Some PCMCIA cards hate IBM drivers

[vetter@hookup.net (Tim Vetter)]

Hi folks,

I've been running a GVC FM144 PCMCIA FaxModem for a few months now, and 
until now have been very happy with it.  It was $75 cheaper than the 
Megahertz, includes MNP10 capability, and has shown great tolerance for 
noisy phone lines.

The problem is I have been using GVC's standalone DOS driver in lieu of 
IBM's standard socket/card services driver set.  Now I'm considering adding 
an Ethernet card, and I want to start using the standard drivers so I don't 
suffer TSR proliferation (not to mention, I like the idea of not having to 
reset the machine after suspend to recover card function!).

Loaded the latest version of EZPlay and accompanying socket/card services 
(downloaded from IBM BBS yesterday) for DOS and Windows, and observed the 
following:  EZPlay detects the presence/absence of my modem card, but 
reports its status as "Not Ready", the card type as "Memory", and nothing 
for card information.

I've contacted GVC tech support and they say the IBM drivers are no good, 
while IBM support says the GVC card doesn't follow the PCMCIA standard.  
It's a classic case of vendor support Catch-22.

So, has anyone out there encountered similar problems getting IBM's 
socket/card services to recognize a card?  All I hear about in the group is 
how perfect the plug-and-play is, surely I'm not the only one who's had 
headaches ... ?

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Vetter           73 Warren Road, Kitchener, Ontario N2M4T6 CANADA
vetter@hookup.net         voice 519-579-9904     fax 519-571-9520