hi Chris,

Remember the 905 is the same as a 905B.  
The 905 (some, anyway) have an nsphy.

The newer ASIC on the 905B doesn't emulate the PIO api, but does
include an integral 3com phy. At least all the ones i've played
with do.

That explains the difference from what you expected.

>What's the dmesg output 'around' the ex0 card messages in the second
>example?

i.e., is the second case followed by an 
      exphy0 at ex0 phy 24: 3Com internal media interface

or not?