Trouble with Belkin F5D5020?

yaway_rerout writes "Using the Belkin F5D5020 PCMCIA NIC has be come the most convenient hassle of my life. I have a Hitachi visionbook 4000 plus, running RH 7.1. Setup everything as outlined on the MobiliX site and the card works great... for about 2 weeks. Then I'll boot my box and the card wont load or recognize, and then if I do a /etc/init.d/pcmcia restart my box locks and I am out of High memory.. I eject the card and everything is back to normal. I take the card back to CrampUSA and exchange it for a new one of the same... and viola it works with no need to change config options. Until about 2 weeks later... it craps out again. This has been going on too long... (I'm on my 4th exchange). Anyone else have a similar experience? Could it be the way Linux handles PCMCIA? Is there a way to reset these cards or something? ARG!!!!"

Comments

Sounds like a power problem

[booch]

It sounds like your PCMCIA port is delivering poor power quality to the card (too much power, or maybe not enough), causing it to fail very quickly. Have you used any other cards in that system?

Re:Sounds like a power problem

[squeegee-me]

About the only thing that pops into my mind with this is the voltage of the PCMCIA sockets on your laptop and what the card draws. I know there are 5 volt and 3.3 volt cards and slots. Some cards I have seen are dual voltage, so it does not matter what the socket is. Check to see if the card you are using is a 3.3 only, and then see if you can track down the specks for your laptop's PCMCIA sockets and see if they are 5 volt. You may be burning out the card that can only take 5 volts for about two weeks.

Other than that, posibly look at getting a diffrent PCMCIA NIC. I use a netgear 410 10/100 NIC that Redhat 7.2 identified close enough to work on an old Fujitsu notebook on the first try. This is a cheep NIC that is decent overall and the only problem I have seen is breaking off the part that holds the pins on the dongle that goes into the card (the non-RJ-45 end.) This was in an office where there were 45 laptops using this model NIC.

Troubleshoot!

[billcopc]

Try a different PCMCIA card and see if it does the same thing. My guess is that the power delivery isn't stable, else Belkin would surely have spotted the issue and fixed it, rather than lose a truckload of money on replacement NICs. Have the laptop checked out by someone competent (which excludes that screwdriver-tech at the local shop who proudly displays his mail-order diploma).

Re:Huh?

[SpaceLifeForm]

Or perhaps it is because the question has now been answered, people realize that, and instead of wasting disk space and bandwidth posting further comments, they move on. (Yes, I know, IHBT. HTH. HAND.)

3Com 3Com 3Com

[Anonymous Coward]

Stick with what works, mang!

Ask youself: what the fuck do I want to do

[Profane Motherfucker]

Unless you have some sort of fetish with getting this particular fuck of a card working, why not just say "Fuck this fucking piece of putrid assfunk motherfucker!"

Just do the simplest thing: do a quick search on groups.google.com for some asshole in the same situation as you, and see what cards your fucking cronies had luck with. Use on of them. If some fucking gypsy rigged piece of smegma like this was giving me grief, it wouldn't even have the opportunity to be returned four times. That fucker would be in about 7,000 little pieces on its way to the mfg in a fedex mailer with a nice note that says "Here's your fucking card back, assholes. I wish I could have the past 4 weeks of my life back that your fucking ghetto swill bush league amateur night shit cost me."

It's just not worth it.

Also, try SuSE. The fucking krauts have one hell of a good distro when it comes to PC card support. Perhaps RH 7.1 just isn't the proper disto for your particular laptop.

Re:Ask youself: what the fuck do I want to do

[Anonymous Coward]

IGoddamnSureAgreeWithThisPost.

Re:I agree with you

[CMiYC]

This sounds more like a post from a newsgroup, not a question suitable for Ask Slashdot.

You know my computer does something funny. It only happens every once in a while and I can't repeat it. I have no idea what the problem is or how to describe it... what could it be? Could it be how Linux uses it?

Get a different NIC already...

[cymen]

Why are you beating yourself up with the same card? Go to eBay and buy an Intel PCMCIA NIC for $20. It definately sounds like an odd problem but I can think of about 10 different places to ask about this before coming to /..

If you want something nice get a Xircom or similar with the built in jack so you don't have a crappy dongle.

PCMCIA test hardware?

[Nonesuch]

Has anybody experience with any PCMCIA testing hardware, devices that provide a card extender with voltage test points, and perhaps a fuse or breaker to avoid damage to the card/laptop when testing a defective card?

Re:PCMCIA test hardware?

[stevew]

Go to www.sycard.com for such stuff. This company specializes in PCMCIA test hardware (amongst other stuff). The company also publishes the PCMCIA handbook so they have ALOT of experience with it.

People Who Submit Articles Must Know How To Write

[alex4point0]

yaway_rerout writes "Using the Belkin F5D5020 PCMCIA NIC has be come (become) the most convenient (inconvenient) hassle of my life. I have a Hitachi visionbook 4000 plus, running RH 7.1. (I) setup everything as outlined on the MobiliX site and the card works (worked) great... for about 2 weeks. Then I'll boot my box and the card wont (won't) load or recognize (Girlfriend!), and then if I do a /etc/init.d/pcmcia restart my box locks and I am out of High memory.. I eject the card and everything is back to normal. I take the card back to CrampUSA and exchange it for a new one of the same... and viola (voila) it works with no need to same type change config options. Until about 2 weeks later... it craps out again. This has been going on too long... (I'm on my 4th exchange). Anyone else have a similar experience? Could it be the way Linux handles PCMCIA? Is there a way to reset these cards or something? ARG!!!!"

How I wish that spelling mistakes and poor grammar made posts crash, just as poor coding makes programs crash! Dropped apostrophes, problems with tense, and your 'convenient hassle' all make you sound like a fourth grader.

I sincerely hope that English is your second language and that you are still learning how to write. If so, you have my apologies. If not, please, stop worrying about the PCMCIA card and start worrying about what your rotten grip on the language is doing to your career and employment prospects.

Re:People Who Submit Articles Must Know How To Wri

[yaway_rerout]

Wow. You defineatly have a lot of spare time on your hands. I wasnt looking for a grammar lesson. Maybe you should get a real hobby or possibly find a new porn site to subscribe to. I intended to use "convenient hastle" its a play on words dumb ass. Is english your second language? You seem to have trouble understanding my post.

Re:People Who Submit Articles Must Know How To Wri

[redhatbox]

Uhhhmmm... nah, I can't resist.

Wow. You defineatly (definitely) have a lot of spare time on your hands. I wasnt (wasn't) looking for a grammar lesson. Maybe you should get a real hobby or possibly find a new porn site to subscribe to (oooohhh...). I intended to use "convenient hastle" (hassle) its (it's) a play on words dumb ass (really should be dumbass). Is english your second language? You seem to have trouble understanding my post.

Have a nice day.