39
16.0
PC Card
The PC Card socket on the front of the unit is designed to use memory cards of
between 128kbyte and 2Mbyte storage capacity. Files are stored on the card
in a Pseudo-floppy format using standard DOS structures. See the box at the
end of this section for compatibility information.
PC Card
The Smart Card interface requires 68pin compatible SRAM memory cards.
Attribute memory is not required and is not used. The most appropriate card
size for the FDS-355 is the 256k byte card which can hold approximately 14
complete setup (CAL) files.
16.1 Card types
128k, 256k, 512k, 1M, 2M. Battery life varies with manufacturer and memory
size and should be checked with the card supplier.
Rechargeable cards are also now available. These cards should periodically
be left in the card slot of an FDS-355 for a few hours to recharge. Expected
battery life for rechargeable cards when not plugged into a unit is about one
year, but should always be checked with the card supplier.
SRAM CARDS
The PC Card filing system on the FDS-355 uses a pseudo-floppy format.
Formatting a Card on the FDS-355 writes a standard PC DOS format to the
card beginning at byte 0 as if it were the first byte on a disc. The format writes
a DOS boot sector with basic format data but does not write boot software.
This is followed by a single File Allocation Table (FAT) starting at byte 200H.
The root directory is written with one entry, a sub-directory called BSSDATA.
All data files used by the unit are stored in the BSSDATA sub-directory as
there are limits to the number of files that can be stored in the root directory.
The different file types used by the unit have different file extensions as
follows. The file sizes are variable, and change with the number of EQs used,
and number of programs.
Program
*.CPG
All data
*.CAL
The pseudo-floppy filing system as used on the unit conforms to the PC
CARD standard although it does not format Card Information Structure (CIS)
information. BSS has tested and developed the Card filing system using an
IBM compatible PC card reader and a range of palm-top computers, but
cannot guarantee that the cards can be read by any particular piece of
computer equipment.
To be able to transfer files to and from an external
computer note the following:
Always format the card on the external computer.
Always write a sub-directory called BSSDATA into the root directory
immediately after formatting the card. All files used by the FDS-355, FDS-388
and FPC-900 remote are stored in the BSSDATA sub directory.
16.2 PC Card
format
Summary of Contents for FDS 355
Page 1: ...1 FDS 355 User Manual...
Page 16: ...1 6 Screen layout Overview...
Page 49: ...49 User Notes...
Page 50: ...5 0 User Notes...
Page 51: ...51...
Page 52: ...5 2 User Notes...
