Subject: Re: 10/100 ethernet cards - followup
To: Michael Wolfson <mw34@cornell.edu>
From: Monroe Williams <monroe@pobox.com>
List: port-macppc
Date: 05/03/2000 22:57:44
on 5/3/00 8:51 PM, Michael Wolfson at mw34@cornell.edu wrote:
[...]
> Rod Morehead <rmore@rmore.net> reports that:
> Asante Mac DEC based 10/100 PCI Rev A. part number is 09-00169-01 works in
> -current (de)

This card also works with 1.4.2.

[...]
> Monroe Williams <monroe@pobox.com> reports that:
> Farallon Fast EtherTX 10/100 card (part # PN996L-TX) (de) works

I don't think "works" is sufficient disclosure.

On current-20000304, this card can be made to function, with the
following caveats:

- the card doesn't auto-negotiate 100baseT or full duplex (you already
    mentioned that this was the case with some cards)

- manually configuring for 100baseT requires unplugging and replugging
    cables (after the 'ifconfig media' command), which means that a
    machine can't boot unattended and use 100baseT (this could make this
    card an unacceptable choice for some people -- i.e. servers that need
    to come back up after power failures, etc.)

This could be an interaction with the particular model of switch I'm using
(NetGear FS108) -- I don't have any other 100baseT hubs or switches
available to test with.

I'd try a later -current kernel, but I haven't been able to build a
kernel with a functional MESH scsi driver since I started running macppc.
(I'm not sure if this is due to something I'm doing wrong or due to a
problem with -current, but I have seen reports of others having similar
problems.)

Thanks for taking the time to summarize this thread and put it in the
FAQ.  

-- monroe
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Monroe Williams                                         monroe@pobox.com