Microtech PCD-47B

PCD-47B User's Manual
PCD-47 Firmware v 3.1 May 10, 2001 
PCD-47 Firmware v 3.2


Using the PCD-47B on a PS/2

   First, give up the idea of using this on an IBM made SCSI adapter. You'll get nothing but frustration when the System Programs tries to handle the empty slots. You can configure it, but imagine running setup every time you insert a new device... 

   Use a common FD MCS-700/Patriot , Buslogic BT-646, or Adaptec AHA-1640. These will not show up under Set and View SCSI Devices, so you can insert and eject devices without having to reboot. 

Stuff I have Used So Far:
   256MB Compact Flash, 256MB Secure Digital in PCMCIA adapter, 64MB Smart Media, 105MB PCMCIA HD. I suspect that hot insert has difficulty with the SM card, I had to reboot to see it.

PCD-47B Under NT4 SP6a

PCD-47B Jumper Blocks

Selecting SCSI IDs
The PCD-47 requires three SCSI IDs. So you can choose IDs 0 through 4 and have an ID for each device. For example, ID0 (all ID jumpers open) results in ID0 for PCMCIA, ID1 for Smart Media, and ID2 for Compact Flash.

SCSI ID Jumpers (From sticker on PCD-47B)

SCSI ID to Slot ID Table 

SCSI ID 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
PC 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
SM 1 2 3 4 5 6 -
CF 2 4 4 5 6 - -

The manual and the sticker agree on the SCSI ID to Slot ID. Look at the drive with the SCSI ID block on the upper left side and the option jumper block on the upper right. It is backward to the sticker's layout, but to me it makes more sense.

Terminator (I'll be baaack...) 
   Jumper to enable, open to disable termination. 

Option Jumper Block
(1) Slot Enable Jumper off: all three slots are active. Jumper on: only SmartMedia and CF are active (type III slot is disabled). (Ed. I think this is backwards - I jumpered mine and I can access all three ports. Open, I saw only two, SM and CF) 
(2-3) Vendor unique usage 
(4) Firmware Write Enable Jumper on: firmware rewrite mode. Jumper off: standard use. firmware cannot be rewritten with jumper off. Jumper should remain off when the unit is in 'regular use'. Unit cannot function normally with this jumper on. Jumper is only to be 'on' when rewriting firmware. 


PCD-47B Weaknesses
   First, the mounting screw on the outer side of the front of the PCMCIA socket tends to come loose and rattle about. Metal bit floating about inside of an enclosure with energized parts... 
  Second - this mounting screw is above the Compact Flash socket. Once this screw comes out, the metal crossbrace under the PCB that it threads into may move out of alignment, making it difficult to screw that side of the PCMCIA socket down. If the crossbrace is hard to reach, you can detach the CF socket's black thermoplastic cover with the two screws at the rear of the CF socket. Careful, leave the white plastic part on the PCB! 
   Third - If you use too long of a mounting screw on the front by the Compact Flash socket, the CF card will never fully seat! Don't fret, there were six available mounting holes to use. Five out of six ain't bad... 

Complaints
   The PCD-47B works far better than an MC-Disk. My issue is that Microsoft NT4 won't let me rename the drive, so I see Removable Drive (E:) and so on, but I'd like to see WHAT media the device is for (PCMCIA, SM, CF)...

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

Ardent Tool of Capitalism is maintained by Tomáš Slavotínek.
Last update: 24 Mar 2024 - Changelog | About | Legal & Contact