How to work with ISA cards? (setting IRQ etc.)

[Elledan]

Okay, I'm used to PCI but now I've an old PC (486-DX2) that I want to set up as a router and it only accepts ISA cards.
Now I know that you've to set jumpers on ISA cards to 'configure' them, but since I've never done it and I can't ask anyone here about it I could use some help from you guys.

So basically I want some basic information about how to configure ISA cards (using the jumpers on it) and what all those funny names next to the jumpers mean.

 

[emjem]

As I recall every one of these old isa cards has it's own unique jumper setting needs, basically IRQ and DMA, and if you can't read the jumper settings available on the pc card you need to get the setting info from the manufacturer.

It was usually best to just let them stay at default settings unless you had IRQ/DMA conflicts.

There is no IRQ sharing available on these old computers, so you have to make sure there are no 2 cards sharing the same one.

 

[Elledan]

Okay, thanks.

BTW I managed to locate the jumpers for the IRQ settings

Only this:
> What is meant with an I/O port address (0x300 for example) and can you see that on the NIC?
>Which IRQ's can you use with Linux? Currently I've set the first NIC (eth0) to IRQ 5 and the other NIC (eth1) to IRQ 10. Will this give any problems?

 

[Workin']

<< What is meant with an I/O port address (0x300 for example) and can you see that on the NIC? >>

That's the address where the system can find the card. 0x300 is a hexadecimal number and is the &quot;standard&quot; address for a NIC. Depending on the card you are using you may set it by jumper or by software utility. 3Com cards have a (DOS-based) software utility to set I/O and IRQ info for their cards, as do many NE2000 clone cards. You'll probably have to tell Linux the address you have assigned to the card(s). Oh, and each card will need its own, nonconflicting address.

<< Which IRQ's can you use with Linux? Currently I've set the first NIC (eth0) to IRQ 5 and the other NIC (eth1) to IRQ 10. Will this give any problems? >>

You can use any IRQ you want. Some are used by other things though, so you'll want to be sure they don't conflict. IRQ 10 is the &quot;standard&quot; IRQ for NIC's. IRQ 5 should be fine for the other one, as long as nothing else is trying to use that IRQ. Of course, the info you tell Linux has to match what the card is set for.

 

[Quaggoth]

With old ISA NIC's, there is usually a dos program that is used to set the addresses. It usually works by setting the jumpers to &quot;Plug and Play&quot;, then it uses what is in the cards BIOS. If you set the jumpers to something other than &quot;Plug and Play&quot;, it uses those settings.

FYI - The &quot;Standard&quot; for an ISA Nic is I/O address 300, IRQ 10. If you have 2 ISA NIC's, the other should be IRQ5, and I can't remember the I/O. I think it may be 220, but if oyu have an old Sound card in it, that will probably use I/O220, IRQ5, LowDMA1, HighDMA5.

 

[Elledan]

Okay, I got it so far.

On the first card I can configure those things with the jumpers: IO0, IO1, PCMode, Romena (?), M0, M1 (currently set), M2.

And on the other card: Boot, S1 (currently set), S2.

What's meant with that?

 

[Workin']

What's the make and model of those cards?

 

[Elledan]

Not sure... I got them from a friend who had them lying in a drawer.

The first card has this on the chipset:

UMC
UM9003F 9
307-BS
KC1478

on the back of the card is printed &quot;PSC 9301&quot;

The second card has this on the main-chip:

EN5090
L8A0083
A.T.C.
NNG 9122
WK18331 HONG KONG

This card has printed &quot;9132 EPOTEC-3 94V-0&quot; on the back.

The first card also has &quot;NE-12/Ethernet&quot; printed on it.

I'm afraid that is all I know...

 

[Workin']

Not sure what to make of that.....

It might be easier to just buy 2 network cards of known manufacture. You can usually find ISA NIC's for a few dollars (at least in the US), even brand new ones. Sorry I can't be of more help...

 

[Elledan]

Workin', I appreciate all the help you gave me

Unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere (small village, Netherlands) so chances are small that I'll find a few cheap NIC's.

I'll try my luck with the information you guys all gave me.

Thanks!