March 7, 2003

Please note the following in response to issues regarding the PulseBlaster in a 3.3V PCI-Slot configuration:


*** Begin Email, March 6, 2003 ***

The card 'key' at the bottom of the PulseBlaster board allows it to be
inserted into both a 5V and 3.3V-type system.  However, there is an error in
pin connections under a 3.3V keyed slot -- one of the pins that is
designated as 5V is actually designed to accept 3.3V -- and therefore the
board shorts 3.3V to 5V in this configuration.

Since the 5V slots are intended to supply 3.3V on a few pins, we have been
using this configuration to power the boards, and have to re-key the design
of the board (so it fits only in the 5V slots) or fix this pin connection
error in future boards to get the voltage issue resolved.  Since old
motherboards using 5V slots do not actually supply the 3.3V pins, we have had 
some issues with compatability in older systems.

We have found that most motherboard slots in recent computers that have 4-6
PCI slots (AT/ATX form factor) all support the 5V configuration with 3.3V
connected.  A system such as this should support several boards (I believe
we have run up to 4 at once).

In case you're interested, here is a link to a board that we use:
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/kd7e/techspec.php

I hope that this clears some things up.  If you need any help in getting the
programs running with multiple boards or writing pulse programs for multiple
boards in-system, just let me know (mbidzos@spincore.com).

*** End Email ***


If you have any questions regarding the operation of the PulseBlater under a 3.3V or PCI-X configuration, please contact support@spincore.com.