Linux support for NI PCMCIA-232 serial cards?

[Matt DeVillier]

I have a NI PCMCIA-232 serial card I'm looking to use with Suse Linux 10.0, as a serial interface to a bar code reader.  The only info I've found on using these cards under linux is the PDF from Aug. '99 found here.  I assume those instructions are still applicable, but was wondering if anything newer were available.

thanks in advance,
Matt

[Robert M]

Hi Matt,

Those instructions are still applicable.  No newer documentation is available; however some content has been added to our site in the form of KnowledgeBases that address specific issues.  Are you running into any issues?

[Matt DeVillier]

Robert,

the instructions are for the 2.2.x kernel, and the PCMCIA subsystem seems to have changed a bit in 2.6.13+, using pcmciautils vs cardmgr.  I wasn't sure how easy it would be to translate from one to the other.  If you could link to the KB articles that would be appreciated

thanks,
Matt

[Robert M]

Hi Matt,

It looks like all the applicable KBs I was able to find refer to the same '99 document.  I'm not sure if Suse 10.0 is supported yet.  Have you tried using the card yet?  What problems have you run into?

[Matt DeVillier]

Robert,

PCMCIA is working on the system (my D-link wifi card works fine), but the NI card is not detected.  The '99 doc refers to editing the /etc/pcmcia/config file in order to force the card to use the serial_cs driver.  That file is no longer used, so I'm unsure how to force the card to use that driver.

thanks,
Matt

[Robert M]

Hi Matt,

I was able to find out more information, but I'm afraid it's bad news.  R&D is aware that the current '99 document is out of date; however customer demand has not been high enough to necessitate the work needed to revamp the document.  In other words, newer systems that don't use that file are not supported.  That is not to say it cannot be done; we just haven't tried it.  It's possible other customers have accomplished this, but we have not yet heard about it.  Please feel free to put in a request on our feedback page.  The more customer requests we get for a particular feature the more likely it is we will develop it.

Thanks, and sorry for the bad news,