enabler that needs to be loaded with the card. By default, you should hear a double beep tone when the card is inserted and configured properly. You should also see a small PCMCIA icon in the right hand side corner of the task bar.

Note that Windows 95 supports PnP and hot-swapping feature, therefore, you don't have to reboot the system every time you insert or remove the PC card. To check the status of the installed PCMCIA cards, click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, then double click on PC Card icon. Or, for a short cut, you can also double click on the small PCMCIA icon in the task bar. This will bring up the "PC Card Properties" window which shows the operational condition of the inserted card.

Q 6:
When I insert a SRAM or FLASH memory cards into my computer that has been configured to use protected mode PCMCIA card drivers, why isn't there a driver letter for the cards in Windows Explorer or My Computer?
A 6:
First, make sure that the system properly recognizes the cards and appropriate drivers are installed, then proceed with the following steps:

For SRAM cards, you must include the following two entries in the CONFIG.SYS file:
  device = c:\\system\csmapper.sys
  device = c:\\system\carddrv.exe /slot =
Where is the Windows 95 folder and indicates the number of PCMCIA card slots in the computer.

For FLASH cards, you must include the following two entries in the CONFIG.SYS file:
  device = c:\\system\csmapper.sys
  device = c:\\system\carddrv.exe /slot =
  device = c:\\ms-flash.sys
Where ms-flash.sys is provided by the flash card manufacturer.

Note that you still need to partition and format the cards according to the card manufacturers' instruction because the above information is only for installing the SRAM and FLASH card in Windows 95.

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97 Easty Brokaw Road, Suite #220, San Jose, CA. 95112
Phone: (877) 561-6428 Fax: (877) 561-6428 or (408) 850-1159
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