ThinkPad 390E Online User's Guide

Using a PC Card in OS/2 (with PC Card Director)

This section describes how to use the PC Card in OS/2.

The PC Card slots of the computer and the port replicator do not support the following PC Cards:

• Integral Peripherals Model 1841PA (40 MB)

• IBM 105-MB PCMCIA hard disk drive (P/N 74G8694)

• 8-bit or 16-bit slave DMA PC Cards

You can use a DOS object(3) in the OS/2 environment. OS/2 Virtual Card Services provides a Card Services interface and enables you to use the DOS PC Card device driver for the DOS object.

Note:

Even when a PC Card is enabled with a DOS object, the device driver or the application program might not work, or their performance might not be what you expect.

To use Virtual Card Services with a DOS object, do the following:

1. Move the mouse pointer to the DOS object icon; then click the right mouse button.

2. Click on Properties.

3. Click on Session tab.

4. Click on DOS (WIN-OS/2) Properties.

5. Click on All DOS (DOS and WIN-OS/2) Settings.

6. Set "PCMCIA_CARD_SERVICES" as On.

7. Set "PCMCIA_RELEASE_LEVEL" as 2.1.

8. Set "MEM_EXCLUDE_REGIONS" as CC000-D3FFF.

9. Specify the PC Card device driver name at the "DOS_DEVICE" prompt.

PC Card Director is the PC Card support software for OS/2. It makes using PC Cards with your computer easier in the following ways:

• You can use the PC Card when you insert it in a PC Card slot.

• You can display what type of PC Card is in your computer.

• You can register an application program for a particular PC Card and start the program automatically when the card is inserted.

To start PC Card Director, double-click on the PC Card Director folder; then double-click on the PC Card Director icon.

Stopping the PC Card

PC Card Director has a stop function for removing the PC Card safely. Stop the PC Card as follows:

1. Open PC Card Director.

2. Click on the Control Power icon.

3. Select from the card list the storage PC Card you want to remove.

4. Click on Off.

5. Make sure the card status is off; then remove the storage PC Card.

Using the Auto Configurator Utility

You can delete or change a registered PC Card with the Auto Configurator Utility. You can find the Auto Configurator Utility icon in the "PC Card Director" window.

This section describes this utility.

Note:

PC Card Director provides the Auto Configurator, a program for some PC Cards, so that you do not have to install the device driver supplied with it. When you install PC Card Director, a BASEDEV= statement such as the following is added to the CONFIG.SYS file. BASEDEV=AUTODRV2.SYS

Registering a PC Card in Auto Configurator

1. Double-click on the Auto Configurator Utility ( ) icon from the "PC Card Director" window.

2. Select a card from the Available Cards list in the "Auto Configurator Utility" window.

3. Select the card for which you want to assign the resources first. For example, if you want to assign COM3 (rather than COM2) to a modem card, select the setting for COM3 first.
   
   

   The names in the left list box (Available Cards) can be registered. The names in the right list box (Selected Cards) are already registered in Auto Configurator.

4. Click on the Add>> button.

5. Click on the Save button.

   When a PC Card is installed, Auto Configurator starts from the top of the list to assign the resources to the card.

Deleting a Registered Card

1. Double-click on the Auto Configurator Utility icon in the "PC Card Director" window.

2. Select the PC Card you want to delete from Selected Cards in the "Auto Configurator Utility" window.

3. Click on the Delete button.

4. Click on the Save button.

Changing the Registered Order for PC Cards

To change the order of the registered PC Cards, do the following:

1. Double-click on the Auto Configurator Utility icon from the "PC Card Director" window.

2. Click on the Order... button in the "Auto Configurator Utility" window. The following window appears:
   
   

3. Do as follows to change the order of the PC Cards in the list:

   • When moving a card toward the bottom:

     1. Select the PC Card you want to move.

     2. Click on the Down button.

     3. Every time you click on the Down button, the PC Card is moved toward the bottom of the list.

   • When moving a card toward the top:

     1. Select the PC Card you want to move.

     2. Click on the Up button.

     3. Every time you click on the Up button, the PC Card is moved toward the top of the list.

4. Click on the OK button to save the changes.

   The changes are saved. To cancel the changes, click on the Cancel button.

Changing the Resource Information for the PC Card

1. Double-click on the Auto Configurator Utility icon from the "PC Card Director" window.

2. Select the PC Card you want to change from the left list box in the "Auto Configurator Utility" window.

3. Click on the Edit... button. The following window appears:
   
   

   Note:

   The current resource information is set as the default and appears in the input field of each item. The number that can be set is displayed in the pull-down list box.

4. You can change the following registered information for the PC Card. The items that can be changed differ depending on the PC Card.

   • Card ID

   • I/O port address

   • IRQ level

   • COM number of the serial port

   • Memory window address

   • Memory window size

   • Card offset address

5. Click on the OK button, and save the changes.

   To cancel the changes, click on the Cancel button.

