[tulip] 100 Full duplex with 21143 (Cabletron DE500B) been fixed

[Stephen Gutknecht (vw)]

Windows ME identifies the card as "Cabletron DE500B", I previusly said it
was a Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) card.  Well, it is, I'm learning history
that most of you may know... Digital sold the right to the cards to
Cabletron but kept the chipset business (which eventually went to Intel). 

The card wouldn't work under WindowsME or Red Linux 7.0.... Well, it would
work but very very slow (400ms local net pings) and 60% packet loss.
Switched to the second card, same problem, switched PCI slots - twice, same
problem.

WHAT-THE-FRECK?

Well, then I do some more reading.  This time armed with the name "Cabletron
DE500B" that WindowsME gave me.  Well well, look what I found:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/niclist.htm

Seems that ANY of the _real tulip 21140/21142/21143 chips_ have a serious
problem with Linksys 10/100 switches.  Guess what I had for this server
subnet?    I traded switches with my 8-port Compex 10/100 switch and problem
went right away under both Linux and WindowsME.  My switch is only 3 months
old... not an old model, but problem still there.  My switch is model
EZXS55W; just a little 5-port desktop job... but sounds like Linksys uses
same chips in larger switches.

Donald:  I would really recommend putting a link to this web page above on
the Tulip driver page.   I wonder how many problems have/will come in
against the "tulip driver" that are really the Linksys switch problems?
Maybe a warning in the tuplip source code about Linksys switches?

>From the list, looks like clone adapters don't have this issue.  Hopefully
my on-order Macronix cards will work with this switch :)

ARGGH!

  Stephen Gutknecht
  Renton, Washington USA


-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Gutknecht (vw) [mailto:VW@i405.com]
Sent: Friday, November 24, 2000 11:21 AM
To: tulip@scyld.com
Subject: [tulip] 100 Full duplex with 21143 (Digital DE500BA adapter)
been fixed?


Went to the used computer store in my quest for good tulip cards... I found
two Digital DE500BA adapters and got them for $15 each.  Look new and no
differences between the two (same board revision).

Thought I scored... Until I started reading about them in the list archives.

Seems that the tulip driver 21143 transceiver support has been broken,
reports in the tulip archives go back 18 months complaining with the adapter
switch from DE500-AA (21140) to DE500-BA (21143).  Seems they won't do
100-full-duplex properly, even when two are connected via a crossover cable.

Has this been resolved?

The most recent problem report that I found was from January 2000:
  http://www.tux.org/hypermail/linux-tulip/2000-Jan/0019.html

And it doesn't look good!

  Stephen Gutknecht
  Renton, Washington