>I have a new Pentium (120MHz) computer with a BOCALANcard ethernet
>adaptor on which I am trying to install NetBSD 1.1.
>The system boot just fine, but the ethernet card does not
>work (reliably -- I was able to login to a Mac with FTP).  
>The problem may be related to the fact that during boot
>the ethernet address of the card is reported as ff:ff:ff:ff:ff.
>The card is recognized as le0.  Any ideas?  Should I
>upgrade to current.  Should I return the card?

Return the card. I had the exact same problem with a Bocalan and my P100
this fall. The ff:ff:ff:ff:ff means the card's flash rom for storing its
hardware address is corrupted. I have heard there is a driver probe
conflict that wipes it out (don't let on when you return the card,
though, of course ... I think booting a shitty linux kernel on my
machine wiped mine out), so be careful if you get a new card what you
boot with it -- in particular compile yourself a new kernel without any
drivers you don't need. I can't remember the driver that causes the
problem, though there was discussion of it on this list just recently.
Is it a scsi controller? I can't remember.

Also, if you're in the mood for a little hacking, and you know what the
ethernet address of your card _should_ be, there were instructions
posted on this list for fixing it in about december, look carefully
though because it doesn't mention bocalan; it's another manufacturer
that uses the same architecture. should work anyway.


nd