HELP please! ID 8-bit network card ISA?

[Mike Chambers]

yo yo yo what it is, jive turkeys

man i've been trying to figure out what kind of network card i have here... can't find the model number on google anywhere. if anybody can help me that'd be great! i'd love to stick it in my 8088 sicne its an 8-bit ISA card.

the model number is "EN-1000-10BT REV.BL"

i was assuming it was an NE-1000 compatible card based on the "EN-1000" but no matter what i do, i cant get any NE1000 packet drivers to see it. maybe it IS an NE1000 compatible card, but theres jumpers on it.. could be set wrong. maybe if i can get a manual or jumper info for it i can get it to work.

there is NO brand name anywhere on this. it just seems to be some generic card. if i put it in an ISA slot and plug in an ethernet cable, the lights on it blink normally to show theres data being thrown around on the network so as far as i can tell, it SEEMS to be in working condition.

thanks for the help guys! it may be hard or impossible to ID it... this thing looks to be about as old as i am (i'm 22) this card is absolutely ancient.

[dongfeng]

You should be able to find it in Total Hardware 99. Might take a while, but the 'search by picture' function has saved me a few times!

http://www.thegreenhouse.us/th99/

[Mike Chambers]

thanks i'll take a look. funny yuo mention pictures, seeing as how i just took one of it to see if it jars anybody's memories...

http://rubbermallet.org/en1000.jpg

sorry its a webcam photo... somethings wrong with my actual GOOD digital camera. and dont be too distracted by the awesome cool dude under the card.

[Mike Chambers]

i found the exact model: http://www.thegreenhouse.us/th99/n/C-D/40360.php

you rock thanks for the link!!! :)

well its not exact it says thats EN-1010B and mine's EN-1000-10BT

but the layout is exactly the same

[dongfeng]

Total Hardware 99 is great, I don't think there has been a time where I haven't found something on there! Sometimes is a pain to find though.

Now you can check the jumpers, good luck in getting it going! Does it have an RJ45 Ethernet connection?

[Mike Chambers]

Total Hardware 99 is great, I don't think there has been a time where I haven't found something on there! Sometimes is a pain to find though.

Now you can check the jumpers, good luck in getting it going! Does it have an RJ45 Ethernet connection?

yup! it does it has RJ45 and AUI... glad i found the jumper settings, it was set to some apparently invalid base memory address, and set for AUI. apparently it was also set to test mode for link quality and signal errors instead of functional mode. it was also set for the cable connected to it being over 100 meters lol. the cable i actually have on it is like... 3-4 meters.

i got it all set up now... i assume its an NE1000 chipset... it doesnt say otherwise on here.

i set it all for:
IRQ=5
IO=0x300
Base memory address = D8000h

wonder if i can find a boot rom for it anywhere so i can acutally maybe boot up my old 8088 board with something... not sure if that board would even accept that thing to boot from.

[modem7]

Looking at the way that card is being held in the photo, you (more specifically your computer gear) can benefit by doing some Internet research on damage to electronics caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD). Note that sometimes, ESD will not cause an outright failure, but instead cause intermittent failure.

There are some photos at http://www.static-sol.com/library/articles/ESD_damage.htm

[Mike Chambers]

Looking at the way that card is being held in the photo, you (more specifically your computer gear) can benefit by doing some Internet research on damage to electronics caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD). Note that sometimes, ESD will not cause an outright failure, but instead cause intermittent failure.

There are some photos at http://www.static-sol.com/library/articles/ESD_damage.htm

i'm aware of ESD and how it works, i guess i just don't care enough with a 20+ year old card (that is worth less than $1) that has been sitting unprotected in a box anyway for God knows how many years of it's life.

the card works though, with NE1000 drivers after i manually config the hardware addresses, so all is good.

[Luke]

Brrr... strange... and all my ol' cards are sitting on each other without any covers...

[mbbrutman]

Modem7's point is very valid. The card may be 20 years old and you might think that it is worth less than $1, but if you can't replace it easily the $1 piece of paper won't help you much.

People would wind up trashing a lot less flakey hardware if they would properly store and handle the hardware that they have. There is nothing more annoying than chasing down an intermittent problem, which may have been caused by poor handling. Especially since that proper handling isn't that hard to accomplish.

[Mike Chambers]

Modem7's point is very valid. The card may be 20 years old and you might think that it is worth less than $1, but if you can't replace it easily the $1 piece of paper won't help you much.

People would wind up trashing a lot less flakey hardware if they would properly store and handle the hardware that they have. There is nothing more annoying than chasing down an intermittent problem, which may have been caused by poor handling. Especially since that proper handling isn't that hard to accomplish.

yeah, i mean i am very careful with my more irreplacable and rare hardware, like my 8088 board and some other older mobos and cards... but i mean, like i said in this case... i mean look at this http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=8-bit+network+card&category0=

lol. theres one listing there for: "LOT OF 10 3COM 3C501 8 BIT ISA COAX Network Cards Used" for $4.95

i'm glad i just searched ebay for old NICs... i might just spend $5 for all those! it'd be very nice to have around for my old motherboards. i know it says "coax" but they also have AUI ports and i have several AUI to RJ45 transcievers... i could use those to connect to my hubs.

if any of you are interested, go ahead buy it - theres plenty of these types of cards to be found.

[mbbrutman]

Before that particular seller posted those cards, finding 8 bit NIC cards on eBay was close to impossible. The usual suspects had them for rediculous prices.

I purchased my set of 10 and I'm pleased. For anybody looking to network your old PCs, I'd recommend picking some up. Those will be gone, and then it will be dry for a while again.