Shortened Usb Pcmcia Card


[Rune] got tired of seeing the side of his USB card hanging out of his laptop. He cut it down and re-assembled it to keep all of it inside of his laptop. Nice clean work. I’ve taken PC cards apart before, and it’s a challenge to keep them looking this good after that.

14 thoughts on “Shortened Usb Pcmcia Card

  1. this specific card didn’t supply 5v from the factory
    it shipped with a cable that powers the card from the laptops usb1 port

    which currently is unchanged. but I will upgrade
    the card with a miniature boost converter
    to produce 5v for the ports

    /Kyndal

  2. From TFA:
    “Next version / Or upgrade will include a 3.3 to 5v boost converter.. “

    If you plan on making this a permanent fixture in the computer, you could draw +5v from the board somewhere — other usb (1.1?) ports are a good place, or a PS2 port depending on the age of the machine.

    Another option is to make the card occupy both slots (if two exist) to find room for a boost converter or to hide it in some other spare space and run extra wire to connect it internally.

  3. just be careful with longer wires–i’m almost certain with the new wiring, it’s out of usb spec because you need controlled impedance for high speed stuff. trust me, I did some sloppy modding of a usb cable before, and you can’t get away with too much

  4. Nicely done! How do you know which parts of the circuit are unnecessary? I’m considering trying this on mine, a cheap Dynex card, and don’t know if the layout would be the same. Also, how’d you get the card apart without breaking anything? Just a mini screwdriver, or something else?

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