Which Puppy for old Toshiba 2250XCDS/6.0?

[duckguy]

Hi, this laptop is really old, Late 1990's I think. Single core processor 600MHz, 128MB ram, 1024x768 video.

So, Wary 5.5 boots up on it. The issue is that it's extremely slow. Every operation causes the computer to lock up for seconds, sometimes minutes at a time. Some very basic operations can lock it up for as much as ten minutes or more, or worse.

I thought going to an older version might be an answer. I tried 4.21. This version won't even boot up.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!!!

http://www.cnet.com/products/toshiba-sa ... hdd/specs/

============================================
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

Toshiba Satellite 2250CDT - 12.1" - C - Win98 SE - 64 MB RAM - 6 GB HDD

Part Number: PS225U-N91J08B

Manufacturer
Toshiba

Processor / Chipset

Data Bus Speed
100 MHz

Cache Memory

Type
L2 cache

Memory

Form Factor
SO DIMM 144-pin
Empty Slots
1

Storage

Type
None
Read Speed
24x
Type
Portable

RAM

Configuration Features
Provided memory is soldered
Upgrade Rule
Max MB module
Technology
SDRAM

Display

Widescreen Display
No
Diagonal Size (metric)
30.7 cm
Display Resolution Abbreviation
SVGA

Hard Drive

Type
HDD
Capacity
6 GB

Audio & Video

Supported Display Graphics
SVGA (800x600), XGA (1024x768)
Analog Video Format
None

Input

Type
AccuPoint II, Keyboard

Processor

Installed Qty
1
Manufacturer
Intel
Clock Speed
600 MHz

Optical Storage

Drive Type
CD-ROM

Floppy Drive

Type
3.5" 1.44 MB floppy

System

Notebook Type
Notebook
Hard Drive Capacity
6 GB

Monitor

Diagonal Size
12.1 in

Miscellaneous

Features
Hard drive I/O control, Power-on password, Toshiba SecureSleep, Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately)


Audio Output

Signal Processor
ESS 1978S
Sound Output Mode
Stereo
Compliant Standards
DirectSound, DirectMusic, Sound Blaster Pro

Mainboard

Data Bus Speed
100 MHz

Video Output

Graphics Processor
Trident Cyber 9525

Video Memory

Installed Size
2.5 MB

Input Device

Type
AccuPoint II, Keyboard

Expansion Slots

Type
Memory, CardBus
Form Factor
SO DIMM 144-pin
Total Qty
1
Free Qty
1, 1

[starhawk]

Wow, that actually has better specs than I'd thought at first glance. Beats the snot outta my Dell Latitude CPi -- and it's the same age.

Tells you all you need to know about Dell right there, doesn't it (hint: just like opinions and, well, something else -- everyone has one and you bet it stinks!)

Your laptop's CPU is a Celeron based on the Coppermine (2nd generation) Pentium III. In terms of performance, you should be able to run most modern Puppies, up to and including TahrPup 6.0.5 (not the 64 bit Pups, though!) -- however, you will not be able to run some modern browsers and applications, as your CPU predates a set of additional instructions called "SSE2" (you have the original, just not the second edition) -- in particular, Chrome and its twin Chromium will absolutely not run (I believe Firefox will, however, work fine), and WPS Office (a closed-source Chinese perpetual upstart that's trying to compete with LibreOffice) may or may not work.

That said, as far as RAM goes you're in a world of hurt. Puppy needs 512-768 megabytes of RAM (1/2 to 3/4 of a gig) in order to be not cramped for space.

Your laptop maxes out at 192 megabytes of RAM. I cannot determine from here what chipset the system has -- if you open Terminal and type lspci followed by the [ENTER] key, and then post the complete output of that, we will probably find out. There are a number of possible chipsets, and the specs available online are anything but conclusive in that regard. The reason that the chipset matters, is that it determines how much ACTUAL memory can be put in -- companies often, as a marketing tactic, lie about the memory capabilities of their systems. Sometimes they are honest, however, and sometimes they've made their advertising enforced, by way of a limit in the BIOS that forces a maximum amount of RAM below what the chipset could otherwise support.

I will note that I've been in and out of something like a couple dozen laptops, and I've encountered exactly one, ever, that had the BIOS limit.

