Below is an excerpt from the NSI 1.5 Read Me:
"If you are using 3rd party ethernet cards: The drivers contained in the new driver files do not support 3rd party ethernet cards. A 3rd party card that has duplicated an Apple ethernet board will use the appropriate ethernet driver from the system file instead of the Apple driver in the extensions folder file. A system with a 3rd party ethernet card will continue to operate using the previously-installed driver after installing this version of the Network Software Installer. Such systems will get the benefit of all of the other updates installed by this Network Software Installer, including the ability to install and use the LaserWriter Bridge."
This means NSI 1.5 does not support any third-party Ethernet cards. However, installation of NSI 1.5 will not disable a third-party card that has previously been working with older Apple Ethernet drivers.
With NSI 1.5, Ethernet drivers are now individual files located in the Extensions folder. These files are loaded at startup by a new network software loading mechanism. Previously, Ethernet drivers were resources located in the System file that were loaded at startup.
This new mechanism only works with Apple Ethernet cards or Built In Ethernet. The mechanism will only load the new Ethernet driver files if an Apple Ethernet card/Built In is detected. If a non-Apple Ethernet card is detected, the mechanism will not load the new Ethernet driver files for the card. Instead, it will check for the presence of a suitable driver within the system file. If one is found, it will be loaded for the card. Otherwise, no driver will load for the card and the card will not function.
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