fargo@iear.arts.rpi.edu (Irwin M. Fargo) (11/13/90)
I just recently purchased two 4 Mbit token ring cards for the IBM PC. Unfortunately, the guy who sold them to me gave me the cards, some software and some photocopied pages from a manual giving some miscellaneous infor- mation about how to install the software, etc., but very little on wiring a TR network (just a pinout diagram of the DB9 connector). What's I'd like to do is hook up two computers and two computers only with TR. I've talked with a couple people and they tell me I need a MAU. I picked up my Inmac catalog and found the price to be out of my range ($595 for an 8 station MAU). Do I really, absolutely need a MAU for a two station network or can I build something myself? (I've dabbled in electronics a bit, so I'm not completely helpless) Reply by e-mail. Thanks in advance! Thank you and happy hunting! Actually: Ethan M. Young "If Linus looked like Worf, would you Internet: fargo@iear.arts.rpi.edu try to take his blanket away?" Bitnet (??): usergac0@rpitsmts.bitnet - dorsai@pawl.rpi.edu Disclaimer: Who said what?
haas%basset.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Walt Haas) (11/13/90)
In article <9+&^CS&@rpi.edu> fargo@iear.arts.rpi.edu (Irwin M. Fargo) writes: >... >What's I'd like to do is hook up two computers and two computers only with >TR. I've talked with a couple people and they tell me I need a MAU. I >picked up my Inmac catalog and found the price to be out of my range >($595 for an 8 station MAU)... Hm, sounds like at this point the most cost-effective decision would be to throw the TR cards in the trash and by two Ethernet cards. Not such an unusual situation... -- Walt
rick@lrark.UUCP (Rick Mobley) (11/16/90)
In article <9+&^CS&@rpi.edu> fargo@iear.arts.rpi.edu (Irwin M. Fargo) writes: >I just recently purchased two 4 Mbit token ring cards for the IBM PC. > >What's I'd like to do is hook up two computers and two computers only with >TR. I've talked with a couple people and they tell me I need a MAU. A MAU would be nice, but with only two computers you can simply plug them together. You will need a program to fool the systems in thinking they have successfully inserted themselves into a network via a MAU. That is because the adapter runs some diagnostics to determine if it actually can click the relay in the MAU. >Do I really, absolutely need a MAU for a two station network or can I build >something myself? (I've dabbled in electronics a bit, so I'm not completely >helpless) If you ever go beyond two stations you will need a MAU. There isn't lots of electronics inside the MAU, but I don't have a schematic. >Reply by e-mail. Thanks in advance! I thought this might be interesting to all, so I chose to submit instead of e-mail. -- rick@lrark.UUCP * bang path --> uunet!ddi1!lrark!rick * Ricky Mobley * LRTUG (501) 224-9454 * 1800 Sanford Dr. #4 * GEnie Unix RT SysOp address LRARK * Little Rock, AR 72207 * WB5FDP.AR.USA.NA wb5fdp.ampr.org *
chw@hpctdlb.HP.COM (Charlie Whiteside) (11/19/90)
The way that TRN card do a self test and a wire lobe test would make it pretty tough to just wire the two PC's together. The cards would report a lobe failure without the appropriate load current required to drive the relays in a normal MAU. If you have a lot of time on your hands and know how to do 8 MHz type circuitry and can keep it balanced you could probably build a MAU for ~$100 for two ports. The 802.5 IEEE book has a block diagram of how they should appear on Page 79. All in all, I'd agree with Walt about picking up 2 ethernet cards. I'd first sell the .5 cards to raise the money though! With ethernet (.3) you could increase your network size by merely adding more RG-58 and another T connector. Good Luck, Charlie