120-pin expansion bus in TI TravelMate 3000 WinSX: any standard, reference, etc?

[Maksym Kozub]

I have recently got this old (does it already qualify as 'vintage'? ;) ) laptop, as a gift from my fellow colleague. The manual says there was an Ethernet adapter available as an option for those Texas Instrument TravelMate 3000/4000/4000E notebooks. Since it's probably impossible to find a native adapter now, I am thinking of what else could be connected. Does anybody know whether the 120-pin expansion bus used in those laptops was a proprietary one, or was there any standard? Any help much appreciated.

[Terry Yager]

There were few, if any 'standards' in those days, but the TravelMate series was, although manufactured by TI, re-badged under several other brands (Sharp, NEC, etc.).
For networking, I'd suggest a parallel-port adaptor.

--T

[Maksym Kozub]

Thank you, Terry! There were few, if any 'standards' in those daysWell, quite a few I would say :) (although I would agree that there was not so many of standardized _external_ interfaces back in 1992). the TravelMate series was, although manufactured by TI, re-badged under several other brands (Sharp, NEC, etc.).Thanks again, I didn't know that. Do you happen to remember any Sharp etc. models? (I would then check with owners of those relics for old cards, etc.) For networking, I'd suggest a parallel-port adaptor.Do you mean a cable (LPT-to-LPT), or was there any real Ethernet adapter for PC-side LPT port? (_Not_ a print server.)

UPDATE: Forget the last question. I did some search and found information on all those kinds of Pocket Ethernet adapters for parallel port, by Accton, D-Link, etc. Thank you so much: before reading your message, I only looked for serial port adapters for some uknown reason :). There are some (by NetBurner), but they are pretty expensive. Pocket adapters for parallel port seem to be a much better option :).

It would still be of interest if anybody has any info on that 120-pin interface, and the respective 'native' Ethernet adapters.

[Terry Yager]

Thanks again, I didn't know that. Do you happen to remember any Sharp etc. models? (I would then check with owners of those relics for old cards, etc.)

Not specifically. I have a Sharp re-badge of the TravelMate 2000 here somewhere, but it's pretty well buried, so I doubt I'll dig it up anytime soon. I don't recall the model number on it.

--T