If you will run that command, and copy the output to a format you can put in a post -- I'd recommend selecting all, copy/paste -- use the mouse and menus, not the keyboard, trust me -- to an Abiword document, save as Word 97 *.doc, then save to a flash drive (etc), haul over to your regular comp, open, copy, paste into the post. You will want to use the "Code" button above the post text window -- it goes B I U Quote Code -- once you've pasted, make sure it's all highlighted, then just click the button once and the forum will do the rest for you

I'll be here when you've got that info for me

[duckguy]

Wow, that actually has better specs than I'd thought at first glance ... laptop's CPU is a Celeron based on the Coppermine (2nd generation) Pentium III. In terms of performance, you should be able to run most modern Puppies, up to and including TahrPup 6.0.5 ... as far as RAM goes you're in a world of hurt. Puppy needs 512-768 megabytes of RAM ... laptop maxes out at 192 megabytes of RAM ... copy the output to a format you can put in a post ... I'll be here when you've got that info ...

Thanks so much for the quick answer! I booted up the installed system (Win2000) and ran a text output from the system information screen. The results are below and also included in an attached textfile.

Incidentally I booted up Slacko5.7 on it, but after loading, the CD never stopped cycling. I think it's trying to load something that the computer can't handle. It looks like this computer only has 64MB of installed ram. But, if what you're saying is true, I can only upgrade it to a max of 192MB?

In any case, it's now trying to boot up Wary5.5 (which I have previously booted). It's just that this might take another 20-30 minutes. Thanks in advance for all your help!!

================================================
System Information report written at: 04/05/2016 08:28:47 PM
[Hardware Resources]

[ Following are sub-categories of this main category ]

[Conflicts/Sharing]

Resource Device
IRQ 11 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
IRQ 11 LT Win Modem
IRQ 11 Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller
IRQ 11 ESS Maestro PCI for Toshiba Laptop (WDM)
IRQ 11 MPU-401 Compatible MIDI Device

[DMA]

Channel Device Status
4 Direct memory access controller OK
2 Standard floppy disk controller OK
3 ECP Printer Port (LPT1) OK

[Forced Hardware]

Device PNP Device ID
No Forced Hardware

[I/O]

Address Range Device Status
0x0000-0x0CF7 PCI bus OK
0x0000-0x0CF7 Direct memory access controller OK
0x0D00-0xFFFF PCI bus OK
0x03B0-0x03BB Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP Controller OK
0x03B0-0x03BB Trident Video Accelerator 9525DVD OK
0x03C0-0x03DF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP Controller OK
0x03C0-0x03DF Trident Video Accelerator 9525DVD OK
0x0A79-0x0A79 ISAPNP Read Data Port OK
0x0279-0x0279 ISAPNP Read Data Port OK
0x0274-0x0277 ISAPNP Read Data Port OK
0x0081-0x0083 Direct memory access controller OK
0x0087-0x0087 Direct memory access controller OK
0x0089-0x008B Direct memory access controller OK
0x008F-0x008F Direct memory access controller OK
0x00C0-0x00DF Direct memory access controller OK
0x0020-0x0021 Programmable interrupt controller OK
0x00A0-0x00A1 Programmable interrupt controller OK
0x0040-0x0043 System timer OK
0x0061-0x0061 System speaker OK
0x00F0-0x00FF Numeric data processor OK
0x0060-0x0060 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard OK
0x0064-0x0064 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard OK
0x0070-0x0071 System CMOS/real time clock OK
0x0010-0x001F Motherboard resources OK
0x0022-0x003F Motherboard resources OK
0x0044-0x005F Motherboard resources OK
0x0062-0x0063 Motherboard resources OK
0x0065-0x006F Motherboard resources OK
0x0072-0x0080 Motherboard resources OK
0x0084-0x0086 Motherboard resources OK
0x0088-0x0088 Motherboard resources OK
0x008C-0x008E Motherboard resources OK
0x0090-0x009F Motherboard resources OK
0x00A2-0x00BF Motherboard resources OK
0x00E0-0x00EF Motherboard resources OK
0x0480-0x048F Motherboard resources OK
0x04D0-0x04D1 Motherboard resources OK
0xFD00-0xFD3F Motherboard resources OK
0xFEAC-0xFEAC Motherboard resources OK
0xFE00-0xFE3F Motherboard resources OK
0xFE40-0xFE41 Motherboard resources OK
0xFE90-0xFE97 Motherboard resources OK
0xFE9E-0xFE9E Motherboard resources OK
0xFE50-0xFE55 Motherboard resources OK
0xFE70-0xFE7F Motherboard resources OK
0x03F0-0x03F5 Standard floppy disk controller OK
0x03F7-0x03F7 Standard floppy disk controller OK
0x03F8-0x03FF Communications Port (COM1) OK
0x0378-0x037A ECP Printer Port (LPT1) OK
0x0778-0x077A ECP Printer Port (LPT1) OK
0xFFF0-0xFFFF Intel(r) 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller OK
0x01F0-0x01F7 Primary IDE Channel OK
0x03F6-0x03F6 Primary IDE Channel OK
0x0170-0x0177 Secondary IDE Channel OK
0x0376-0x0376 Secondary IDE Channel OK
0xFF80-0xFF9F Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller OK
0x02F8-0x02FF LT Win Modem OK
0x1C00-0x1CFF LT Win Modem OK
0xFA00-0xFAFF Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller OK
0xF900-0xF9FF Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller OK
0xFC00-0xFCFF ESS Maestro PCI for Toshiba Laptop (WDM) OK
0x0330-0x0331 MPU-401 Compatible MIDI Device OK
0x0201-0x0201 Standard Game Port OK

