
          Document:  PCI networking cards for OS/2
        Maintainer:  Patrick Duffy, duffy@theory.chem.ubc.ca
    Revision Dates:  11/5/95
       Archived at:  ftp.netcom.com, in directory /pub/ab/abe/
                     CompuServe (GO BENCHMARK)
         Web pages:  http://warp.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/workbench/work.htm
                     http://www.os2forum.or.at/english/info/os2hardwareinfo/
                     (note that the first URL may not have up-to-date
                     versions of the lists)

This document is intended for use by individuals and corporations in a
non-commercial manner.  It may be distributed freely within those
limitations.  Commercial use of this document in any manner requires
prior written permission of the author.

This is the PCI networking 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.  I've
added the vendor's name and PCI ID in brackets after the card
descriptions.  The numbers are in HEX/decimal. Dates in brackets
indicate the last revision date for the related entry.

Useful Numbers: (9/4/95)
---------------
3Com:            ftp.3com.com (FTP site)

Adaptec:         (800) 959-7274 (tech. support)
                 ftp.adaptec.com (ftp site)
                 www.adaptec.com (WWW site)
                 ftp.adaptec.com (ftp site)

IBM:             www.raleigh.ibm.com (WWW site)

Olicom:          ftp.olicom.com (FTP site)

Racal:           www.racal.com (WWW site)

SMC:             ftp.smc.com (FTP site)

                          PART ONE:  ATM cards
                          --------------------

Manufacturer           Model         Comments
------------------------------------------------------
 Adaptec               <unknown>     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...

(Adaptec:  9004/36868) (8/27/95)

                       PART TWO:  Ethernet cards
                       -------------------------

Manufacturer           Model         Comments
------------------------------------------------------
 3Com                  3C59X**       3Com makes two different PCI
                                     ethernet cards.  One, the 3C590, is
10 Mb/s only, and the other, the 3C595, is 10/100 MB/s.  Both cards will
busmaster (optionally), so for best performance put them in a
busmastering slot.  Both cards use what is referred to as "Parallel
Tasking", which refers to the cards' use of a combination of frame
pipelining and self-tuning anticipatory interrupts. Drivers (ODI and
NDIS, available from the 3Com FTP site in
/pub/adapters/drivers/3c59xn.exe) exist for the cards, which are
reported to work very nicely under OS/2.

(3Com Corporation:  10B7/4279) (8/27/95)

 Cogent                EM 100        This card will only connect to coax
                                     lines.  It supports (only with
other Cogent cards) a feature called "Predictive Pipelining". There are
no OS/2 drivers.

(Vendor ID unknown) (8/27/95)

 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 not in Windows for Workgroups.  This, though, could be
caused by the Neptune rev. 10 chipset in that system, as the same card
has worked well in Triton chipset-based systems. 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.

(Vendor ID unknown) (8/27/95)

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.

 D-Link                DFE-500TX     This card has connectors for
                                     twisted pair and coax cables, and
uses the DEC chipset.  It will not (yet) autodectect the speed of the
connection.  There are apparently no drivers for OS/2.

(Vendor ID unknown) (8/27/95)

 HP                    J2585A        This card can use PIO or
                                     memory-mapped PIO modes.  It does
not support busmastering.  The mode used is selectable using the
supplied HPVGSET utility. There are drivers for all the major operating
systems, and the card has separate RJ45 connectors for 10 and 100 MB/s
operation.

(Hewlett Packard:  103C/4156) (8/27/95)

 Set-up tips:  If you're using this card with a Netserver LC or LF,
               adjust the chipset register values as follows (accessible
               via the EISA setup utility):

        1) Run the ECU with the advanced features enabled,
                i.i., type "cf /a" at the DOS prompt
                        -OR-
        Run the ECU in the Advanced mode (press ctrl-A instead of Enter
        with the "Run configuration utility" highlighted)
        2) Select "View or edit details"
        3) Page down to "Advanced chipset registers"
        4) Change the following settings (warning - avoid the <page-up>
        and <page-down> keys.  Instead, use the <Tab> key to move
        between fields).