Updating the CONFIG.SYS File

For PC Card Director to work correctly, the PC Card device drivers must be registered in the CONFIG.SYS file. These drivers are automatically registered in the CONFIG.SYS file when you install PC Card Director following the instructions in Installing Software.

The following section describes the standard rules for each driver registered in the CONFIG.SYS file for your reference.

Registered Drivers and Standard Rules

The following is a sample of a CONFIG.SYS file:

 :
BASEDEV=PCMCIA.SYS        --> Card Services
BASEDEV=IBM2SS14.SYS       --> Socket Services 
BASEDEV=AUTODRV2.SYS       --> Auto Configurator 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\VPCMCIA.SYS  --> Virtual Card Services 
 :
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\xxxxxxx.SYS  --> Storage card device driver 
 :
REM PC_Card_Client_Device_Driver 
 :
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\$ICPMOS2.SYS --> Power Management Support driver

Example of using only an ATA card:

 :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM     --> ATA card device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS --> Storage API device driver 
 :
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD       --> Storage Card Device Manager

Example of using an ATA card and an SRAM card:

 :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM     --> ATA card device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS --> Storage API device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2SRAM.SYS --> SRAM card device driver 
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD       --> Storage Card Device Manager

Example of using an ATA card and a Flash card:

 :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM     --> ATA card device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\FLSH2MTD.SYS --> Flash Card Memory Technology driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS --> Storage API device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2FLSH.SYS --> Flash card device driver 
 :
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD       --> Storage Card Device Manager

Example of using an ATA card, an SRAM card, and a Flash card:

 :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM     --> ATA card device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\FLSH2MTD.SYS --> Flash Card Memory Technology driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS --> Storage API device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2SRAM.SYS --> SRAM card device driver 
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2FLSH.SYS --> Flash card device driver 
 :
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD       --> Storage Card Device Manager

Checking the Allocated Resources for the PC Card

If the resources for the PC Cards are not correctly allocated, you will see error messages. You can check which resources for the PC Card were not correctly allocated by using PC Card Director. To check the resources that could not be allocated, click on the Status button in the PC Card Director program. The following are some reasons why the resources could not be correctly allocated, and corresponding actions you should take to solve the problem.

Problems

The resource was already reserved by another device. Configuration files were not set up correctly.

Actions

To change the resource settings for the PC Card or other devices, you can do one of the following:

• Refer to the system manual or utility program and check which device is using the resources that you want to use for the PC Card. Then change the settings for the device by using, for example, the setup programs. For more information, refer to the manuals supplied with your computer.

• If your PC Card is enabled by a PC Card enabler, you can change the resources assigned to the PC Card by changing the parameters in the PC Card enabler, or you can change the settings in the configuration file of the PC Card. For more information, refer to the manuals supplied with your PC Card.

• If you are using Auto Configurator to enable your PC Card, you can change the resources assigned to the PC Card by using the Auto Configurator. Make sure the resource is not used by other devices and can be used by the PC Card and its application program. For more information, see Using the Auto Configurator Utility.

• If you are using modem cards, you should know that some modem cards use serial port COM1 or COM2 and do not have the setup information for COM3 and COM4. These modem cards cannot be enabled when other devices are using COM1 and COM2. (For example, as a default, COM1 is used by the infrared device and COM2 is used by the ThinkPad Modem.) Error messages are displayed to tell you that the I/O port address 3F8 or 2F8, or IRQ level 3 or 4, were not allocated.

  If this is the case, disable the devices using COM1 or COM2; then restart the system.

Avoiding PC Card Resource Conflicts

PC Card Director checks the resources for most devices used by the system to avoid resource conflicts, but it does not

Check the status of the PC Card by using PC Card Director. When the PC Card is set to "Ready," the resources used for that PC Card are displayed. Refer to the manuals supplied with the system or option adapters to check that the resources for the devices in the system or for the option adapters do not conflict with the resources for the IRQ level, I/O port address, or memory window of the PC Card. If you are using OS/2 Warp, you can check the assigned system resources using RMVIEW.EXE.

If there is a conflict:

• If you are using OS/2 Warp, use RESERVE.SYS to register those resources in OS/2.

  To set RESERVE.SYS, refer to the manuals or online help for OS/2 Warp, or refer to the README file of PC Card Director.

• If you are using Auto Configurator, change the enabling order or resource information using the Auto Configurator Utility Using the Auto Configurator Utility.

• Change the parameter for the PC Card enabler. Refer to the manuals supplied with the PC Card.

• If you are using network cards, change the resource information for the PC Card stated in the PROTOCOL.INI or NET.CFG file.

  To change the configuration file for the network cards, refer to the manuals or README files of the PC Cards or network drivers.

(3) A DOS object might be a DOS program, Windows 3.11 program, DOS full-screen, DOS window, WIN-OS/2 full-screen, or a WIN-OS/2 window.