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| PCMCIA CD-ROM support for Pre-G3 Powerbooks |
Posted by: Zhinü on 2026-06-02 19:16:48
See above. Curious on if there’s any support for booting off of these from the PowerBook 500 Series to the 2400C. If so, are there any specifics that should be known or will any work? |
Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2026-06-02 21:43:31
Those PowerBooks have all got the SCSI standard as external CD-ROM/general purpose interface. Why would anyone in the Mac arena want to run an Optical off that half@$$ed ISA slot? Love it for memory/modem/NIC, but for peripherals?
In the SCSI deprived PC Laptop World, PCMCIA makes a lot of sense in that use case. |
Posted by: Zhinü on 2026-06-02 21:44:55
Those PowerBooks have all got the SCSI standard as external CD-ROM interface. Why would anyone in the Mac arena want to run on Optical off that half@$$ed ISA slot? Love it for memory/modem/NIC, but for peripherals?
In the SCSI deprived PC Laptop World, PCMCIA makes a lot of sense in that use case. Fair point, but I feel like during portable use you’d want the PCMCIA slot CD drive over the giant bulky SCSI cable and the big drive. |
Posted by: vacputer on 2026-06-02 21:47:44
I've never run into a PCMCIA CD-ROM that wasn't just a SCSI device to start with. Lots of them have the high-density 68-pin clip connector, which is easy enough to adapt to HDI30. The usual issues with actually getting Mac OS to play nice with third-party CD drives apply, but the physical connection is usually pretty straightforward.
If you really wanted to use a PC Card, Adaptec's PowerDomain series were mac-specific and would probably work as a replacement for the original controller card. |
Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2026-06-02 21:57:31
PowerCD was a "portable" battery operated drive that did a bunch on really neat stuff without a 'Book attached. Had its own CPU in the base unit, The removable flying saucer had a DB25 interface to the base on the back, but it is decidedly NOT a SCSI interface. Without the base unit the flying saucers you see on eBay are useless.
ISTR others, very much more portable as well. I'd like to see some examples of PCMCIA/Optical and general peripheral hookups. |
Posted by: vacputer on 2026-06-02 22:05:32
The HP M820e comes to mind. Essentially a Discman with no battery and a SCSI connector. |
Posted by: Zhinü on 2026-06-02 22:20:14
The HP M820e comes to mind. Essentially a Discman with no battery and a SCSI connector. Something like that would be fun to mess with! A small portable CD drive that can hook up to SCSI or PCMCIA. |
Posted by: Zhinü on 2026-06-03 00:24:04
Ended up buying this. It seems to be mistagged but if it’s the 20x drive this should be a good deal. Has a SCSI port on the back too. Wish I could find one of those HDI-30 to HD50 cables. |
Posted by: Durosity on 2026-06-03 03:16:37
Ended up buying this. It seems to be mistagged but if it’s the 20x drive this should be a good deal. Has a SCSI port on the back too. Wish I could find one of those HDI-30 to HD50 cables. Please let us know if you can get it to work, I'd love to get a portable CD drive for my 2400/180 some day. |
Posted by: vacputer on 2026-06-03 09:02:56
Ended up buying this. It seems to be mistagged but if it’s the 20x drive this should be a good deal. Has a SCSI port on the back too. Wish I could find one of those HDI-30 to HD50 cables. These cables? https://iec.net/product/scsi-cable-apple-power-book-hdi30-male-to-dm50-male/ |
Posted by: Zhinü on 2026-06-03 10:42:10
These cables? https://iec.net/product/scsi-cable-apple-power-book-hdi30-male-to-dm50-male/ That looks like it! |
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