Farallon PCI Ethernet PN593, PN893 FAQ

This FAQ applies to the following Farallon products:

• PN593-TP - EtherMac PCI Card 10BaseT
• PN593-C - EtherMac PCI Card Combo 10BaseT/Thinnet
• PN893-TP - EtherWave PCI Card

Are the PCI Cards compatible with Classic Networking?

No. You must run Open Transport in order to use any PCI network card. If you are using MacOS 7.6 or higher then you are already running Open Transport. If you have System 7.5.3 or 7.5.5, and are using Classic Networking, then you will need to switch to Open Transport. In order to do this, open the Network Software Selector in the Apple Extras folder. Select Open Transport and restart the machine. When you go to the Control Panel you will no longer have a Network Control Panel; instead you will have one called AppleTalk. In the AppleTalk Control Panel select the Ethernet driver and you should see the network.

Why do I receive an error message when I try to switch from AppleTalk to Ethernet?

This usually indicates that your machine is running Classic Networking. To use any PCI networking card you must have Open Transport enabled.

When I click on Ethernet option in the MacIPX control panel, I get this message: Network Interface Ethernet could not be selected due to error: -43

This error indicates that you need to update your NetWare client. The NetWare Client for MacOS 5.11 and the necessary PCI update are available from Novell. To get the files from Novell's Web Site, you will need to navigate to their Search page and select the link named "Browse Files by Product". Then select the link for "Macintosh". This link will take you to the files for NetWare Client for MacOS 5.11. The files to download are named: CLT511.BIN and MCLUPD3.BIN.

I have a PCI 10BaseT/Thinnet Ethernet card in my machine. The rest of the Macs on the network can transfer files fine, but anything to and from my machine takes forever. Why is the file transfer so slow?

This could be a cabling or termination problem. If using Thinnet, swap the cable and/or terminator with ones that are known to be working to determine where the problem lies.

If using 10baseT, verify that the Link light is on solid at the card and at the hub. Make sure you are using good twisted pair cable. In an RJ45, pins 1 and 2 must be a matched twisted pair of wires. Pins 3 and 6 must be a matched twisted pair of wires.

I have an EtherMac PCI card. Can I use this in the PCI slot of a Windows 95 machine?

Yes. Windows 95 should automatically recognize this card as a DEC 21041, and the built-in drivers for that chipset should work fine.

Are the Farallon drivers compatible with 3Com's Etherlink III PCI card?

No. Farallon does not offer a PCI 10BaseT card that uses 3Com drivers. Similarly, the PCI card that 3Com offers will not work with any of the Farallon drivers.

I have a Motorola Starmax and the Farallon PCI Ethernet card. The card won't recognize the network.

Motorola has informed us that that the slots closest to the processor are intended for network card use. Therefore, you should try putting our card in the PCI slot closest to the processor chip. The other slots may work intermittently or not at all.

Why doesn't the network recognize my PCI card?

There are many reasons why this can occur. Here are a few possibilities:

• You are not running Open Transport. PCI Cards will not run with Classic Networking (see above).
• The card is in the wrong slot. Use the slot closest to the processor chip. The documentation for the machine should mention this.
• There is a cabling or termination problem. Do you see a green link light or any activity after you have selected the Ethernet Driver in the AppleTalk control panel? Try swapping cables. If you are on thinnet, make sure that the ends are properly terminated.
• You have a bad network address. Some Mac OS computers have a tendency to boot-up with an illegal Network Address. For a routed network, the Network Address should be a number between 0 and 65279.
• There are conflicts with other Extensions. Reboot your machine with Extensions off (hold down the Shift key while the machine restarts). Try adding Extensions back one at a time to see if one in particular is causing the problem. To do this go to Control Panel and select Extensions Manager. Check the boxes to the left of each extension to turn them on. You need to restart the machine for the changes to take effect.
• There are conflicts with other cards. Remove any other cards from your machine and see if you can reach the network.
• The installer disk is corrupt. If you suspect that the installer disk is corrupt you can download a new PCI Ethernet Installer from our web site.
• Your system software is corrupt. You may need to perform a Clean Installation.

See Also

• Farallon Computing

Peripheral Component Interconnect