14.3.21. Kernel Configuration for PCMCIA

Question:

Which kernel configuration options are relevant to support PCMCIA cards under Linux?

Answer:

The following kernel configuration options are required to support miscellaneous PCMCIA card types with Linux and the PCMCIA CS package:

• PCMCIA IDE cards (CF and true-IDE)
  To support the IDE CardService client, the kernel has to be configured with general ATA IDE support. The MPC8xx IDE support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_MPC8XX_IDE flag) must be turned off.
• PCMCIA modem cards
  The kernel has to be configured with standard serial port support (CONFIG_SERIAL flag). After the kernel bootup the following preparation is needed:

  bash# mknod /dev/ttySp0 c 240 64
  

  This creates a new special device for the modem card; please note that /dev/ttyS0 ... S4 and TTY_MAJOR 4 are already used by the standard 8xx UART driver). /dev/ttySp0 becomes available for use as soon as the CardServices detect and initialize the PCMCIA modem card.
• PCMCIA Wireless LAN cards
  Enable the "Network device support" --> "Wireless LAN (non-hamradio)" --> "Wireless LAN (non-hamradio)" option in the kernel configuration (CONFIG_NET_RADIO flag).