        For 486-based servers:
                EISA Latency Timer = 1

        For Pentium-based servers:
                CPU to PCI Write Buffers = 1
                Gauranteed Access Time = 0
                Bus Park = 1
                EISA Latency Timer = 1.

        (This was tried on an HP 486 LC with a racalMilgo pci ethernet
         card.  It still gives fifo UNDERRUNS during TX which cause
         delays in ethernet throughput.)

         To get the driver for the card to load successfully without a
         LAN connection, use HPVGSET to set the card's media support to
         either 10 MB/s or 100 MB/s.  If you use the default, autosense,
         and the hub is not connected the driver will not be able to
         determine which connector to use and will abort with an error
         message.

 IBM                   13H9237*      This is IBM's PCI card.  It
                                     supports 10 base-T and 10
base-5/fibre connections.  It comes with drivers for all major operating
systmes.  The card busmasters and has two LEDs on the back (which are
programmable) to indicate various traffic conditions on the network.
The card is said not to work in a bridged PCI environment, though I'm
not sure whether that means that it won't work if a PCI - PCI bridging
adapter is present in the system or whether it will not work when placed
on a bridge to the main PCI bus.  The card comes with a configuration
utility which will set the card up for level or edge-triggered
interrupts and set the IRQ used.  The card is reported to come with many
pages of documentation which (in typical IBM fashion) are mostly not
good for much.  The card is reported to work well in at least two cases.

(IBM:  1014/4116) (11/5/95)

 Intel                 Etherexpress  I've no details on this particular
                       Pro/100*      card's features, but drivers for it
                                     are release level and reported
(along with the card) to work quite well under Warp.

(Intel:  8086/32902) (9/20/95)

 Intel                 Etherexpress  This card is in the same family as
                       Pro/100 Smart the card above, and includes a RISC
                                     processor and 2 MB of cache.  There
are drivers for Netware only, however.

(Intel:  8086/32902) (9/20/95)

 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).

(Racal Interlan:  10A5/4261) (8/27/95)

 SMC                   PCI           This is a family of three adapters
                       EtherPower    from SMC.  They use a Digital chip,
                                     and drivers for ODI and NDIS are
available.  The cards are the SMC8432T (RJ45 connector), the SMC8432BT
(RJ45 and BNC connectors), and the 10/100, which has RJ45 and DB9
connectors (this last card may or may not use the same drivers as the
first two).  There have been performance-related problems reported with
the first two cards; 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.  One other person, however, has reported
success, saying that the card works well on his Asus P54TP4, and all he
had to do was replace the (outdated) drivers which came with Warp
Connect with the newer drivers from the SMC FTP site.  It is necessary
to make sure that the card is terminated when you boot initially, or
your machine will crash with a TRAP 0008 every time.

(Standard Microsystems Corporation:  10B8/4280) (8/27/95)

 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.  In one case,
a newer version of the NDIS drivers has been reported to cause problems
with NFS in Warp.  Oddly enough, version 1.6x of the drivers (older
ones) are reported to be error-free.

(Vendor ID unknown) (9/20/95)

 Zynx                  ZX342         This card is similar to the 312
                                     above.  Drivers are said to exist
                                     for all major operating systems.

(Vendor ID unknown) (8/27/95)

                     PART THREE:  Token Ring cards
                     -----------------------------

Manufacturer           Model         Comments
------------------------------------------------------
Olicom                 TR 16/4 PCI** I know little of these cards except
                                     that they support plug and play and
are reported to work well with OS/2.  Both the card and Warp Connect
come with all the necessary drivers.

(Olicom:  108D/4237) (9/4/95)

That's what I know.  E-Mail/post with additions/corrections and I'll
post again.
-- 
Patrick Duffy, duffy@theory.chem.ubc.ca

"Never send a monster to do the work of an Evil Scientist."


