[comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc] Omninet packet driver ????

grant@ramsey.cs.laurentian.ca ("Grant R. Guenther") (03/31/91)

We have a number of old ('87 ?) Corvus Omninet LAN cards.  It is a while since
I've looked at the specs, but as I recall they supported a 1 Mbit CSMA
type LAN on cheap twisted pair wiring.  It may not be possible, but
has anyone out there ever tried making a packet driver for these things ?
Performance would not be great, but it should be possible to make them
behave like ethernet cards.  I have sufficient technical data (somewhere)
to give this a try, but I don't want to re-invent the wheel - nor do I want
to waste time on something that has already been proven impossible.  Does
anyone have any wisdom on this ?

Thanks

Grant Guenther,  Math & C.S., Laurentian U., Sudbury, Canada
grant@ramsey.cs.laurentian.ca

jbvb@FTP.COM ("James B. Van Bokkelen") (04/02/91)

    We have a number of old ('87 ?) Corvus Omninet LAN cards. ...
    has anyone out there ever tried making a packet driver for these things ?

There is a Class assigned to Omninet (4), but I am not aware of anyone's 
ever using it, or even of a formal standard for IP over Omninet.  If you
want to do a "fake Ethernet" driver, I can give you a "Type" value in Class 1.

James B. VanBokkelen		26 Princess St., Wakefield, MA  01880
FTP Software Inc.		voice: (617) 246-0900  fax: (617) 246-0901