Hey there,

I had this same issue and it was a setting in the BIOS. I had to set cardbus or something similar then it worked. It is under PCMCIA options if I remember correctly.

Thanks

I don't seem to have that option in my BIOS. I'm running bios version 6.50.

The 430CDT should be like most '95 ~ '97 laptops that seem pretty modern but don't actually support Cardbus - try a 10mbps PCMCIA NIC. I'm surprised they even fit in the slot?
The easy way to tell Cardbus from PCMCIA is that Cardbus cards usually have a gold strip by the connector, PCMCIA do not.

Just checked on my 430CDS - cardbus cards don't fit in to the slot fully. Try the 3CCFEM556B, that's a PCMCIA 10/100 LAN + 56K modem card.

The 430CDT is PCMCIA 16 bit only (no 32bit Cardbus support) - both cards you listed are Cardbus and are NOT compatible.

See the spec sheet on:
https://support.dynabook.com/support/staticCo … omTOCLink=false

Buy 3com 3C589C

Thanks for the advice ppl!

Could anyone tell me if these would work?

3Com EtherLink III LAN 2C589D-Comb3
or
3Com 3C589D-TP

Machine Monarch wrote on 2020-03-10, 21:29:

Thanks for the advice ppl! […]
Show full quote

Thanks for the advice ppl!

Could anyone tell me if these would work?

3Com EtherLink III LAN 2C589D-Comb3
or
3Com 3C589D-TP

I have had no problems with 3Com PCMCIA NICs, I've used then even on a Thinkpad 360Ce (486-50MHz). They are one of the most compatible ones. Just remember that many of these (not all) require a separate white propietary cable , which provides the RJ-45 jack. Also, even if you buy a 10/100 one, it will not reach speeds near the 100Mbps.

When it comes to PC Card/CardBus network cards you can get one of four kinds of connector:
- an ethernet cable that's permanently attached to the card, and ends in a RJ-45 plug
- a separate dongle that plugs into the card and breaks out to an RJ-45 jack
- something called XJACK which is basically a little fold-out RJ-45 jack (looks incredibly flimsy)
- a sizable bump on the end of the card which houses the RJ-45 jack
RJ-45 --> standard Ethernet connector

If you only need one card installed at a time the fourth are absolutely the easiest to work with, but barring that the kind with a dongle are the second most durable.easy to use (assuming you can keep track of the dongle). The first kind are a bit annoying, I know because I have a Linksys PCMLM28 that has that design, and the third just make me nervous about longevity of that connector.

Cards come in primary three forms:
- 10 Mbps (old school 'slow' Ethernet/LAN)
- 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet
- either of the first two combined with some type of standard modem

The second form is quite commonly found as a CardBus device, but PC Card versions exist.

I can't speak to all the manufacturers that exist, but I know of at least 4 that have PC Card models: Linksys, 3Com, D-Link, and Xircom. Also I personally have an OvisLink OV-PC16d which is a fast ethernet PC card of the fourth type above.

Different brands use different names:
- 3Com (Etherlink, Megahertz, Office Connect)
- Linksys (Linksys, EtherFast)
- Xircom (Xircom, Xircom RealPort)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xircom

P.S.

There is a 3CCFE574BT that is a PC Card, whereas 3CCFE575BT is CardBus. Both come in dongle and XJACK versions and seem to be fairly common on US eBay, though finding a dongle-version with a dongle at a reason price (<$15) is difficult.

PCMCIA is not the proper term... as it stands for the standards body not the actual card spec.

The 3com 574BT works Vanilla with WIn95. Win95 has built in drivers. Plug and play.
Not sure about Win98 compatibility.