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Drivers for ethernet card

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First post, by kelmer

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I got this Ethernet card:

gIudcnQ.jpeg

and for the love of me I can't find the right drivers for it. I managed to download some Realtek 8139ATX drivers but Windows 95 won't recognize them and I can't manage to connect to the internet.

Would anyone have these by any chance?

Reply 1 of 41, by dominusprog

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Try this one

https://archive.org/details/rtl8139drv

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A-Trend ATC-1020 V1.1 ❇ Cyrix 6x86 150+ @ 120MHz ❇ 32MiB EDO RAM (8MiBx4) ❇ A-Trend S3 Trio64V2 2MiB
Aztech Pro16 II-3D PnP ❇ 8.4GiB Quantum Fireball ❇ Win95 OSR2 Plus!

Reply 2 of 41, by dionb

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There's no such chip as the "RTL8139ATX". This card is the Ovislink LFE-8139ATX, which probably contains an RTL8139A chip. The different RTL8139 revisions matter in terms of PCI support (the later C and D need 3.3V on PCI so don't work in old <=PCI 2.1 motherboards), but they all share the same drivers.

You can find generic RTL8139 drivers for Win95 on the Vogonsdrivers site: https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fil … &menustate=35,0

If you want specific drivers for this card, look for Ovislink LFE-8139ATX. I doubt they will offer anything extra over the generic drivers and may be older/more buggy.

Reply 6 of 41, by Grzyb

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kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 15:49:

How does one check that?

Most BIOSes display that:

devicelisting.gif
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devicelisting.gif
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The key are Vendor ID and Device ID.
RTL8139 should use 10EC 8139.

If your BIOS doesn't display that, there are utilities like HWINFO, ASTRA, and many others.

Zaglądali do kufrów, zaglądali do waliz, nie zajrzeli do dupy - tam miałem klimatyzm.

Reply 7 of 41, by dormcat

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kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 15:20:

I tried those drivers on vogonsdrivers but windows complains its not the right driver 😒

Are you really sure it's the driver issue?

Can the NIC work with another motherboard and/or under another OS?
Can other cards use the same PCI slot without problems?
What's the make and model of the MB that your NIC cannot work with?
Can the NIC be detected on hardware level and provided with an IRQ (like Grzyb's PCI device listing screencap)?
Can you see the NIC (without proper driver) as a yellow question mark under "Other devices" of Windows 95 Device Manager?

If any of your hardware has failed then no software could fix your problem. And I already saw a cracked capacitor at C16.

Reply 8 of 41, by Grzyb

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dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

And I already saw a cracked capacitor at C16.

Ceramic capacitors sometimes have this cut:

s-l1600.jpg
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no idea about the purpose...

Anyway, there are two different RTL8139 drivers for Windows 95, located in separate directories:
W95OSR2 - for OSR2 (NDIS 4)
WIN95A - for earlier versions (NDIS 3)

Make sure to select the proper directory.

Zaglądali do kufrów, zaglądali do waliz, nie zajrzeli do dupy - tam miałem klimatyzm.

Reply 9 of 41, by kelmer

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dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Are you really sure it's the driver issue?

That's what Windows is telling me

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can the NIC work with another motherboard and/or under another OS?

I dont really know as this is the only vintage computer I own.

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can other cards use the same PCI slot without problems?

Also only PCI card I have

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

What's the make and model of the MB that your NIC cannot work with?

I wouldn't know, but i took some pics:
https://imgur.com/a/2hA7mjC

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can the NIC be detected on hardware level and provided with an IRQ (like Grzyb's PCI device listing screencap)?

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can you see the NIC (without proper driver) as a yellow question mark under "Other devices" of Windows 95 Device Manager?

Yes, and when restarting Windows it tries to configure the realtek drivers, but when done I still see a warning sign on the device manager, in the details screen it says to try another driver.

I've tried both Win95osr2 and Win95a to no avail 🙁

My BIOS doesn't show the PCI listing, I'll try to get one of those programs but it's complicated now as my floppy has also died 😅

Reply 10 of 41, by dormcat

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Grzyb wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:41:

Ceramic capacitors sometimes have this cut:

s-l1600.jpg
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s-l1600.jpg
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no idea about the purpose...

I'd assume it works like the "cross," "T," "Benz," or "K"-shaped cuts on top vents of cylindrical electrolytic capacitors, but I've never seen such cuts on ceramic capacitors until now. 😮 IIRC when ceramic capacitors die they just explode like popcorns or burn like soybeans.

kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 18:38:
dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

What's the make and model of the MB that your NIC cannot work with?

I wouldn't know, but i took some pics:
https://imgur.com/a/2hA7mjC

Looks like an Intel Advanced/RH LPX (Rhinestone) to me. Is that an AST computer?

