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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.EDU.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.wildstar.net!imci5!imci4!newsfeed.internetmci.com!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!warwick!yama.mcc.ac.uk!winu.fa.umist.ac.uk!bill From: bill@winu.fa.umist.ac.uk (Bill Nutt) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Looking for EISA support for 3Com's3C509 Date: 12 May 1996 20:21:24 GMT Organization: Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Lines: 66 Message-ID: <4n5h84$rpa@yama.mcc.ac.uk> References: <4n0ni4$o6u@joni.loop.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: winu.fa.umist.ac.uk X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Hi, Cassandra, aha, I know this one - it bothered me for a while too. After a little playing, my 3c509b works wonderfully in my EISA machine. here are some pointers to help you out. 1) EISA boards dont have ISA slots as they dont need them. The dual depth on the connector means you can plug any ISA card straight into an EISA slot. 2) Make sure you use an EISA slot that supports bus mastering - my first six slots or so do if I remember. 3) freebsd can find a 3c509 in EISA mode, but it wont do any good, as the driver doesnt seem to like it. 4) Setting ISA mode on the 3c509 with the DOS based install/config program is essential, as is finding free IRQ and base address settings. Your EISA configuration utility (ECU) will tell you what address space and what interrupts are already being used. Dont be fooled by the install utility telling you that the irq/address you select is already in use - if your ECU says its free, the 3c509 software may be looking at its own configuration and noting it as already used. 5) No matter if your ECU says irq 9(2) is free, never use it - using it caused my 3c509 to run very slowly; my video card interrupt, although DISABLED through my ECU and dos install software, must have been RE-ENABLED by freebsd, causing an irq conflict and timeouts. - I'm now using irq 10 and a base address of 0x210 and have no problems. (remember to reconfigure the kernel if you deviate from irq 10 and 0x300). 6) Your BIOS is telling you that your slot is incorrectly configured because you have set the 3c509 to ISA mode using the dos install / config software, but still have that slot set for 3c509 in EISA mode. If you re-run your ECU utility, and use the ADD/REMOVE boards option to remove the 3c509 from the slot it actually uses (physically), the BIOS will not search for an EISA enabled 3c509 when it boots the machine, and you can use your 3c509 in ISA mode in your EISA motherboard. 7) Make sure you disable plug-and-play for the 3c509 (in the dos install / config utility), as your 3c509 may not be found properly if plug-and-play is enabled. hope this helps a bit, I have had no problems with the card after resolving my teething troubles (even though the freebsd folks say the code is buggy, and that the SMC ultra elite is better) - it all works fast enough for me ;o) Bill Nutt Electronic Systems Engineering (MEng) UMIST, Manchester, UK bill@winu.fa.umist.ac.uk Cassandra Perkins (cassy@loop.com) wrote: : I'm using a Micronics EISA VL-Bus mother board and 3Com's 3C509 Ethernet : card, with the EISA configuration setting since the board does't have ISA : slot. FreeBSD 2.1 does list the card for ISA support in the kernel : configuration file and suggest that it's "buggy". Do anyone know of an : EISA driver for the 3Com for BSD or a workaround for the Micronics board? : I tried setting ISA setting for the 3Com but when I reboot the computer : it complains of a slot config error. : Any assistance would be appreciated. :) : Thanks