From owner-freebsd-hackers  Mon Sep 16 18:48:04 1996
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From: bugs@freebsd.netcom.com (Mark Hittinger)
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Subject: Re: Slow Etherlink (fwd)
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Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 20:53:34 -0500 (CDT)
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One extra thing to check is the firmware setting on your 3c5x9 cards. 

There is a setting for "server mode" and "client mode" on some cards.  If you
select "server mode" it will artificially throttle the interrupts (to keep
a novell server from using all the cycles for packets).

In "client mode" the card can interrupt the processor as fast as it needs
to.

I think it might be a legacy kind of parameter from the days when we just
had 386 power.

When I set my 3c5x9 cards to "client mode" I was able to obtain very good
transfer rates.

FYI

Mark Hittinger
Netcom/Dallas
bugs@freebsd.netcom.com