USB 2.0 to USB Mode ExpressCard Adapters only work with ExpressCard 34 devices utilizing the USB 2.0 portion of the ExpressCard specification. They will not work with and ExpressCard 54 device, or any ExpressCard utilizing the PCIe (PCI Express) portion of the ExpressCard specification. The new MicroU2E-MV adds support for ExpressCards utilizing both 3.3 and 1.5V portions of the ExpressCard standard, while the original MicroU2E supports 3.3V only. The following table is by no means comprehensive, nor guaranteed completely accurate.
WWAN Wireless Cards
MicroU2E and MicroU2E-MV
Kyocera KPC680 EV-DO Rev. A (Verizon)
Novatel Wireless Merlin XU870
Novatel Wireless Merlin EX720 (Sprint)
Novatel Wireless Merlin V740 (Verizon)
Novatel Wireless Merlin V740 (Verizon)
Sierra Wireless Air Card 597E (Sprint)
MicroU2E-MV Only
Option Wireless GT Max 3.6 Express (AT&T)
Option Wireless Option GT Ultra Express (AT&T)
Option Wireless GlobeTrotter Express 7.2 Web'n'Walk (T-Mobile)
Option Wireless GlobeTrotter Express HSUPA
Option Wireless GlobeTrotter Express 401
Full Device Support Documents
USB ExpressCards Supported by MicroU2E and MicroU2E-MV (HTML)
USB ExpressCards Supported by MicroU2E and MicroU2E-MV (scribd)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
FireRepeater 800 Pro FireWire 800 IEEE 1394b Repeater Hub 4 Port
Unibrain's 4 Port Repeater Hub provides port expansion on FireWire® 800 IEEE 1394b device chains. Oriented towards industrial and machine vision applications, FireRepeater-800 PRO™ provides the ability to connect up to four FireWire 1394b devices and it's metallic compact case minimizes the risk of physical damage. The platform agnostic device provides four 9 pin (bilingual) IEEE 1394b ports with a maximum throughput of up to 800 Mbps each. The Hub utilizes IEEE 1394b bus power, or accepts an optional power adapter for use with devices requiring more power. Repeater hubs provide bus flexibility in that they allow for daisy chaining and/or hierarchical (tree) bus configurations. Repeater hubs also provide a means to lengthen the distance between devices when 1394's cable length of 4.5 meters (15 feet) is inadequate. Simply daisy chain repeaters between cables to extend your reach to 110m. FireRepeater 800 Pro incorporates locking 9 pin bilingual ports, multiple mounting points and an optional metal bracket to ensure an even more secure physical connection.
FireRepeater 800 Pro FireWire 800 IEEE 1394b Repeater Hub 4 Port
FireRepeater 800 Pro FireWire 800 IEEE 1394b Repeater Hub 4 Port
Friday, May 2, 2008
Hot swapping PCIe based ExpressCards with PCIe to ExpressCard Drives
This is intended to address questions regarding PCIe to ExpressCard readers. The PCI-Express (PCIe) specification allows for hot-swapping of PCIe devices. Since ExpressCard is simply PCIe and USB with different connectors, it would follow that PCIe to ExpressCard adapters should inherit such behavior when installed in computers with PCIe slots. Unfortunately this isn't always the case. A system's BIOS (or firmware) and the host operating system need to treat an PCIe slot as having hot-swap capability. This behavior is taken for granted on notebook computers. When PCIe to ExpressCard drives were released, manufacturers assumed host systems would treat them the same.Most desktop machines are not setup to hot swap on their PCIe slots. At first operating system vendors blamed BIOS makers for the problem, but recent developments seem to indicate it is not only the BIOS makers to blame. Synchrotech learned this with a desktop machine with a PCIe to ExpressCard drive (EXP54-CR-PCEIR1) installed. When the drive wouldn't hot-swap under The Windows Xp, Synchrotech was told the BIOS was to blame. However, with the release of OpenBSD 4.3, our tests showed the PCIe to ExpressCard drive could hot-swap PCIe based ExpressCards without any modifications to the system's BIOS. Our conclusion is it is a combination of both the BIOS and operating system. Synchrotech is working hard to get operating system and BIOS vendors to rectify this problem. Currrently, many systems require booting with a PCIe based ExpressCard in the ExpressCard slot in order to have the card recognized.
For More Information
- Firmware Support for PCI Express Hot-Plug and Windows
- ExpressCard FAQ for ExpressCard 34 and ExpressCard 54
- With The Windows Xp, many end users have reported that after inserting a PCIe based ExpressCard into a PCIe to ExpressCard drive they can evoke the 'scan for new hardware' command in the 'device manager' resulting in the ExpressCard being recognized. These finding have been confirmed by Synchrotech (with the test system mentioned above). However, we also have reports of this not working with all systems.
- With The Vista version of The Windows, Synchrotech hasn't obtained any information whether it behaves like The Windows Xp.
- We currently have no solution for Mac OS X, although we would be happy to find a solution for PCIe based Mac desktops quickly. Because of the superior quality of Final Cut Pro and Mac OS X, we have had many video professionals wanting to use Sony/Sandisk's SxS ExpressCards with our PCIe to ExpressCard Drive.
- For OpenBSD, upgrading to version 4.3 seems to enable PCIe to ExpressCard hot-swap.