---
name: "pcmcia"
section: "4"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pcmcia/4"
---

# pcmcia(4)

introduction to PCMCIA (PC Card) support

## NAME

**pcmcia**, **pcic** – introduction to PCMCIA (PC Card) support

## SYNOPSIS

**# i386** **pcic0   at isa? port 0x3e0 iomem 0xd0000 iosiz 0x10000** **pcic1   at isa? port 0x3e2 iomem 0xe0000 iosiz 0x4000** **pcic2   at isa? port 0x3e4 iomem 0xe0000 iosiz 0x4000** **pcic\*   at isapnp?** **pcic\*   at pci? dev?** **pcmcia\* at pcic?**

**# i386** **tcic0   at isa? port 0x240 iomem 0xd0000 iosiz 0x10000** **pcmcia\* at tcic?**

**# luna88k** **pcic0   at cbus? port 0x3e0 iomem 0xd0000 iosiz 0x10000** **pcmcia\* at pcic?**

**# sparc64** **stp\*    at sbus?** **pcmcia\* at stp?**

**# all architectures** **cbb\*      at pci?** **cardslot\* at cbb? flags 0x0000** **pcmcia\*   at cardslot?**

## DESCRIPTION

The **pcmcia** subsystem provides machine-independent bus support and drivers for PCMCIA (PC Card) devices.

OpenBSD provides support for the following devices. Note that not all architectures support all devices.

### Serial interfaces and modems

- [com(4)](/com/4.md)

  serial communications interface

### Wired network interfaces

- [ep(4)](/ep/4.md)

  3Com EtherLink III and Fast EtherLink III 10/100 Ethernet device

- [ne(4)](/ne/4.md)

  NE2000 and compatible 10/100 Ethernet device

- [sm(4)](/sm/4.md)

  SMC91C9x and SMC91C1xx-based 10/100 Ethernet device

- [xe(4)](/xe/4.md)

  Xircom-based 16-bit PCMCIA 10/100 Ethernet device

### Wireless network interfaces

- [an(4)](/an/4.md)

  Aironet Communications 4500/4800 IEEE 802.11FH/b wireless network device

- [malo(4)](/malo/4.md)

  Marvell Libertas IEEE 802.11b/g wireless network device

- [wi(4)](/wi/4.md)

  WaveLAN/IEEE, PRISM 2-3, and Spectrum24 IEEE 802.11b wireless network device

### SCSI controllers

- [aic(4)](/aic/4.md)

  Adaptec AIC-6260 and AIC-6360 SCSI interface

### IDE controllers

- [wdc(4)](/wdc/4.md)

  WD100x compatible hard disk controller driver

The supported PCMCIA controllers are those that are i82365 compatible.

## NOTES

On some **pcmcia** adapters, for instance the [sbus(4)](/sbus/4.md)-based [stp(4)](/stp/4.md), the **pcmcia** bus will be mapped in big-endian format instead of the natural (and preferred) little endian format. Unfortunately such controllers lack the hardware facility to swap bytes, and it is not efficient to convert all drivers to always know about this. While 8 bit drivers can invisibly work on such a bus, 16 bit drivers will need modification to handle this. So far, [wi(4)](/wi/4.md) is the only driver to require these modifications.

If the **pcmcia** adapter is not detected, or if **pcmcia** events (such as card insertion) do not occur, there may be a PCI card BIOS mapped in the same memory space the **pcmcia** driver is configured to use (this is often the case with Ethernet card boot ROMs). The output from [dmesg(8)](/dmesg/8.md) should contain a line beginning with “bios0” that lists the memory address and size of mapped regions. If there is a conflict, you can use [boot\_config(8)](/boot_config/8.md) to change the iomem parameter of the *pcic* device to a non-overlapping address, such as 0xd8000 for *pcic0*. Some experimentation may be required to find a working value; in some cases the size parameter of the *pcic* device may need to be decreased to avoid a conflict.

## SEE ALSO

[cardbus(4)](/cardbus/4.md), [intro(4)](/intro/4.md), [isa(4)](/isa/4.md)

## HISTORY

The **pcmcia** driver appeared in OpenBSD 2.3.