SMC Ultra network adapter help
Posted by Vinylmaster3000@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 10 comments
I recently got an SMC Network Ultra ISA card which is meant to go into a 386sx for a LAN setup running a TCP/IP stack. My goal is to get the packet driver PKT8000.COM working so I can then load mTCP.
However, the card seems to behave quite weirdly. I keep running PKT8000 with 0x60 as the interrupt, IRQ 10 and 0x300 as the base address, but the board does not initialize at all. Setting it to different resources (IRQ 3, 0x280) seems to work with ezsetup.exe, but otherwise pkt8000 will not initialize. I also tried another card which is nearly the same and that doesn't work as well.
My intuition is that the card "works" because the link light initializes and settings are being stored, but there's some weird resource conflict either with XT-IDE or something else because it won't properly initialize. Should I just give up and use a 3com card?
Also, could someone identify this card and tell me where I can find drivers for it?
ken_the_boxer@reddit
That one is 16 bit so it should run in ST8013 mode, 8003 is for 8 bit. They are great cards, I like them better than NE1000/2000.
Try these for SMC ultra elite cards
https://theretroweb.com/drivers/673
https://theretroweb.com/expansioncard/documentation/8216-ugd-665ec4d53b69c478545325.pdf
Vinylmaster3000@reddit (OP)
I tried that one and used the "packet" driver which is located in there (pkt8000). I think as you said, it's a resource conflict since the card seems to work with ezsetup when set on different configurations. Problem being, there are two configs without a boot rom, the other two have a boot rom. I have no boot rom (Do they even sell those as standalone things).
Would I just try different settings in ezsetup and then run the packet driver to confirm the changes? Worst case scenario I could just use a 3com card
ken_the_boxer@reddit
Yes, maybe best is to remove all cards that you don't need and try if it works that way, they add one by one.
IRQ 7 works too, if you can disable the LPT1 port. IRQ 2 and 9 are shared, that's not ideal. it should be possible to switch off the bootrom (and its memory adress), that can be a problem too. I can look if I have other config utilities.
Vinylmaster3000@reddit (OP)
Fuck it, I just used a 3com etherlink card and that shit worked out of the box.
I think the issue is my 386 being... a 386. Idk maybe the smc is more suited for a 486
ken_the_boxer@reddit
They are great cards for 8088 and 80286 actually, as they can do both 8 and 16 bit. 3coms can't do that.
Vinylmaster3000@reddit (OP)
So I tried it on my 486 and just used 0x300, IRQ10, and then used pkt8000.com instead of smc_wd and it worked. Not sure why, I guess it's just one of those things.
ken_the_boxer@reddit
I think at your 386sx there is another card mapping 0x300.
Vinylmaster3000@reddit (OP)
What about that netware card I showed? Would that be good for a 486 or a 286? Assuming I can find drivers for it
gcc-O2@reddit
IIRC the SMC Ultra can either use port i/o or a shared memory region to communicate with its driver. If you use the latter, and emm386 is overlayed over that region, you will have trouble like this.
Vinylmaster3000@reddit (OP)
I was able to fix it by installing it in a 486 instead of a 386, and then using pkt8000.com 0x60 as the command to set it up.
Not sure why it worked, but I mean it works I think.