NeXTSTEP 3.3 Driver: AMD PCnet32

This document discusses a device driver for the NeXTSTEP operating system, version 3.3. This driver will not work with any version of OPENSTEP.
Availability Information

An updated release version of this driver, version 3.30, is avaiable on Apple's FTP servers at:
ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/MultiCountry/Enterprise/nextstep/drivers/released/AMDPCnet32.pkg.compressed

Driver Name / Installer .pkg: AMDPCnet32NetworkDriver
Driver Type: Networking
Driver Scope: Generic-Chipset
Supported Components: AMD Am79C965, AMD Am79C970, AMD Am79C974
PC Bus / Interface Supported by Driver**: Integrated, PCI, VL-Bus

General Overview notes: This driver is designed to support LAN adapters that use the AMDPCnet32 ethernet controller. The AMD PCnet32 Ethernet controller is used in both integrated designs (on-board system boards or accessory daughter cards) and add-on VL-Bus and PCI adapters. This NEXTSTEP driver is designed to support generic implementations of the AMD Am79C965 and Am79C970 chipset (ie designs that follow the example design as provided by AMD). The 79C974 is a combo chip with contains an Am79C970 ethernet core and an Am53C974 SCSI core

Supported Products / Add-on Adapters:
X/Lan Add-On Adapter (based on Am79C970)


Supported Products / Systems (ie integrated into PC System):
Canon object.station 41
Compaq Deskpro XL (On-board)
HP Vectra XU (On-Board)


Special Features of Driver / Driver Notes:
This device driver provides information in the Configure application's help panel. Choose Info>Help from the Configure menu and scroll down to find this device driver's help topic.

Networking Driver Details

Network Type**: EtherNet
Speed*: 10 Mb/s
Access Mode**: Bus Master DMA
Buffer Size*: N/A
Supported Connectors**: AUI, UTP

Known Problems

The 3.30 version of the driver will sometimes exhibit extremely poor performance on some systems. Due to reliability issues, it is not recommended that you use the this driver with the HP Vectra XU machines.

IBM PCI Ethernet Adapter (based on Am79C970, IBM part #13H9237) is reported to work but has not been tested by SQA.


Driver Version Notes

3.33: Added support for an updated version of PCnet32 PCI hardware.

** - Indicates information that is inclusive of the entire capability of this driver. Not all devices supported by this driver may include all features listed. Check any available NeXTanswers and the hardware manual for the device for additional information.

Product Vendor
Published Date: Feb 20, 2012