Document: PCI ethernet cards for OS/2 Maintainer: Patrick Duffy, duffy@theory.chem.ubc.ca Last Revision Date: July 10, 1995 Archived at: ftp.netcom.com, in directory /pub/ab/abe/ Web pages: http://warp.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/workbench/work.htm This is the PCI ethernet cards for OS/2 list. I try at all times to keep it accurate, so if you spot any flaws/omissions, please do not hesitate to let me know and I'll fix them for the next release. I've placed a '*' beside cards which I would recommend, and a '**' beside cards which I would pick for myself when assembling a PCI system. Useful Numbers: --------------- 3Com: ftp.3com.com (FTP site) Racal: http://www.racal.com (web site) Manufacturer Model Comments ------------------------------------------------------ 3Com EtherLink This is 3Com's PCI card. It will III** busmaster (so be sure to put it into a busmastering slot on your PCI board), and uses what 3Com calls "parallel processing technology" to ensure fast performance. Drivers (ODI and NDIS, available from the 3Com FTP site in /pub/adapters/drivers/3c5x9x.exe) exist for the card, which is reported to work very nicely under OS/2. Adaptec Adaptec will (soon) be releasing two PCI ATM networking cards which sound like they'd be ideal for the truly speed-hungry. Both cards busmaster. One card does 25 Mbit/s, and the other does 155 Mbit/s. NT drivers are nearing completion, and OS/2 drivers are next in line. Now all I need is an ATM line... D-Link DE-530CT This card uses the DEC 21040 chip, busmasters, and comes with BNC and twisted pair connectors on the same card. It comes with NDIS drivers for all the major operating systems. The card is reported to work well in OS/2 (but to be slow in Windows for Workgroups), with the exception that the OS/2 NIF file does not include a section for selecting the BNC or twisted pair connector. As a result, on power up it defaults to the twisted pair, which causes delays if you're using BNC. Setup tips: Adding SIA_MODE = "BNC" to the [DC2IBM_nif] section of protocol.ini will tell the driver that the connection is via the BNC cable. Alternately, adding [SIA_MODE] tag = SIAMODE display = "Connector" type = string strlength = 3 default = "BNC" set = BNC, TP editable = yes to the DC2IBM.NIF file will give you the connector option in the network adapter setup program. Intel Etherexpress This is Intel's PCI card. I've no Pro/100 details on card configuration, but drivers for it are in beta (and correspondingly buggy). The card is reported to be quite quick, though. Racal PCI T2* This is Racal's PCI card. It apparently has both ODI and NDIS drivers in the box, and uses the AMD AM7990 chip for its networking operations. The card will autosense whether the BNC or the twisted pair connector is being used on startup. The driver diskette is apparently missing a configuration file which must be obtained from their BBS in order to properly install under Lanserver. Other than that, the drivers are reported to work well (NDIS drivers with NetBios protocols). SMC PCI This is SMC's ethernet card. It PowerEther uses a Digital chip, and drivers for ODI and NDIS are available. Apparently the card does not perform well, however; one person has reported seeing his network performance drop from 1040 kB/sec to 400 kB/sec when switching from an SMC Elite16T ISA to this card. Still another reports that loading the drivers locks his system solid. Zynx ZX312 PCI* This card is similar to the Racal card above, except that it does not automatically detect the connector (BNC or twisted pair) in use; this must be set with a jumper. The diskette/drivers provided have been reported to work well with TCP/IP, NetBios, and Lanserver. That's what I know. E-Mail/post with additions/corrections and I'll post again. -- Patrick Duffy, duffy@theory.chem.ubc.ca "Never fry bacon when you're naked."