Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 15:28:06 -0800 From: Dave Tweten <tweten@gilmore.nas.nasa.gov> To: freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.org, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org Cc: proett@gilmore.nas.nasa.gov Subject: Ansel NC3200 EISA Ethernet Card Message-ID: <199502192328.PAA06199@gilmore.nas.nasa.gov>
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A local electronics parts store has one of those sales going which looks too good to be true. At $40 per, decent EISA Ethernet cards would be a great bargain. I'd buy several. Unfortunately, when a bargain looks too good to be true, it often is. So, on to the questions. Is anyone familiar with the Ansel NC3200 EISA Ethernet card? It's provided with an EISA configuration / drivers disk and with a manual. I haven't tried to get permission to examine the contents of the disk. There is no claim of hardware compatibility with anything, anywhere in the documentation or on the box. There is, however, a tantalizing mention of the NE1000 and NE2000 boards in the trademarks disclaimer on the box. Clever false advertizing? It uses a National DP83902V chip which, according to the manual, determines its register architecture. It uses shared memory to communicate with the motherboard. The memory is single ported, with a preference for local access. Given an access collision, motherboard access is held off with wait states. It does not use EISA master mode. Apparently, the only benefit it derives from the EISA bus (as oposed to ISA) is the ability to transfer data 32 bits at a time. That alone should reduce the bandwidth burden it places on the EISA bus by half, as compared with ISA cards like the SMC8013 I use at work. EISA master mode could reduce the impact much more, but what do you want for $40? The manufacturer is: Ansd Communications 1701 Junction Court San Jose, CA 95112 (408) 452-5041 Can I expect to make this board work with the 'ed' driver (which should be right if it is an NE1000 or NE2000 clone)? If nobody on the list knows the answers, I guess I'll just have to continue my investigation on Monday, possibly buying one to try. Thanks for any advice you may be able to provide.
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