Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!cernvax!emanuel
From: emanuel@cernvax.UUCP (emanuel machado)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: VGA versus Ethernet versus IBM PC/AT
Summary: Getting stuck in old AT
Keywords: Ethernet, AT-3, WD8003EBT, etc.
Message-ID: <1159@cernvax.UUCP>
Date: 28 Nov 89 12:00:22 GMT
Reply-To: emanuel@cernvax.UUCP (emanuel machado)
Organization: CERN European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Lines: 37


Hi, people,

        Maybe you can help on this subject. I'm writing on behalf of some
other people, who have a sort of mysterious problem. We have two micros
that we want to connect to the ethernet - a thin wire ethernet, actually.
One is a XT-286 (Yes, one of those), 6 MHz, EGA, Serial and Parallel communi-
cations, etc., and the other is a PC/AT-3 (True IBM, Bios of 1981,-1985), VGA
board (IBM and Hercules - we've tried both), with or without S/P communications.
Both systems running MS-DOS 3.20. The Ethernet Card is a Western Digital one,
the WD80003EBT, without extra ROM (but with the socket), RAM buffer of 8K RAM.

        Of these computers, we managed to install the Ethernet Card in the
XT-286, using IRQ-5 (COM3), and RAM base memory at D0000 (I/O port is at 280h).
No big fuss. But we are having problems installing the CARD on the AT-E. The
(Hercules) VGA card docummentation only mentions the RAM space used: We should
not use locations from A0000 to C7FFF (hex). No reference to I/O or IRQ's. Yet,
having SUCCEDED to install the Ethernet Card with a Hercules Graphics Card (I
mean the Monocrome graphics card) but not with the VGA cards available, and
having tried some other memory / I/O / IRQs combinations, we have the feeling
that something is wrong.

        Question: Do any of you have any idea of what memory/port addresses
these cards actually use? Could we be doing something wrong? Is it a bug?
Should we buy another WD Card? Or VGA Card? Or another computer? :-)


Thanks in advance for your answer,

Emanuel Machado


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