TF1230 with 3Com PCMCIA nic not working

[Duke0fAwesome]

My A1200 with TF1230 has been working fine since september 2021 but I have recently run into an issue, I cannot get a 3Com ethernet card to work although it works fine when the TF1230 is removed so wanted to see if anybody is using a 3Com card and TF1230 without issues.

I bought a 3Com 3C589D PCMCIA ethernet card, installed roadshow and 3c589.device and plugged in the card. I can connect to the network but cannot use DHCP, with a manual IP address, I get a connection but a lot of packet loss when pinging and no program is able to receive data even on my local network.

I have since tried another 3C589D and a 3C562 card but all three act in the exact same way.

I did have a prism2 WiFI card working a few months ago and a CF adapter works fine for copying files so PCMCIA seems at least somewhat fine.

Have tried both Roadshow and MiamiDX, clean OS3.2 install, 3 different cards, 4 network switches including a 10/100 switch in case it helped with auto negotiation. I isolated just the Amiga and my laptop from the rest of the network in case another device was causing an issue on the network.

CardPatch and CardReset make no difference.

The only thing that has worked was removing the TF1230, I can then connect using DHCP, ping anything local or internet with no packet loss and run Amispeedtest all OK. There isn't enough memory left for much else.

A1200 1D.4 recapped in 2020 and timing fixes done. OS3.2 ROMs. TF1230 is running the latest firmware.

Has anybody ever experienced anything similar or is using a TF1230 with a 3Com card with no problem?

[alexh]

It was my understanding that KS3.2 broke something in PCMCIA land to do with NICs. They tried to fix the 8MB RAM blocks PCMCIA issue for 24-bit processors for NICs and IDE adapters that don't use the RAM space and broke something in the process. I am sure there is a workaround but look into it.

[Duke0fAwesome]

Originally Posted by Boing-Ball

You mention 3.2 ROMs and 3.2 OS. Are you running this version? Or the updated 3.2.1 ROMs and 3.2.1 OS?
If not, then this would be the next thing to try.

I'm using 3.2.1 on a 3.2 ROM, also tried a clean 3.2 install too but nothing changed with the problem. I'm going to try and find my original 3.0 ROMs and try with that, if I can but I have no idea where I put them.

Originally Posted by alexh

It was my understanding that KS3.2 broke something in PCMCIA land to do with NICs. They tried to fix the 8MB RAM blocks PCMCIA issue for 24-bit processors for NICs and IDE adapters that don't use the RAM space and broke something in the process. I am sure there is a workaround but look into it.

I'll look in to that, thanks. I remember reading about that, didn't they change it back to the old way for 3.2.1 but maybe that would require actual 3.2.1 ROMs? I'll have a look and see if I can find anything helpful.

[shelter]

OS 3.2.x "softkicks" automatically if you have an older rom. You don't really need an external program for it, at least not with a tf1230.

FWIW, I run OS 3.2.1 with Roadshow and PCMCIA wireless card using the prism2v2 driver and I have no issues.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by Boing-Ball

Doesn’t the TF have a soft kick feature?
like the old Blizzard 1230 (Blizkick) and Apollo 1230 (RemAppollo) do so you can softkick the updated ROM on startup.

There is no hardware ROM mapper in the TF turbos.

[Jope]

3.1.4 and onwards replace all the ROM modules into RAM from disk anyway, so there's no big need to softkick.

[avongil]

My PCMCIA was dead until I finished the timing fixes recommended for the Apollo 1230. I also installed the Gayle fix at the same time, so im not certain what fixed it. I have a TF1230 coming in tomorrow so that will be interesting to see if the 3com still works. Il update later tomorrow when I have more info.

[avongil]

TF1230 is awesome. Everything works - including the FPU I threw in on the board and the RTC. Both of these failed to work on the apollo. The Nexus7 demo plays like the 1230, you need to restart with cache off, pal mode and no start up sequence.

[Duke0fAwesome]

Originally Posted by avongil

TF1230 is awesome. Everything works - including the FPU I threw in on the board and the RTC. Both of these failed to work on the apollo. The Nexus7 demo plays like the 1230, you need to restart with cache off, pal mode and no start up sequence.

TF1230 is great, had mine for over a year now, I considered putting an FPU on the motherboard but not sure my soldering skills are up to it.

Did you try the 3Com card with it?

[avongil]

yeah, its all working including the ethernet card. I forgot to mention that! Works like a champ! So im not sure exactly what fixes made the PCMCIA work again but it was either the PCMCIA reset fix or the Timing fixes. http://ianstedman.co.uk/amiga-relate...erboard-fixes/

Note that the resistor to Alice pin 43 detailed on this page is not a good way to do it. This is far simpler.




