At 11:16 PM 7/29/99 -0400, I wrote: >I've been unsuccessful in getting my 3Com 3c529 MCA Ethernet card to >communicate with the network using the AUI port, although the 10baseT >(twisted pair) connection with the card works fine. The 3c529 is the MCA
I've now been able to answer my own question, so I will post what I learned in the hopes that it may save the souls of countless others. After numerous hours of compiling kernels with various modifications to the 3c509.c source, we (most of the time was put in by a good friend) finally realized that we are utterly unable to make the card use its AUI port by making modifications in the Linux drivers or running other software. We tried using the 3Com Etherdisk for the 3c529, but even that is unable to set the card's state as either 10baseT or AUI. Further research and reading on 3Com's site finally reveals that there is no software that can modify these settings, but instead the configuration must be changed at the top level of the MCA bus, using the IBM Reference Disk. From the Reference Disk menu, we were able to "Set Configuration" and change the 3c529 card in the correct slot to use the External (AUI) transceiver instead of the default RJ45 (TP). Subsequently, the 3c509 driver automatically detected the card in AUI mode, and all worked correctly. May that be a lesson to all of you with MCA hardware out there! It must be configured from the Reference Disk, not with software.