[IRQs]

IRQ Number Device
9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
13 Numeric data processor
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
12 PS/2 Compatible Mouse
8 System CMOS/real time clock
6 Standard floppy disk controller
4 Communications Port (COM1)
14 Primary IDE Channel
15 Secondary IDE Channel
11 Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
11 LT Win Modem
11 Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller
11 ESS Maestro PCI for Toshiba Laptop (WDM)
11 MPU-401 Compatible MIDI Device

[Memory]

Range Device Status
0x0000-0x9FFFF System board OK
0xF0000-0xFFFFF System board OK
0x100000-0x3FDFFFF System board OK
0x3FE0000-0x3FEFFFF System board OK
0x3FF0000-0x3FFFFFF System board OK
0x100A0000-0x100FFFFF System board OK
0xFFF00000-0xFFFFFFFF System board OK
0xA0000-0xBFFFF PCI bus OK
0xA0000-0xBFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP Controller OK
0xA0000-0xBFFFF Trident Video Accelerator 9525DVD OK
0xCC000-0xDFFFF PCI bus OK
0x10100000-0xFFF7FFFF PCI bus OK
0xFEC00000-0xFF7FFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP Controller OK
0xFEC00000-0xFF7FFFFF Trident Video Accelerator 9525DVD OK
0xF8000000-0xFBFFFFFF Intel 82443BX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP Controller OK
0xFF400000-0xFF7FFFFF Trident Video Accelerator 9525DVD OK
0xFF3E0000-0xFF3FFFFF Trident Video Accelerator 9525DVD OK
0xFFEFFF00-0xFFEFFFFF LT Win Modem OK
0xEFFFF000-0xEFFFFFFF Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller OK
0xFFEFE000-0xFFEFEFFF Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller OK
0xFFC00000-0xFFDFFFFF Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller OK
0xDF000-0xDFFFF Toshiba ToPIC100 CardBus Controller OK

[starhawk]

We try not to make people wait forever for help here if anything, we have a "too many cooks spoil the broth" issue -- everyone jumping in all at once to the point that the poor fella asking for help gets overwhelmed and confused and goes somewhere else.

Anyway, your system has the Intel 440BX chipset; I was able to find it based on what you put in your post. According to the PDF Datasheet for that chipset (highly technical documentation, good for people like me who understand the electronic side of things, rather than the programmatical...) you would have a maximum of a gig with four DIMMs.

That usually means 256 megs per slot.

You have, presumably, 64 megs on the system board, with an unpopulated slot somewhere around there.

Time to do some digging -- just a little, don't be scared Is there a panel (or more than one?) on the bottom of the system? If there is, then WITH THE COMPUTER UNPLUGGED AND THE BATTERY OUT for safety of you and your comp -- pull off that panel (or those panels) and see what's underneath. With any luck, you'll find something off-white, a sort of bracket-and-slot connector that looks like it will fit a little rectangular circuit board about 2-5/8" wide, and at least 3/4" deep. That's your RAM slot if you see two off-white connectors, one wider and the other less so -- the narrower one is probably MiniPCI and may or may not have a wireless card in it, as that's what it's for.

