VOGONS

Search

Common searches

NE2000plus initialization promplems in DOS

Topic actions

First post, by AlexZX

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hello my name is Alex,

I have build two vintage P1 computers (233 MHz). And now I am trying to connect them through IPX Network to play DOOM.

I have 2 ISA network adapters, one is the genuine Novell NE2000 which can bei configured by jumpres. I have configured the card to use IRQ 3 and Port 340. I have diactivated the COM2 in BIOS so there ist no conflict with IRQ3. This card is working properly. I am loading "lsl.com" then "ne2000.com" and finally the "ipxodi.com". The card is initializing as expected.

The Problem ist the other NIC. It is a Novell NE2000plus from EAGLE. This card has no jumpers at all, so i suspect it is PnP. I have configured the "net.cfg" to use IRQ 3 and Port 340 but when i run "ne2000.com" (after i run lsl.com) i get the following error messages

"NE2000-DOS-54 The board did not respond to the initialization command."

"NE2000-DOS-6 The adapters did not initialize. NE2000 did not load".

For some reason the card is trying to initialize on IRQ 15 and Port 340 and not on IRQ 3 as I have specified in the "net.cfg".

AS the card ist PnP i think maybe I News to tell it which IRQ and Port in hast to use (something like the AWEUTIL on an SB32 PnP). But i didn't find any tools to do this.

Maybe one of you has an idea how to run this card?

Thank you!

Reply 1 of 8, by Caluser2000

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Does it work when irq 15 is specified? The sencondary ide channel normally uses this.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 2 of 8, by derSammler

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I don't think it's PnP but software-configuration, which was standard at that time. Sadly, many of such cards suffer from EEPROM failure, as every time the card is initialized, the EEPROM is updated, but it can only take about 1000 write cycles. I had many cards that died because of that. Look for a 8-pin EEPROM on the card. If there is one, consider replacing it.

Reply 3 of 8, by Caluser2000

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
derSammler wrote:

I don't think it's PnP but software-configuration, which was standard at that time. Sadly, many of such cards suffer from EEPROM failure, as every time the card is initialized, the EEPROM is updated, but it can only take about 1000 write cycles. I had many cards that died because of that. Look for a 8-pin EEPROM on the card. If there is one, consider replacing it.

That's a bit drastic considering we have not diagnosed the the issue yet.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 4 of 8, by derSammler

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Well, if you tell it to use IRQ 3 but it uses IRQ 15 instead, it already shows that the EEPROM can not be updated anymore. Of course, it may also be something else, but it's still important to know about that issue.

Reply 6 of 8, by AlexZX2

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I've got it working now. The problem was, the network card was completely new (new old stock from Ebay). That's why it was not initialized at all. I found out that it is a NE2000 clone from AT/LANTIC. After that I finally found the necessary tool to initialize the new network adapter. In this initialization tool i was able to set the IRQ 3 and the Port 340. After that "ne2000.com" recognized the card and everything is working now (DOOM is also running). I have attached the AT/LANTIC tool. Maybe someone need it as well.

Attachments

  • Filename
    Atlantic.zip
    File size
    339.32 KiB
    Downloads
    176 downloads
    File comment
    Atlantic network card initialization
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 7 of 8, by Caluser2000

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Good work.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 8 of 8, by chinny22

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Good work! now you just need a 3rd so you can run doom in 3 screen mode 😉
Vanilla / Dos Doom in 3 screen mode. I finally did it!

Go to top of page Go to top of page
Back to General Old Hardware
Close window
Close window