Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 14:52:47 -0700 (MST)
Message-Id: <199712012152.OAA23955@kewlaid.highfiber.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
To: opendos AT delorie DOT com
From: raster AT highfiber DOT com (Charles Dye)
Subject: Re: 3Com Fast Etherlink XL 3C905 Adapter
Cc: dosbeta AT calderauk DOT com, b-christensen AT mail DOT bsd DOT uchicago DOT edu
Precedence: bulk

A cry for help from the distant <b-christensen AT mail DOT bsd DOT uchicago DOT edu> :

>Hello.
>	I have several machines running OpenDOS 7.02 and NT 4.0.  I have
>been unable to get the computers to network under OpenDOS, however.  
>	Initially, I intended to setup the NIC through the OpenDOS setup,
>but, this card is not available there, so, I then attempted to install the
>drivers manually from the file that I downloaded from 3Com.  Upon
>attempting this, however, I am given the following error:
>
>	"No master pci bus adapter installed"
>	
>	Any suggestions on how I can get this NIC to work with OpenDOS?

I got my hands on one of these cards for about 40 minutes today.  This
is the result of some *very hasty* experimentation:

The drivers do appear to work okay under OpenDOS.  I don't have an
actual twisted-pair network here, so I wan't able to do anything useful
like connect to a file server or host a Quake game.  However, the
drivers did load correctly and display the card's hardware configuration.

I don't have the OpenDOS networking package on hand; I used the one from
Novell DOS 7, which ought to be identical or nearly so.  Novell DOS came
with an elderly version of the Link Support Layer (LSL) and the card
driver demanded a newer version, so I had to find and copy a newer LSL
from a NetWare 3.11 client.  With the newer LSL, all seemed to work okay;
VLM loaded happily (though without a connection, it didn't have much to
do.)  Tried this under both Novell DOS 7 and OpenDOS 7.02B2.

There *is* an issue with the card's hardware configuration program,
3C90XCFG.EXE.  This program does not work properly under OpenDOS 7.02B2;
it claims that there is no network card installed.  Not a memory manager
issue, as is malfs the same way from a clean boot.  3C90XCFG does work
correctly under Novell DOS 7 (the original release and the U15 update)
and under DR DOS 6.  Sorry, I didn't test with COD 7.01.  In order to
configure the hardware, you'll have to boot up with some DOS other than
OpenDOS 7.02.  Fortunately this is something that only needs to be done
once.  Once the hardware is configured, load the network components just
like under NetWare:  LSL.COM, the card driver -- in this case 3C90X.COM,
IPX.COM, and finally VLM.EXE.

raster AT highfiber DOT com

P.S. to Caldera UK -- replicating this problem will require getting hold
of a 3Com Etherlink XL card.  If no card is present, reporting that no
card is present is of course the correct behavior ....