I have collected some information and tips on some of the ethernet cards I have. I have also written drivers for some of them after finding bugs or other problems with existing drivers. All my ethernet drivers have a 32bit WDS size calculation that makes them imune to the Ping o' Death, they also support SNMP statistics calls and the promiscuous mode calls (csCode 280 and 281).
I have several of these cards, they are also branded as Novel, Shiva, or Dayna, but seem to be functionally identical. They all say ETHERPORT II on the front of the card, but the ROM identifies them as an EtherPort IIN. All of them have on the back on the PCB copper layer PWB:5510102-00 REV:A.
All the cards I have came with an 8K buffer installed. The buffer on them can be upgraded to 32K by replacing the socketed 6264 chip with a 62256 and installing a jumper in the space beside it. A 62256 chip should be readily available from eBay.
DaynaPORT drivers work with this card. I have also written a driver for it. The driver is a system extension, to install it just remove any old drivers and then drop this driver in your System folder. System 6.0.4 or later and Network Software Installer 1.5 or later or Open Transport is required to use it. This driver has been tested under System 7.0 on a Mac IIsi, System 7.5.5 on a Mac IIcx, Systen 7.6.1 on a Mac IIfx, System 7.6.1 on a Quadra 950, and MacOS 8.1 on a Quadra 950. I have not tried it on any NuBus PowerMacs yet but it should work. This driver does not support the ERead control call, but I don't know of any software that uses this anyway.
Click here to download driver version 1.0b5 (StuffIt archive - 4K)
Apple drivers built into the system work with these cards, but I decided to write my own driver because the Apple one only used 16K of the 64K buffer on the cards I have. The driver is a system extension, to install it just remove any other drivers (the Apple Ethernet NB extension for example) and drop it in your System folder. System 6.0.4 or later and Network Software Installer 1.5 or later or Open Transport is required to use it. This driver has been tested under System 7.5.5 on a Mac IIcx, System 7.5.5 on a Mac IIsi, Systen 7.6.1 on a Mac IIfx, System 7.5.5 on a Mac LC, and System 7.6.1 and 8.1 on a Quadra 950. I have not tried it on any NuBus PowerMacs yet but it should work. This driver does not support the ERead control call, but I don't know of any software that uses this anyway.
Click here to download driver version 1.0b5 (StuffIt archive - 4K)
I could not find a driver to work with this card so I wrote one. This driver is a DRVR resource that needs to be installed in the System file with ResEdit, and a control panel to go in the System Folder. This driver has been tested under System 6.0.8, System 7.0, and System 7.1.
Click here to download driver version 1.0b5 (StuffIt archive - 5K)
There doesn't seem to be a good reference for writing ethernet drivers for classic Macs, so I'm making the source to EtherLink NB driver available. This is released under an ISC license, which is a permissive license similar to BSD or MIT.
Source for version 1.0b5 (StuffIt archive - 41K)
I've been working on fixing 10base-T compatibility for some cards that have issues connecting to eithernet switches that support Auto MDI-X. Cards I have seen this with are the Asante MC3NB with all 3 connectors (TP, AUI, and Coax), the Asante MCLC (MCiLC), the Asante MCNB (MCiNB), and the DaynaPORT E/II-3. Fixing these cards does require soldering skills, but for some of them is as simple as changing a resistor.
For the Asannte MC3NB, see this thread on Tinkerdifferent
For the Asannte MCiLC, MCiNB, and DaynaPORT E/II-3, see this thread on Tinkerdifferent
Last modified 15 March 2023. Copyright 1997-2023 Glenn Anderson.