There isn't an option to turn off the "link beat" signal on the Apple
Ethernet NB cards or the LaserWriter IIg when using the 10Base-T
transceivers. The "link beat" signal is part of the 10Base-T standard.
The cards are designed for use on 10Base-T compliant networks only, and no
provisions have been made to accommodate any non-standard Ethernet
configuration.
One possible solution, Asante's 10T MAU (medium access unit), allows any
computer with a thick Ethernet port to connect to a 10BaseT twisted-pair
network. The device, which resembles an external modem, contains two
ports:
- A 15-pin AUI port for a thick coaxial connection, and
- An eight-pin RJ-45 port for connection to twisted-pair cable.
The 10T MAU unit also provides four LED status displays and two switches
that enable or disable the link integrity and SQE signals. The device is
compatible with any thick-cable Ethernet card. You could use this device
in addition to an Apple Ethernet NB card with the thicknet transceiver
option.
On AppleLink, you can find contact information for the various vendors by
clicking the Library Index button to view the folder structure in the Tech
Info Library. An alphabetic listing of vendors is in the Third Party
Company Directory folder.