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From: jbvb@FTP.COM (James B. Van Bokkelen)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: IEEE 802.3 Driver for Xircom Adapter
Message-ID: <9106121433.AA29403@ftp.com>
Date: 12 Jun 91 14:33:23 GMT
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    ....  At this time, Xircom does not have an IEEE 802.3 compatible driver.
    
You don't say what you mean by "802.3 compatible".  If you mean compatible
at the hardware level, that shouldn't be an issue: the "802.3-ness" of an
Ethernet at the hardware level is subtle and very hard to distinguish from
v2 Ethernet.  The worst problem you'd have would be ensuring that you have a
compatible transceiver (heartbeat vs. no heartbeat) to plug into.  In any
case, the software driver doesn't care a fig whether the cable is 802.3 or
v2 Ethernet

If what you mean is "capable of sending and receiving packets with a 'length'
instead of an 'ethertype', with an 802.2 header appended", that is a software
issue.  Much depends on what upper-layer protocols you want to use, and which
vendor supplies the protocol stack.  All of the DOS shared-driver specs
support 802.2 formats in one way or another, although the Packet Driver spec
uses a separate Class (11), which Xircom may not have implemented yet.

James B. VanBokkelen		26 Princess St., Wakefield, MA  01880
FTP Software Inc.		voice: (617) 246-0900  fax: (617) 246-0901