Remember, though, that I can't see through my computer screen to where you have the laptop -- the more you can describe, the better. Photos help too, as long as they're not frightful quality (if you can't do so well with the digital camera -- I sympathize, believe me -- I'm the same way!).

Also -- if you're in the US, I can possibly send you a 'stick' (that actually is a technical term!) or two of RAM to try in that thing. I'll have to check, but I tend to hog computer parts and I have a drawer for RAM. If I have a compatible module/stick, I'll let you know and you can decide whether or not you trust me with your mailing address USA shipping only, and completely 100% free of charge to you in all respects.

[duckguy]

... your system has the Intel 440BX chipset ... you would have a maximum of a gig with four DIMMs ... 256 megs per slot ... 64 megs on the system board ... Is there a panel (or more than one?) on the bottom of the system ... something off-white, a sort of bracket-and-slot connector that looks like it will fit a little rectangular circuit board about 2-5/8" wide, and at least 3/4" deep. That's your RAM slot ... the narrower one is probably MiniPCI and may or may not have a wireless card in it ... if you're in the US, I can possibly send you a 'stick' (that actually is a technical term!) or two of RAM to try in that thing ... If I have a compatible module/stick, I'll let you know and you can decide whether or not you trust me with your mailing address ...

Hi, thanks again for the quick reply.

Wary5.5 loads on it better than Slacko5.7, but I get screen artifacts on the bottom of the screen. Also I can't get better than an 800x600 display, even though I selected the 1024x768 driver.

In any case, it looks like, from what you've said, there are absolutely no RAM "sticks" installed, at this point. I am attaching some JPEG's of what it looks like, as well.

So, according to these instructions, I have only one slot and am limited to 192MBs of RAM:
"Additional memory comes in 32 MB, 64 MB, and 128 MB modules.
NOTE: You can only install one module in your computer."

Does the (very generous) offer still stand, in this case?? I can PM you my mailing address!

Thanks (so very much) in advance.

===============================================

OK, I've opened up the computer. The sole RAM slot's under the modem, which is under the keyboard, on the top of the PC. The slot's empty. According to the instructions I found on the Toshiba website, the computer accepts one RAM chip, which can be in 32 MB, 64 MB, and 128 MB modules.

Here are the instructions for installing the RAM (from Toshiba) that I found, if anyone finds these useful:

http://support.toshiba.com/support/view ... tId=458412

Procedure
See the User's Guide, "Getting Started", "Setting up your computer", "Adding memory (optional)" section for instructions and illustrations.

Adding memory (optional)
Your computer comes with enough memory to run most of today's popular applications. However, you may want to increase the computer's memory if you use complex software or process large amounts of data.

Additional memory comes in 32 MB, 64 MB, and 128 MB modules.
NOTE: You can only install one module in your computer.

Preparing the computer
If you are adding memory after you have started to use the computer, begin at step 1, otherwise skip to step 2.

If the computer is on, click Start, Shut Down, select Shut down, then click OK. Windows 98 Second Edition shuts off the computer.
Remove all cables connected to the computer.
Carefully turn your computer upside down and remove the battery pack.
Note: Refer to User's Guide "Mobile Computing" chapter, "Changing the main battery", "Removing the battery" for additional information on removing the battery pack.
Accessing the memory expansion slot

Carefully turn your computer right side up.
Open the display by sliding the display latch to the right and pushing up the panel to the open position.
Remove the keyboard brace by slipping your finger under a notch at the end of the keyboard and carefully lifting up to release the six latches.
CAUTION: Static electricity can damage the memory module. Before you handle the module, touch a grounded metal surface to discharge any static electricity you may have built up. To avoid damaging the memory module, be careful not to touch its gold connector bar (on the side you insert into the computer). It's always best to hold the module by the very edge without touching any metal part.
Remove the two screws retaining the keyboard.
Lift up the back of the keyboard, rotate it toward you and lay it face down on the palm rest.
CAUTION: The keyboard is connected to the computer by a ribbon cable. Be careful no to apply tension to this cable when you lift up the keyboard. Do not try to disconnect this cable.
Warning! Never try to disconnect this cable. Disconnecting the cable may result in damage to the components.
Remove the two screws securing the modem.
Lift up the front side of the modem board to disconnect it from the motherboard.
Rotate the modem board to the right side of the computer and lay it face down.
Installing the memory module

