keropi wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:01:
What about the good old CT2230? If you pair it with a nice midi daughterboard it will be great, I've been using such a combo for years in my 233mmx system and never had any issues
Well, the CT2230 isn't plug-and-play, and dealing with additional hardware and dependencies is a little bit beyond what I was looking for in terms of simplicity. I might consider it in the future though, so thanks for the suggestion!
maxtherabbit wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:33:
The AWE32 is literally a SB16 with a extra EMU chip grafted on to it. If you can't get the AWE32 working on your system, you won't be able to get the SB16 working either (unless your card is somehow damaged)
Some software will give an error when AWE32's SET BLASTER parameters are specified in MS-DOS.
In addition, I've had a multitude of audio glitches and system errors when attempting to install both Sound Blaster 16 and AWE32-related drivers and software.
Downgrading to the closest thing to AWE32 without actually using AWE32 feels like a logical next step in trying to determine which card that I can use that is both plug-and-play and as high-end as possible without compromising compatibility with most software and games.
davidrg wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:07:
Yeah, gigabit probably not worth the effort. Gigabit cards were pretty rare and expensive in the late 90s - not really something you would have seen on a Windows 98 PC let alone 95 or 3.1 so drivers are always going to be more tricky. I suspect finding intel drivers for older platforms will also be a bit more difficult these days as IIRC intel cleaned out their driver site a while back and got rid of anything "old".
Any card based on the RTL8139 chipset is plug and play and you can grab the drivers straight from Realtek here. These cards won't necessarily be fast but they should be pretty trouble free. The cards with this chipset I have don't have any brand names - I expect they were relatively budget cards.
Based on a quick Google search it doesn't seem that RTL8139 has the greatest MS-DOS-compatibility, though it at least seems to work with most Windows versions.
Do you know whether it's suitable for MS-DOS use?
davidrg wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:07:
The standard DECchip 21140 implementation would be Digitals own Fast EtherWORKS 10/100 adapter (aka DE500). There is an info sheet with specs and a picture. It was a relatively popular ethernet controller and lots of other cards used it (or a clone) too like the Asante Fast, CNET PowerPNIC CN935E, D-Link DE530CT, Kingston KNE100TX, SMC 8432 and a bunch of others. This archive is the latest driver disk and supports WFW, 95, netware, lanman and has a packet driver too. I think Windows 98 has the driver on the CD - if not the Windows 95 driver will probably do.
After some googling it seems that DEC 21140 cards are MS-DOS-compatible, but the availability doesn't seem to be that high right now. I'll keep my eyes open though.
davidrg wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:07:
I can't name any cards with an AMD PCnet ethernet controller (I have none) but its commonly emulated by virtualisation software so I have used the PCnet drivers on a variety of operating systems. To make life easier for myself I built a collection of PCnet drivers.
3Com made a lot of cards and all of them should be old enough to support the platforms you're after - you should be able to find drivers for most of them in here. IIRC the 3C509-TX is good but its been several years since I used a 3Com PCI NIC.
I'd love to know more about whether there are any 3Com cards that are both plug and play and will also work with MS-DOS.
Thanks for the help so far!
waterbeesje wrote on 2022-03-25, 20:18:
Too me it sounds like the 3com etherlink series would be great for you.
Do you know of any specific 3Com card that is both plug-and-play and will work in MS-DOS?