Cardbus Support - Compaq Armada 4100 White Paper

N :
OTE
Direct enablers are basic
software drivers provided by a
PC Card vendor. These drivers
allow the peripheral to be used
under native Windows NT 4.0.
Contact your PC Card vendor
directly for information about the
level of Windows NT 4.0 support
offered.
W P
HITE APER
(cont.)
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P P C C
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L A T F O R M
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Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 is pre-installed on select models within the Armada 1500, Armada
. .
. . 7300, Armada 7700 and Armada 7800 families. The operating system is supported on all models
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within the Armada 1500, Armada 4100, Armada 4200, Armada 7300, Armada 7700, Armada 7800
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. . and LTE 5000 families. Table 1 summarizes which versions of CardWare
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each portable family. Note that PC Card features inherently supported by Windows NT 4.0 are
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. . supported across all product families (see the section titled Supported PC Card Features for more
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information). Using a PC Card under Windows NT 4.0 without CardWare
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. . software drivers for the PC Card peripheral called direct enablers
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into the slot prior to turning on the notebook. Using a direct enabler offers support for a specific
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. . PC Card and only for a limited set of features and functionality when compared with PC Cards
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operating under CardWare
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. . examples of features not supported through the use of a direct enabler, but are supported by
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CardWare. See the section titled Supported PC Card Features & Card Types for more information
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. . about PC Card features supported under CardWare
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operating system.
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S P
UPPORTED LATFORMS
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Supported Platforms
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LTE 5000 Family
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Armada 4100 Family
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Armada 4200 Family
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Armada 1500 Family
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Armada 7300 Family
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Armada 7700 Family
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Armada 7800 Family
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Table 1 - PC Card support by Compaq portable computer family
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S P C C
U P P O R T E D
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CardWare ® 5.0 greatly expands the set of PC Card features over those inherently offered by
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Windows NT 4.0. Table 3 summarizes major features by specific versions of CardWare
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compares this expanded feature set with the limited set offered by Windows NT 4.0. The following
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is a discussion of key areas where CardWare
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technology, namely CardBus and enhanced power management, more usable for Compaq portable
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customers.
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CardBus Support

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One of the key hardware technology advancements introduced with the Armada 1500, Armada
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4200, Armada 7300, Armada 7700 and Armada 7800 families is CardBus support, which paves the
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way for higher performance PC Card devices. CardBus is based on the widely accepted PCMCIA
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Association industry standard for 32-bit PC Cards. These devices are able to take advantage of
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1
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Due to the way direct enablers are designed, they can compromise system integrity and render other PC Cards unusable.
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Compaq recommends caution when using direct enablers.
3
S
A R D U P P O R T
® 5.0. Hot PC Card insertion, auto-configuration and CardBus are
® 5.0 versus those offered by the native
Windows NT 4.0 Native
PC Card Support
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F
A R D E A T U R E S
®
5.0 provides additional value and makes PC Card
®
5.0 are supported on
® 5.0 requires basic
1
and that the PC Card be inserted
CardWare 5.0 for CardWare
®
Windows NT 4.0 (v2.0x) Windows NT 4.0 (v2.1x)
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5.0 for
®
® 5.0 and