I need to upgrade one of our computers, but it uses an old ISA card
(communicating with a piece of lab equipment).
Obviously I can't easily buy a new machine with ISA slots, only PCI
slots. Is there some kind of adapter that I can get to convert a PCI
slot to an ISA slot?
Any help would be great as I search around. Thanks.
Ed
There are still companies making motherboards with ISA slots.
I don't know anything about this company, so caveat emptor.
You never know what kind of BIOS comes with a board like this.
http://www.ibase-i.com.tw/MB865_700.jpg
It looks like the trick there, is a Winbond bridge chip of
some sort, that converts from PCI to ISA.
It could be the W83628F on this page that does the conversion.
http://www.winbond.com/e-winbondhtm/partner/b_2_d_3.htm
Using W83628 as a search term, may unearth other products
that use the Winbond chip, to support ISA cards.
The general problem with conversion, is mechanical. I have
seen a couple of concept products, to convert a slot on
a computer from one standard to another. The problem is,
that only leaves room for a low profile card to plug into
the top of the adapter card. Since most cards that people would
want to reuse, would be expensive full function, full size
cards, that kind of converter is useless.
Another form factor, is to have a piece of flex cable coming out
of the adapter device. Then, the user has to figure out a way to
gain access to the faceplate of the target card, and also a
way to mechanically secure the card, as it flops around on the
end of a flex cable.
If you can think of a mechanical concept that leaves the faceplate
accessable, securely mounts the card, and leaves room for a
conversion IC, you'll be a rich inventor!
Paul
