IO PC – Part IV (final)

This post about the ultimate I/O PC should be the last one of the series! The final HW component I needed to install and successfully use to do I/Os was the Sedna 16-bit PCI-to-PCMCIA controller. My failed previous attempt made me suspect a driver problem. But, I could not confirm it easily because Windows XP stubbornly hanged during boot when the 3.5” floppy drive was present.

On the HW side, although the adapter was apparently working fine, the floppy drive or the card could be faulty. Therefore, I decided to install something completely different, and missing in my ultimate I/O PC. The only device class missing was audio. I’ve picked a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS card, and let XP install its recommended drivers. It failed. No problem, I’ve then installed the SW and drivers shipped with the card. All worked fine this second time. Note that I could not register the sound card via the Internet. Too bad. I may try the regular mail so that I can imagine the face of whoever will open the letter.

Now that I was 100% sure that the PCI-to-PCMCIA controller was working, I stopped and ejected the sound card and plugged-in the Sony FA P1 PCMCIA floppy drive instead. It worked and added a new floppy to the system (J:). I then tried an Accurite SuperDisk drive, which worked as well. My I/O PC is now completely done!