YARC and Catalyst MLB Compatibility

Power Computing provided the information in this article and it was deemed accurate as of 14 November 1997. Apple Computer, Inc. is not responsible for its content. This article is being provided as is and will not be updated in the future.

I am having slow networking on my Catalyst based machine (Center, Tower, Curve). I am using on board ethernet. I was reading on the internet, at the YARC site, and they reported problems with slow networking due to problems with the Boot Rom rev 2.8F2. Does this apply to me?
Based on an escalation response from Apple on the issue, the ROM version is only being used by YARC to identify the problematic Apple logic board. According to Apple, the issue was unique to the 7500. Also, the YARC problem only occurs when a PCI card is installed.

The catalyst is not the same board as the 7500. Some components are the same but the design is different. The 7500 had a few problematic issues that did not show up on the other designs, like L2 cache.

If the customer does not have a PCI card installed and is just using built in ethernet, it probably is not the YARC problem. You need a card, usually the YARC card, to make it happen.

There can be a variety of reasons for slow ethernet, including cables. We can narrow this down further by testing with a PCI ethernet card. If it is still slow, then it isn't the logic board ethernet. The YARC workaround was to get off of built in ethernet and use a card.

Machines Affected: All
Published Date: Feb 20, 2012