Re: hardware question

[markus@infoscape.com]

Dubyo writes:
 > I am new to the subject, but already make plans for using the netboot
 > feature on some commodore 286s. I have Novell NE 1000 nics (10 years
 > old!)

I forgot how NE 1000's look like. I am afraid, they might be
incompatible with NE 2000's. If that is the case, you should consider
spending the extra $20 and buy some real NE2000 (actually, you will
probably buy clones) or some other supported card.

As you have i286 machines, your safest bet will probably be to use the
16bit version of the etherboot code. The 32bit version might work, but 
I have not first hand experience and might have to tweak some of the
BIOS calls and the MMU code. If anybody knows details, please let us
know!

 > Did I get this right: with the postscript layout files I can make a card
 > for a pc to flash roms, and use them with the nic? Must be different roms.

The FlashCard is both a "burner" and an adapter for the
Flash ROM's. Typically, you will have one of these cards per
machine.

If you prefer burning the ROMs in one machine and then putting them
onto the NIC, you should get hold of a burner. A very inexpensive
solution was just published by c't computer magazine in Germany
(http://www.heise.de/ct/inhverz/inh1697.shtml). This is small
do-it-yourself Flash burner that can program almost all of the
currently available Flash chips. C't has not made the article
available on the web (yet), but they will probably be able to send you
a paper copy for a small fee. A PCB can be ordered from eMedia
(http://www.emedia.de -- the web page does not mention this PCB, yet,
but c't claims that eMedia is taking orders).

While I have not investigated this issue in detail, I believe that
there are Flash chips that are pin compatible with regular PROM chips;
so you can put them on a NIC after burning. The advantage of using
Flash over regular EPROMs is that you can easily update the contents
whenever you need to make changes.


Markus

-- 
Markus Gutschke                         Internet: markus@infoscape.com
Infoscape, Inc                          Phone:    +1-415-278-0137
657 Mission Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94105

Disclaimer: The above message represents my personal opinion; It does
            not constitute an offical statement by Infoscape!

PGP signature