Jeff Brendle <BLI@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> wrote:

>Well... once again I'm back wanting to play with netbsd on my old LC 
>(perf. 430
>actually). If you recall, I had tried before and had problems... I had a 
>wierd
>Asante NIC that had a DP832932VF chipset and was matching up with the ae 
>driver
>at boot and I could get no further. Then ran into problems with a freeze on
>boot using -current. Well... I have a perfectly good new 3GB hard drive 
>and the
>old mac still sitting here gathering dust so I thought I'd go back to the 
>reg.
>kernel instead of -current and ask what ethernet card I should buy to be best
>off w/ support (and toss the one I have into the pile for the next time I 
>need
>one under MacOS only). I know that Farallon, Asante and Sonic make 10Base-T
>and/or combo cards for the LC, which one is the best bet for compatibility??
>At this point throwing an additional $100 into a new card makes more 
>sensethan
>writing the whole idea off. thanks!!

Here's some information I've gathered from my own observations with 
LC/PDS ethernet cards.

The Apple LC Twisted-Pair  part number #630-0891A works with the SN 
driver. They're getting a bit hard to find, but are still available.  
This board uses the SONIC-T DP83934BVUL chip. I picked up my last one on 
eBay for about $40.

The Asante MacCon III+ works with the AE driver and is should work under 
MacOS with the standard Apple drivers.  This one uses the ST-NIC 
DP83902AV chip. They go for about $25 on eBay.

The Dayna (model M0437Z/B) uses the Sonic DP83934AVQB chip. It's 
recognized by the AE driver, but it fails to initialize and doesn't work 
under NetBSD 1.3.2.  Not sure if it will work with the standard Apple 
drivers under MacOS.  Price is about $20 on eBay.  (If anyone wants the 
one I have I'll part with it for $20.)

The Newer Tech LC10 card has been discontinued by Newer Tech.  They've 
sold their remaining inventory to StarShip who sells the cards (new) on 
www.onsale.com for $29.  Unfortunately these use a propietary chip that 
is not recognized by NetBSD.  It's also incompatible with the standard 
Apple driver and won't work under MacOS without Newer Tech's driver. 
Their driver only works on the 68k Mac so the card can't be used on a 
PowerMac, and they come with no support at all!  Newer Tech is aware that 
the cards don't work and that's part of the reason they sold the 
inventory to Starship on the condition that they would be unsupported by 
Newer Tech.

Hope this helps,
-bob