[kuczmarm]

Looking for an old laptop with RS232 built in as well as Windows XP with SRAM compatible PCMCIA hardware for older Fanuc controls. Does anyone know if the toughbook CF-29 PCMCIA is SRAM compatible with the proper drivers? Do I need to go older? I believe the CF-29 was 2004-2006.

[zavateandu]

you can not use usb to serial converter on windows 7?also there i a pcmcia to usb reader.
you do not need to go backwards,depending on the aplication.

[kuczmarm]

Thank you for the response. The usb to serial converter does not work on all machines. I just found a Miyano machine that would punch to but not read from it this week. The pcmcia to usb reader is over $400, so I am looking for a laptop that may do both is just over $100.

[Bob La Londe]

There is a lot of old hardware (and some still being installed) out there that can be easily programmed by PC (if you have the codes) using an RS232 port. I hoard my old laptops with RS232 ports on them. I think I have a few of those old beaters. Batteries are only good for an hour or so. CMOS batteries are dead. I have to plug them in and then do an auto configure and set the date every time I use them, but... Keys are missing from one. Last time I bought one I bought two because I knew this was coming. I bought my last several RS232 enabled laptops refurbished. Last time I checked none of the regular refurbished resellers had any. You might try Craigslist or Ebay and see what you can find. Be prepared to buy a couple and make sure you are getting system disks or have a licensed OS you can install. You will probably have to spend half a day cleaning it up if you don't buy it from a professional refurbisher.

Remember that Microsquish no longer provides any support or security support for XP machines. In addition most browser developers no-longer provide support for XP machines. There was a hack (registry edit) to make your XP machine look like XP embedded so you could continue to receive security updates, but I think that expires or expired this year. The point is the moment you put your machine on the Internet it is instantly at risk.

Tiger direct has some adapters for PCMCIA. Go CNA (cnaweb.com) has always had a lot of older hardware too.

[zavateandu]

Thank you for the response. The usb to serial converter does not work on all machines. I just found a Miyano machine that would punch to but not read from it this week. The pcmcia to usb reader is over $400, so I am looking for a laptop that may do both is just over $100.

i use nowdays my pcmcia adapter with a sd card,i remove the sd card from pcmcia adapter and stick it to an sd card reader with usb cable and copy my files.no more than $30.
And about rs232 to usb ,i think your cable is not set corect i use it in old fanuc like 10T and 15T so should work

[motordude]

The USB to RS232 didn't work for my Heidenhain controller (tried two different types) so I just bought a Dell Rugged Extreme on Ebay. It has a native RS232 and it works well. A bit pricy, about 1000USD, but you get a warranty and it does work. Use VMware Virtual Machine to get XP or any other OP on your Win 7/8/10 machine. Works well.

[kuczmarm]

i use nowdays my pcmcia adapter with a sd card,i remove the sd card from pcmcia adapter and stick it to an sd card reader with usb cable and copy my files.no more than $30.
And about rs232 to usb ,i think your cable is not set corect i use it in old fanuc like 10T and 15T so should work

Pcmcia adapter is not the same as sram, if you use a pcmcia adapter in a Fanuc sram slot you will toast it. (Learned that the hard way years ago when I first started out)

I have only found one machine my usb->rs232 won't work on, a miyano bne, I can read from it but not punch back in. That machine will only work with a real rs232 apparently.

[kuczmarm]

The USB to RS232 didn't work for my Heidenhain controller (tried two different types) so I just bought a Dell Rugged Extreme on Ebay. It has a native RS232 and it works well. A bit pricy, about 1000USD, but you get a warranty and it does work. Use VMware Virtual Machine to get XP or any other OP on your Win 7/8/10 machine. Works well.

Does it have a pcmcia slot hardware compatible with sram? I've read I need to go back at least 10 years to get that compatibility in the hardware.

[motordude]

Does it have a pcmcia slot hardware compatible with sram? I've read I need to go back at least 10 years to get that compatibility in the hardware.

I don't know, try to ask Dell.

Best regards
John

[RCaffin]

You want a supplier of INDUSTRIAL PCs. Plenty of them around, because there are plenty of industrial machines which still need them. Probably have all you need: XP, RS232, SRAM, etc.
Drawback: not as cheap as consumer PCs.
Advantage: not as cheap as consumer PCs.

Cheers
Roger