Grasp the memory module by its outer edges, remove it from its anti-static packaging and turn it so that the gold connector bar faces the socket.
Carefully slide the module into the socket.
Gently push the memory module down until the latches on either side of the socket engage the module, holding it in place.
CAUTION: Avoid touching the connectors on the memory module or on the computer. Grease or dust on the connectors may cause memory access problems.
Reassembling the computer

Reconnect the modem board and secure it with the two retaining screws.
Rotate the keyboard back onto the computer and secure it with the two retaining screws.
Reconnect the keyboard brace by gently pressing it into the six latches.
Close the display lid.
Carefully turn your computer upside down and install the battery pack.
Carefully Turn your computer right side up.
Reconnect any cables you disconnected. Turn on the computer and verify that it correctly recognizes the installed memory.[/img]

[Mike Walsh]

Hi, duckguy.

You're in good hands, here: starhawk's our resident hardware 'expert'. Nobody on here knows more about older hardware than he does..! He's helped me out on a few occasions.

@starhawk:-

What were you saying about Dell? At least they usually made it easy to access the RAM modules, without needing to pull other components outa the way first.....


Mike.

[starhawk]

@ Mike -- touché. But -- ever look at the guts of a desktop Dell and try and fit them to standard...?

@duckguy -- you're better than I had suspected that's a good thing.

I'll go look in my RAM bin and see if there's anything good for you. I'll be right back.

[starhawk]

I have two sticks for you. One is 64mb, made by IBM. The other is an Infineon 256mb stick.

The IBM stick is PC66, and the Infineon is PC133.

This is where it gets complicated.

There is a sort of boundary with RAM at the PC100/PC133 mark, in that, oftentimes a PC133 stick will NOT work in a PC100 slot, even though it should for all other reasons. Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't. Depends on what system you have, and there's no real way to know other than to try.

The PC66 stick will work for sure -- but it will slow you down an imperceptible amount. You won't notice that.

The Infineon stick may work, may not. If it doesn't, you might get a mucked up display at boot, or it might just sit there with a blank screen and beep at you. In either case, no harm done, just swap it out with the 64 meg stick.

I'll send you both. PM me (don't post it here!) your address, and don't worry about the shipping costs.

[Sailor Enceladus]

Hello duckguy,

If you have under 512MB RAM, full install is probably a good choice. I would also try "links-2.12" or "dillo-3.0.5" browser here, as they will run better with less ram.

[duckguy]

Sailor Enceladus -

... If you have under 512MB RAM, full install is probably a good choice ...

So, what about replacing the HDD with an SSD, in that case? I find that 120GB SSDs are selling for under $50.

Thanks in advance.

[Sailor Enceladus]

Yes, adding a swap file will probably help a lot also (that is why Windows XP doesn't completely blow up with only 64MB RAM).

$50 could probably get you a nice used 1GB RAM 2005ish business laptop to run puppy on smoothly though also.

[starhawk]

@duckguy -- ran into some unexpected problems w/ your RAM. May be an extra day or two. Sorry.

As for SSDs -- make sure you get an IDE SSD, your system can't do SATA.

[duckguy]

... May be an extra day or two. ... make sure you get an IDE SSD, your system can't do SATA. ...

Thanks, I will let you know when it arrives.

Will something like this work in the system:

2.5" SATA SSD or HDD Drive to IDE 44 Pin IDE Adapter?

http://www.amazon.com/2-5-SATA-SSD-Driv ... B0049D7PCU

[starhawk]

I wouldn't trust those. One of my friends runs the tech shop in my little town, and he swears he's never seen even one that works. While I somehow doubt that a little -- I don't consider them reliable.

Besides. The space in a laptop for a hard drive, is the size of the drive. Add that adapter and you'll have all kinds of nasty problems getting the drive itself to go in.

I wouldn't bother.

[rokytnji]

... May be an extra day or two. ... make sure you get an IDE SSD, your system can't do SATA. ...

Thanks, I will let you know when it arrives.