The MB already has Vibra 16C chip and 3.5mm sockets. If those are working properly I don't see why you need another Crystal-based sound card (OEM version of AZTech Multimedia Pro 16?).

BTW you photographed National Semiconductor PC87306-IBD/VUL (a common Super I/O chip on MB using Intel 430 series chipsets) twice. 😅

kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 18:38:

Yes, and when restarting Windows it tries to configure the realtek drivers, but when done I still see a warning sign on the device manager, in the details screen it says to try another driver.

I've tried both Win95osr2 and Win95a to no avail 🙁

Well that beats me. 😕 Theoretically RTL8139 series aren't too picky on software; I've got RTL8139C working on 430FX and 430TX-based motherboards under Win31/95/98SE.

You might want to remove the sound card and all other non-vital components first.

Last but not least: the driver of my RTL8139C works under DOS but conflicts with EMM386.EXE 🙄 There might be some strange conflicts elsewhere.

Reply 11 of 41, by Horun

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kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 15:20:

I tried those drivers on vogonsdrivers but windows complains its not the right driver 😒

Pull the sticker off and tell us what exact chip # it is.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 12 of 41, by dormcat

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Horun wrote on 2024-09-25, 21:38:

Pull the sticker off and tell us what exact chip # it is.

Grzyb's card (using RTL8139A) is the same OvisLink LFE-8139ATX but with a slightly older revision (2.1) than kelmer's (2.3). Judging from the newer revision and letters beneath the edge of the sticker I'd say the chip is an RTL8139B.

800px-SMC_UE1211D-TXR01_-_Realtek_RTL8139B-92857.jpg
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Reply 13 of 41, by Grzyb

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It would be a good idea to try in another PCI slot - if there's more than one.
NICs are likely to require bus mastering, and sometimes not all slots support it.

Zaglądali do kufrów, zaglądali do waliz, nie zajrzeli do dupy - tam miałem klimatyzm.

Reply 14 of 41, by soggi

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The latest Win95 driver for Realtek RTL8139 I could find... It's version 3.97, dated 2001/10/09 - just try it out. If this works I'll add it to my Realtek drivers page (https://soggi.org/drivers/realtek.htm) - wonder why it isn't there already, I'm getting old.

kind regards
soggi

Attachments

  • Filename
    win95-8139(397).zip
    File size
    36.75 KiB
    Downloads
    12 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Vintage BIOSes, firmware, drivers, tools, manuals and (3dfx) game patches -> soggi's BIOS & Firmware Page

soggi.org on Twitter - inactive at the moment

Reply 15 of 41, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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If that version from soggi doesn't help, maybe try the driver packages direct from OvisLink...

v3.8

Filename
8139.exe
File size
1.1 MiB
Downloads
10 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

...later supplied as a 2 disk set

Filename
disk1.exe
File size
504.71 KiB
Downloads
7 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception
Filename
disk2.exe
File size
425.84 KiB
Downloads
13 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

(also XP version for reference)

Filename
xp-8139(397).zip
File size
19.64 KiB
Downloads
8 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

You could also try to run the attached card diagnostic app at the DOS prompt to check function...

Filename
RSET8139.EXE
File size
90.12 KiB
Downloads
9 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 16 of 41, by kelmer

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dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 19:50:

The MB already has Vibra 16C chip and 3.5mm sockets. If those are working properly I don't see why you need another Crystal-based sound card (OEM version of AZTech Multimedia Pro 16?).

That's because I have a roland mt-32 and the integrated Vibra 16 does not even have a joystick/midi in port.

Reply 17 of 41, by kelmer

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Tried the diagnose app within DOS and it says IO/interrupt is illegal, but I dont see an option in my BIOS to change that.

Did also try the other PCI port (my motherboard has a ISA to PCI bridge with just 2 PCI slots) but the problem persists 🙁

BTW thanks all for the suggestions, really helpful community here!

Reply 18 of 41, by wierd_w

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You can sometimes "massage" a cranky PnP PCI bios into assigning "proper" values, through a combination of slot re-assignment, (physically moving the card to another slot), and restricting certain resources to "Legacy/ISA" devices.

A common problem is slot 4 being shared with the on-board resources. (Both using PCI IRQ D) This leads to the card that's trying to share, ending up in tug of war with things like the USB controller, fighting over IRQ12, for example.

I'd recommend moving the card to another physical slot, and denying it any opportunity to be assigned ANYTHING except what is valid, by restricting all the invalid choices.

Reply 19 of 41, by kelmer

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I woiuldnt know how to do any of those things to be honest, except changing the pci slot, which i did but got the same result. I did remove the sticker (felt bad to ruin the windows logo) and this is what it had:

oxWHJYf.jpeg