[vortex] 3c905C Advice

[Bogdan Costescu]

On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, Parrish M Myers wrote:

> I was wondering if there are any issues that I should consider before
> buying a 3Com 3C905C ethernet card.  I have 'kinda' searched through
> the more recient archives on the card and can't seem to locate any
> problem that is unsolvable or that a patch doesn't already exist.

I'm glad especially that this comes from somebody that is not involved in
the driver development!

> The reason I as is becuase I currently have a Netgear FA-310TX card and
> it has been nothing but trouble since I got it.  I figure I should
> switch over to the 3c905C (I have never had problems with a 3Com card).

For Netgear FA-310TX, you can ask for help on linux-tulip-bug (if you
haven't already...)

> Are there any reasons I sholdn't make the move (besides the money
> issue)?  Meaning stable drivers and good performance...

There are in fact 3 drivers, but all seem to be in a good shape:
- the driver provided by 3Com (you can find a link on the
www.scyld.com/network/vortex/) - for 2.2
- Donald Becker's driver (0.99Q at present) - available from
ftp.scyld.com, for 2.2 (last time I looked, it didn't work in 2.4pre, but 
I might be wrong)
- Andrew Morton's driver (based on Donald's) - available in the kernel
tree for both 2.2 and 2.4pre

Sincerely,

Bogdan Costescu

IWR - Interdisziplinaeres Zentrum fuer Wissenschaftliches Rechnen
Universitaet Heidelberg, INF 368, D-69120 Heidelberg, GERMANY
Telephone: +49 6221 54 8869, Telefax: +49 6221 54 8868
E-mail: Bogdan.Costescu@IWR.Uni-Heidelberg.De