Will something like this work in the system:

2.5" SATA SSD or HDD Drive to IDE 44 Pin IDE Adapter?

http://www.amazon.com/2-5-SATA-SSD-Driv ... B0049D7PCU

Just to add to starhawks post. Old bios and motherboards won't see a sata drive. No matter what pin board adapter you put in them. I have already traveled down that dead end road. You will find out when you go into bios with yoiur new SATA ssd and look under hard drive and see a N/A next to it.

EDIT: I guess I should mention some bios and boards support those adapters or they woukld not be able to sell them. But then. Here is a image of something that I bought that is bueno por nada when you hook it up and they sell them on the internet also. It sits on the shelf because analog won't do digital without a converter box in between.

http://www.short-circuit.com/images/pro ... vga-lg.jpg

Nobody tells you that when you buy the parts though.

[Mike Walsh]

Hi, duckguy.

Agree with starhawk, there. I wouldn't bother with one of those.

I have an IDE SSD in my big ol' Compaq tower, which used to be in my old Dell lappie.....an original, 2002 Inspiron 1100. I fitted it with a 40/44 pin adapter lead (you need the extra 4 pins in the laptop for the power supply, and the additional 4 leads at the SSD end simply go into a 4-pin Molex power connector).

The only thing you may find is that the original hard drive has an adapter over the pins, that looks like this:-

http://i.imgur.com/711vEG8.jpg

They were quite common round the turn of the millennium; most of the major manufacturers were using them at that time. They were used because the connector on the motherboard had a slot, which needed 'fingers' on the drive to mate with it. Do be careful when you remove this; if the drive has never been out of the box before, that adapter will be stiff. You must make sure you prise it off carefully, keeping the adapter straight.....'cos otherwise you'll end up with bent-pins on the old drive (and they are worth hanging onto).

It's all too easy to bend the pins on the SSD, too; be careful, and make sure you seat it squarely. Make sure there's no pins showing when you're done, neither.

It's easy enough, like anything, once you've done it a few times!!


Mike.

[duckguy]

... Old bios and motherboards won't see a sata drive ... that when you buy the parts ...

OK Thanks!
So, if I go for an internal SSD, it has to be IDE compatible, or an external firewire or USB drive.

Here's another question. When I checked out the RAM slot, I found that it was under the telephone line modem. The modem was installed into a whitish slot. If I remove the modem (since I have no dial up service) can this slot be used for a WIFI card? There's no WIFI in the computer as of yet.

Thanks in advance.

[rokytnji]

I always used my pcmcia slot for wireless cards.. Maybe starhawk knows as I do not.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 699#788699

[starhawk]

Eeeeeeuuuwwww... looks like they used a JAE style connector there. There's another one on the back of every IDE laptop optical drive basically ever. Might have a converter on it, like the hard drive does (both were very common until the end of IDE drives altogether), but it's there somewhere.

There is no WiFi card ever made that will connect to that nasty friggin' thing.

For that -- you're looking for a MiniPCI slot. Like this one, only not on a router (link shamelessly leeched because I'm lazy). Chances are it's an off-white color. I've never seen 'em black, before that photo.

rokytnji's got a point, too -- he was typing as I was -- but you won't get anything faster than WiFi "Draft n" speeds with Cardbus (that's the proper term for those slots on anything modern).

A note to clear up that last point. PCMCIA is a 16-bit expansion bus based on the old old old old old ISA slots found originally in the PC-XT. Well, okay, those were 8-bit, and not yet ISA -- but they later got expanded to 16-bit as part of ISA. The difference between the pre-ISA XT-Bus and the ISA-8 Bus is almost nonexistent. It's there -- but you have to really look.

Anyway. CardBus was a continuation of PCMCIA that uses a differently-keyed slot and is pin-incompatible -- it uses the faster, wider 32-bit PCI bus as its basis. If you look at a "PCMCIA" card and it's got a gold strip at the end, it's CardBus. If not -- it might still be CardBus (the early ones didn't have the strip) but it's almost certainly PCMCIA instead. If you look at a PCMCIA card, the end where the connector is, pay attention to the notches. There's a thin one and a fat one. Those are flipped to the opposite side on a CardBus card, so that it won't fit in the slot all the way and cause sparks and smoke and all kinds of nasty damage due to the user not knowing the difference.

Sorry, long explanation -- but hey, ya learned something, right? that's valuable enough to be worth it... leastways, that's what I'd say...