[blizzard]

Greetings all.

One of my friends has a Performa 6400/200 that he is trying to hook up to a cable internet connection. To do so, he has purchased a Linksys 10/100 ethernet card to put in the Performa's PCI slot. It's in there, apparently, and I have given him my OS 8.1 CD to upgrade his system from 8 to 8.1. However, he can't see any option for ethernet in the drop down menu in the TCP/IP control panel. As far as I know, he has installed OPen Transport 1.3 which came with 8.1, and it was a clean install which means that all the necessary ethernet drivers should be in the extensions folder. So I guess the question is, is this card just not compatible with Macs? I always thought ethernet cards were fairly standard things. Is there a reference driver somewhere that he can download to make it work? Or are we out of luck? And, if so, can someone recommend a cheap card which will still work in an older Mac?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Blizzard.

[Misha]

Ethernet cards need their own drivers... to my knowledge LinkSys has never made a Mac-compatible ethernet card, so your friend is stuck.

Pity, too, 10/100 PCI cards cost $10 for PCs, but $30 for "mac compatibility."

[blizzard]

That's not even too bad - up here in Canada, PC ethernet cards cost around 20 dollars...but all the 'Mac' computer stores want him to pay upwards of 70 dollars! Basically, a complete rip-off on their parts, as far as I can tell. Thanks for the input, and I guess now we just hunt around for the cheapest option.

Blizzard.

Check smalldog.com
http://products.smalldog.com/categor...e+Sale/Garage/

Dayna Ethernet PCI 10BT card -- Condition: new, never used, 30 day warranty
Part Number: D/DAYPCI10BT -- Platform: Both -- Price: 5.00 -- Qty: 156

Supposedly 10BT is fast enough if it is just to be used for a cable modem and not networking.
Actually, I put one in my 6400 to network to my Pismo and I've been perfectly happy.

[infiniti]

IF you can find out which company made the ethernet card's controller, you can try their website and see if they have a mac driver... I believe MacAddict had an article about this very topic in one of their more-recent issues.

Good luck,

infiniti

[jeromep]

The beauty of that motherboard is that is has a CommSlot II. The modems that Apple put in that slot were garbage, but the ethernet cards that Apple put in it and the third party ethernet cards that you could put in the Comm Slot were great. Asante and Farallon both have made and I believe still have Comm Slott II ethernet cards. Benneift; when the CommSlot is occupied with a modem it kills the modem serial port, but if the slot has an ethernet card in it the modem serial port is active.

I see 3 or 4 of the 64/6500 series come into my campus's network each semester and I never let these customers put PCI ethernet cards in them. I always have them get the Comm Slot card because of compatibility and ease of use. Have your friend send back that PCI card and get a Comm Slott II ethernet card from a name brand provider.

However, I don't believe there are any "cheap" Comm Slot II cards, which was the word used in blizzard's original request. You're looking at about $80, maybe more. Unless you can find something at a place like refurbmadness.com or perhaps on eBay.
Not sure I understand Jeromep's objections to PCI cards, unless you are referring specifically to cable modems which I don't have. I found my Dayna card easy to install and I've had no troubles networking with my Pismo at all. And the price was certainly right. If you don't have any other plans for that PCI slot, why not use a PCI ethernet card?

[jeromep]

Chase is wondering why I have a problem with PCI ethernet cards in Macs running motherboards with Comm Slot capabilities. Experience, and most importantly negative experiences with PCI ethernet in a computer with a propriatery, but quality interface for networking device cards.

In all my years working with and dealing with Macs, the best path is almost never the most inexpensive and on top of that, when Apple provides for a standard by using a specific interface I can guarantee that it will work properly.

There are two IT entities where I work. One is a central entity and does Ethernet card installs for PCs. The other has an Apple service authorization, but that basically only entitles them to do warrenty service and to get the training manuals. In short, they will sell and install PCI Ethernet in all PCI Macs regardless of what slots they really have. Many of the CommSlot equipped Macs that have had PCI ethernet installed rarely work stabely after they have had PCI ethernet installed. Is is a flaw in their installation. Yes, probably, but when people come to me and ask what to put int their 6xxx series Mac, I always point them toward the more expensive Comm Slott solution, both for reliability, stability and compatibility.

No good computing solution is ever cheep.

[infiniti]

jeromep, you must have had some very bad experiences with PCI ethernet cards and Macs. I've got a 6400/200 here with an Asante 10/100 PCI NIC card in slot B. I have never had a single problem with it, and it works great with my cable modem.

Although I would agree that the standard 28.8 modem that came with the 6400 was a real "piece", I would not agree that replacing it with a CommSlot ethernet card would be a better solution. CommSlots died with the end of the 6500, meaning that a CommSlot NIC card cannot be used in any newer machines. In contrast, a PCI NIC card, especially one that can be used in either a PC or Mac, can be used in most other PCI computers. This means that the purchase of a PCI NIC is a good plan if you might be getting rid of your computer soon.
PCI NICs are also cheaper, if money is an issue.

Generally, I would say that a PCI NIC is the way to go. However, you must make your own decision based on the posts in this thread.

Good luck,

infiniti