PCMCIA and New External HD

[Paulo J. Matos]

On 11/16/06, Matthias Wenzel <linux-pcmcia at mazzoo.de> wrote:
> Paulo J. Matos wrote:
> >> Nitpicking: Note that both USB2 and PCMCIA are specified with a max of
> >> 500mA @5V, so a PCMCIA/USB2 card cannot exist by specification.
> > From what you write it seems they both specify 500mA at 5V, so if the
> > specs are the same, why can't a PCMCIA/USB2 exist?
>
> because the PCMCIA/USB2 converter and electronics draw power, too. In
> practice however manufactureres don't care, but if a HDD really needs
> 500mA (or more? have you checked, what your HDD draws?), it becomes a
> question of the Laptop-HW, the PCMCIA host, the PCMCIA card, etc...
>

Regarding how much the HD draws, these are the electrical specs:
Electrical Specifications
  Current Requirements
  External Power Specifications (optional)
  DC Input Voltage  5 VDC, 1.0A
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=261&language=en#jump99

which is funny since you just said that USB2 could only provide 500mA.

> > I would be grateful is you do clear me up these details so I can think
> > about what to do next.
>
> Test a USB2 Stick.
>
> m
>

Thank you for your explanation. :-) It seems I'm out of luck, no USB2
stick to try this out but I'm pretty sure you're right. Same thing
happened to another guy I found online. It seems I could use
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/accessories.asp?prodid=170
for this to work but again I'm out of luck since it's out of stock.

Oh well, it seems I'll have to be happy with USB1 right now.

Regards,
-- 
Paulo Jorge Matos - pocm at soton.ac.uk
http://www.personal.soton.ac.uk/pocm
PhD Student @ ECS
University of Southampton, UK