Porting AirPort PCMCIA from G3 400 to Mainstreet

[pierino23]

Hi guys,

I have a Pismo for parts, I removed its AirPort PCMCIA card and I inserted it in the MainStreet, hoping to give it the WIFI.

The OS9.2.2, as installed using the OS9 universal CD, does not recognize the card, and the Profiler is not detecting any card.

I need to say that the PCMCIA slot works with I insert the FC adapter, in both slots.

Can I simply conclude that the AirPort card is defective?

Thanks
best
PF

[GaryN]

As with all vintage Mac issues, there is almost never 100% certainty about anything 
Example: There's no such thing as a Mac "Mainstreet" so I'm guessing you mean "Wallstreet"…

As you say: 1.The slot works.  2.The Airport card doesn't show in the Profiler AND since it came from a parts machine you don't know it works.

Therefore:  The odds are very high the card is bad.

[pierino23]

thanks for sharing your comment!

About the MainStreet:
PowEndMac reports that the cache-less 233Mhz MainStreet is sometimes called MainStreet, so I think I'm right to call it that way:
 
"Note that the entry level 233 MHz version (sometimes called MainStreet) has no level 2 cache, which significantly diminishes performance (see benchmarks for the replacement version with a cache to verify this). Because of this, the original PowerBook G3/233 earns Limited Mac label. (The later PowerBook G3/233 has a level 2 cache and is not considered limited.)"

I will try to fix the Pismo to check if the AirPort is really dead, I will try in a WINTEL PC to see if at least it shows up in the devices' list.

best
PF

[WillyWonka]

Airport card has a PCMCIA bus, but it is not electrically equivalent to standard PCMCIA.

[pierino23]

Thanks so much,
you are saying that the AirPort card, even if it has a physical PCMCIA connection, it has nothing to do with the PCMCIA bus protocol.
This is weird, but ok, I'm not an expert

Do you think it is possible to make it work in the MainStreet?

PF

[GaryN]

Possibly this article would be helpful.

http://lowendmac.com/2008/wifi-cards-for-powerbooks-with-pc-card-slots/

[Anonymous Freak]

Thanks so much,
you are saying that the AirPort card, even if it has a physical PCMCIA connection, it has nothing to do with the PCMCIA bus protocol.
This is weird, but ok, I'm not an expert

Do you think it is possible to make it work in the MainStreet?

PF

An original AirPort card is just a Lucent (Orinoco) WaveLAN/IEEE card, with the antenna removed, and rebadged to Apple.  A Lucent WaveLAN/IEEE card works perfectly fine in an AirPort card slot (although if it's in a PowerBook, it won't physically fit because of the big antenna block - but I used one successfully in an iMac G3's AirPort carrier,) but an AirPort card has some firmware restriction that prevents it from working correctly in a plain PCMCIA slot.  In addition, there is a slight "keying" difference between the two that prevents an AirPort card from physically inserting in to most PCMCIA slots. (Some don't have the keying correct, so the card actually physically slides in those computers just fine. But the firmware block still prevents it from being recognized.)