Name: NE2K Type: Ethernet Driver Version: 0.91 beta (first public release) Package: Binary + Source Platforms: Rhapsody DR2 Intel, OPENSTEP 4.x Intel Short Description: NS2000 Compatible Ethernet Adapter Driver Author: Gabor Sebestyen, Accent Communications Release Date: 26. Nov. 1998 Copyright: (c)1998, Accent Communications Unsupported, freeware Preface The idea of writing a driver that has never done yet before was born when I decided to get my Rhapsody machine communicate with my server. This machine is a cheaper one of course having a popular NE2000 compatible adapter. So I began to collect any informations about NE2000 I could. Obviously the best infos can be found around the house of open-source systems so I found the Linux NE2000 driver source and docs. The port has begun, now you can take its first result in your hand! The Driver This driver is a port of Linux ne2k-pci. Some ideas are taken from NeXT's SMC16 reference driver. The primary goal to have an NE2000 driver is reached. The ideal case would be to have a similar driver to FreeBSD where all NIC 8390 based adapters are handled in one driver (RealTek, SMC, etc.). This Version This version is the first public release. Because it is very young there are a lot of things already to do to move to version 1.0. I had neither time nor h/w to do an allover test. So the first step is to test the driver on adapters of other vendors. I can't guarantee that this driver will work on every boards. I have a RealTek based one that operates very well! Feedbacks are welcome! Checking performance. Now the single packet transferring method is used, Ping-Pong should be 20% better but now it is extremely slow (I should check the source again. Oops, somewhere I dropped a typo?). The best transfer rate I reached is ~880KB/s receiving the DriverKit.pdf :-). The average is between 550 and 650KB/s. Missing ISA support. Should it be? Has anyone ever been using ISA ethernet cards? Installation In order to install NE2K you must be root. Simply unpack the binary package using OpenUp (that way is the simplest) or gnutar. There you will get NE2K.config. Move it into /private/Drivers/i386. Start Configure.app, choose Network (Globe) icon and add NE2K. Click Done, Save and quit. Reboot. Feedback I need feedbacks to improve NE2K. To send feedback please write to the e-mail address: sebestyen_g@accentcomm.com To Do * Support ISA boards(?). * Support full-duplex transfer. * Make source nicer. * Support all 8390 based adapters (as FreeBSD does). * PowerPC support(?). * Fix "Ping-Pong" algorithm. * Support more vendor-specific things (playing with LEDs?). Support & Warranty It's an absolutely freeware product so there's no support at all. Because this release and may contain bugs and/or not completed parts be careful! I make no warranty, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! References * Using PCI NE2000 Cards with Linux: CESDIS * PCI NE2000 updates (external link) * NIC chip technical paper: National Semiconductor * Linux NE2000 driver source: ftp://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/linux/drivers/ne2k-pci.c * Realtek 8029 technical sheet: http://www.realtek.com.tw/cn/NEW/doc/RTL8029-new.htm * Winbond * VIA VT86C926 "Amazon" Fast Ethernet Controller * SMC16 OPENSTEP 4.2 Ethernet Driver * FreeBSD source tree: sys/i386/isa/if_ed.c Download Accent Communications FTP site: ftp://ftp.accentcomm.com/pub/downloads/Rhapsody Hoping you will find this product useful, Gabor Sebestyen sebestyeng@accentcomm.com Accent Communications