Can't get a PCI network card to work on a PCI+VLB motherboard \ VOGONS

Can't get a PCI network card to work on a PCI+VLB motherboard

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First post, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-09-05, 13:24

jheronimus Offline

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Hi, all

I'm trying to add a PCI network card to a system with a Biostar MB-1500PCT motherboard (Socket 5 board with PCI and VLB slots, Opti 546/547 chipset, running Windows 95 RTM. No matter what I do, I get the "Your network adapter is not working properly" error at boot and a yellow mark in Device manager.

I've tried these cards:

- 3COM 3C590 (worked in a similar board with Opti 596/597 chipset even though a common 3C905 didn't)
- 3COM 3C900
- 3COM 3C905
- Intel EtherExpress Pro 100+

I've tried all three PCI slots, I've tried reconfiguring the card with 3COM's config utility and I've also tested PCI support with a videocard.

My full configuration is:

Pentium 100, 32MB of FPM RAM
Tekram DC-680C caching controller (VLB)
Ark Logic ARK1000VL video card (VLB)
PS2 card for ISA (recognised as a serial port by the system, no other serial/LPT ports present in the system)

Sound cards and CD ROM removed to lessen a risk of resource conflict.

Unfortunately, there is no BIOS update, and this particular system works really bad with BIOSes from similar boards.

What could I be missing here?

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Reply 1 of 9, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-09-05, 13:29

jheronimus Offline

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There is also this screen in the BIOS settings — maybe I have to assign IRQs manually? How would I do that?

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Reply 2 of 9, by maxtherabbit

Posted on 2021-09-05, 14:14

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Yeah "disabled" is not going to work that's preventing any PCI card from being assigned an IRQ at all. See if you can change it to auto maybe

Reply 3 of 9, by pyrogx

Posted on 2021-09-05, 14:15

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I think you have to assign an IRQ manually. The PCI-BIOS on this board is pretty old (v 2.00 probably), so it might not do this automatically.
However, I can confirm that a 3COM 3C905 works on a Socket4 board with a similar OPTi chipset (596/597).

Reply 4 of 9, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-09-05, 14:43

jheronimus Offline

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maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-09-05, 14:14:

Yeah "disabled" is not going to work that's preventing any PCI card from being assigned an IRQ at all. See if you can change it to auto maybe

No, there is no auto option.

Each «INT» can be set to a specific IRQ in either edge or level mode. I’m kind of baffled that the INTs are defined for each slot and then you have to select the INT for each slot. Never saw a configuration like that. Can’t find a good explanation either

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Reply 5 of 9, by pyrogx

Posted on 2021-09-05, 15:18

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PCI interrupts work differently than ISA IRQs. See here: https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Plug-and-Play-HOWTO-7.html
You have to link a PCI interrupt line (#INTA to #INTD) to a free ISA IRQ. Modern PCI systems can do these assignments automatically, but here you have to do that manually.

Reply 6 of 9, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-09-05, 15:24

jheronimus Offline

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Sooo, if I need to assign my NIC in Slot 1 to IRQ11 (and it only needs one IRQ), do I set all the lines for Slot 1 to 11 or what? Sorry, can’t really wrap my head around this

Last edited by jheronimus on 2021-09-05, 16:36. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 7 of 9, by pyrogx

Posted on 2021-09-05, 15:26

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Just set the "#INTA Connect IRQ" for Slot 1 to IRQ 11 and put your NIC into Slot1.

Reply 8 of 9, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-09-05, 19:58

jheronimus Offline

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pyrogx wrote on 2021-09-05, 15:26:

Just set the "#INTA Connect IRQ" for Slot 1 to IRQ 11 and put your NIC into Slot1.

Am I doing this right?

First PCI slot turned out to be Slot 3 according to the motherboard markings. Windows still says the adapter isn't working.

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Reply 9 of 9, by pyrogx

Posted on 2021-09-06, 19:12

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Should work, maybe also try the other slots. Try to remove the card in the device manager and have Windows re-detect it. If it still doesn't work, try to load a DOS packet driver for the card (see here: http://www.georgpotthast.de/sioux/packet.htm). It should tell you whether your card is detected properly.
If nothing works, then unfortunately the BIOS might be too old.

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