I have a Kingston KNE110TX ethernet NIC that works just fine under OS9 and Linux using the tulip driver. From reading the Linux literature, it seems that the tulip driver is closely related to or is a subset/superset of the DEC21X4 driver. There is a file called
/System/Library/Extensions/Apple_DEC21x4Ethernet.kext
which I think is Apples DEC21x4 driver and would think is closely related to a tulip driver. It does not however recognize my NIC.
I have tried changing the IOPCImatch entry in the Info.plist file to the subvendor ID and device ID numbers from System Profiler without success.
Does anyone know how to get the DEC21x4 driver to recognize my NIC? I can't believe that Linux is easier to configure than a Mac OS!
Another question- what determines whether a PCI card is sleep compatible? With the NIC installed, I can't put my G4 to sleep. Is deep sleep compatibility determined by hardware, software or both. Is the OS being nice by not powering down the PCI bus with a card installed whose deep sleep compatibility is indeterminate? Or is the card hardwired such that it will not allow the PCI bus to be powered down at all? Or can the firmware on the card be flashed to allow sleeping? Or can the OS forcefully power down the PCI bus and make the card take its lumps?
Top