The FPU socket soldering to the board is very easy. I stink, but soldering to the board is very simple. Taking stuff like that off is not, so make sure you get it straight! I tacked the top left and bottom right on first then made sure all other pins matched up. Then you just go to town.

[avongil]

So in short, the TF1230 card is awesome. Everything works!
My RTC problems are now gone too! It boots up in the morning with the correct time.

The Apollo 1230 MK3 card I had sucked really bad.

Highly recommend the TF1230


MB: Rev2B
FPU on motherboard: Working
PCMCIA CF Cards: Working
PCMCIA Ethernet: Working with 3Com
RTC: Working. Used the clock port on board.
RAM: All 128 showing
IDE: Not tested Yet, but roms installed. Searching for Buffered CF card.
Nexus7 Demo: Works right to the end if started up in PAL mode for some reason.

[Duke0fAwesome]

Good to know it's the 3Com works for you but now I'm even more confused about why it won't work for me.

My A1200 has had timing fixes but it's a 1D.4
I have 3.2 ROMs and OS3.2 so maybe that's causing the problem?
I have no problems with reading CF cards in the PCMCIA slot and a WiFi card worked fine.
Are you using 3.1 ROM?
What model of 3Com card are you using? I have tried Etherlink III 3C589D and 3C562

[Duke0fAwesome]

Originally Posted by Boing-Ball

Are you sure the ether link III cards are working? Using the correct driver?
What exactly doesn’t work here? Is it the TCPIP stack not working with it?
Which TCPIP stack are you using? AMITCP? Roadshow? MiamiDX?
Bit more info would help….

I have tried three cards, two are 3C589D and one 3C562 using 3c589.device from aminet. one of the 3C589D is new old stock, the 3C562 came from a known Amiga dealer. I have no way to test them other than with the Amiga, that's why I have ended up with three, unlikely they're all faulty in the exact same way.

They all appear to work but need a manual IP address, dhcp works maybe 1 time out of 1000 and get massive packet loss when pinging, it can be between 15 and 35%, doesn't matter if it's on my local network or internet, about 20% packet loss when pinging the Amiga from a PC. Ibrowse never seems to get a response from any site, same with a version of Aweb i tried. amispeedtest sticks at connecting to server.

Seemed fine with the TF1230 removed but testing was limited due to lack of memory available. no packet loss when pinging at all and amispeedtest completed.

Originally tried Roadshow (latest full version) but also tried MiamiDX. gone back to Roadshow since there was no difference (and I paid for it)

Everything should be in my original post

[Duke0fAwesome]

Originally Posted by Boing-Ball

So the poster Avongil we helped on another post. Mentioned he has bought and using the Gayle reset plug on to resolve their problem. Have you too tried this?
There is no mention of this in your posts if you have such a device plugged over your Gayle chip…

I.e this one…

https://www.amigakit.com/a1200-pcmci...kcahje6fm2533p

I don't have one of those, no.

I was looking into it today but it doesn't look like it will fit with the ScanPlusAGA since the Lisa board overhangs Gayle a little and has the VGA connector right above. I wanted to try one but I currently only have a VGA monitor so no way to run the amiga without the ScanplusAGA.

I though they were just to fix a bug with hardware reset on power on and reboots, do they also help in other ways? I have no problem with booting with anything connected or plugging and unplugging once already booted.

I have read that 3Com cards can cause trouble booting without the gayle fix for some, others just need CardPatch and CardReset to be run so it's plausible that it may be related.

I spent hours searching for anybody with similar issues to mine but found nothing, looks like the Gayle fix may be the most likely solution other than finding another network card.

[Duke0fAwesome]

Originally Posted by Boing-Ball

There are other LAN PCMCIA cards to try. I’ve used a few of them on different Amiga revision boards.
For example, Linksys and Netgear cards..

Finding one for sale that comes with the dongle is the problem I have had

3Com cards seem to turn up all the time, that's why I have three of those.

I'll keep my eye out for something on the cnet.device compatibility list or just get round to soldering the plipbox I bought all the parts for then left in a drawer and put up with the speed.

[markreds81]

Hi,
I'm issuing the same problem. My setup is A1200 by ESCOM with TF1230 w/64 MB RAM, 3Com Etherlink PCMCIA card, Amiga OS 3.2.2 with 3.2.1 kickstart ROM, Roadshow TCP/IP stack.
In DHCP mode a continously ping test loses some packets. It works properly if TF1230 is removed. After many tries I think it could be a timing issue but not sure. I haven't any other PCMCIA ethernet adapter to try but my 3Com works perfectly in A600HD with Amiga OS 3.1.4 and Roadshow, so I think it doesn't depend from it.

[bdb]

Has anyone tried the 3Com cards with the newly released TF1232?