Operation Manual

Card and Socket Services
34 Controller A1 PCMCIA – 7 Installing the Driver Software in Windows 3.x
7.3 Card and Socket Services
Purpose and Functions
Laptops with a PCMCIA slot generally are delivered with card
and socket services included. Since the PCMCIA slot func-
tions as a hardware extension of the computer, card and
socket services are necessary to integrate the PC card into
the computer’s structure and information processing.
Socket Services
Socket services are hardware drivers which make the con-
nection between the computer’s software system, the BIOS,
and the PCMCIA slot. Through these services, the computer
recognizes how many PCMCIA slots are available and which
are assigned. Socket services regulate access to the PCMCIA
slot and the controllers inserted there. To ensure correct
functioning, socket services must be set to your computer’s
BIOS version and to the controller chip located in the ISDN-
Controller. The socket services are provided by the manufac-
turer of your computer.
Under no circumstances should the socket services provided
be replaced with driver software from another manufacturer.
Card Services
Card services are software drivers. They represent the inter-
face between the hardware drivers and the applications
which access them. These applications include Help pro-
grams, application programs or device drivers. Card services
automatically assign operating resources like memory width
and program interrupt levels to the PC cards registered by
socket services. When a PC card is removed from the system,
the resources it was assigned are given back to the operating
system. In this sense, card services create the connection
between the PC card and the socket services. When using
the AVM ISDN-Controller A1 PCMCIA, for example card servic-
es determine under which I/O address and with which inter-
rupt the PCMCIA card is controlled by the computer.
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