AlphaStation 400-255 Dual NIC for Tru64

[gilemon]

Dear All,
I’m looking for a Dual Fast Ethernet adapter for some AlphaStation 400 and 255 running under Tru64.
So far I found these two adapters; 3X-DE602-BB and 3X-DE602-BB.
Does anybody knows if these are compatible with the AS 400 and 255 running on Tru64 5.1A?
If they aren’t, could you recommend some reference?
Thanks in advance.
Gilemon

[Steven Schweda · Accepted solution]

> [...] AlphaStation 400 and 255 [...]

Your hardware seems to be older than even my
active junk collection (XP1000). I can't
remember if I ever tried an Intel-chip
Ethernet card in an AlpSta 200 4/233 back
when I was still using them, and I've been
running V5.1B for a while, so I know nothing,
but ...

> [...] two adapters; 3X-DE602-BB and
> 3X-DE602-BB.

Those part numbers look pretty similar to me.

As I recall, there were multi-port versions
of the DEC-chip Ethernet cards, too, like,
say, a DE504-BA, and I'd expect the Tru64
"tulip" driver to deal with one of those on
Tru64 versions even older than yours.

I have a generic, single-port Intel-chip card
in my XP1000 system with Tru64 V5.1B. It's
not configured, but "ee0" does appear in the
device list along with "tu0". (I'd _guess_
that V5.1A knows what an "ee" is, too, but I
can't prove it easily.)

If I couldn't find a "Supported Options" list
for V5.1A, and if I had no real budget, I'd
visit my local PC junk store, look for a PCI
Ethernet card with an Intel 82559 (or
similar) chip on it, spend the $5, plug it
into the oldest machine I could find, and see
what happens. (If you get lucky, you might
even find a two-port card, which, I assume,
would have two of those chips on it.)

If you can get a one-port card with the right
chip on it to work, then I'd expect a
two-port (two-chip) card to work, too. (Or,
if you have enough PCI slots available, just
use more one-port cards.)

[Steven Schweda]

An old "Tru64 UNIX QuickSpecs" document for
V5.1A:

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11938_div/11938_div.HTML

does mention "The DE434, DE435, and DE436,
DE500, DE504, DE600, DE602 PCI Ethernet
option cards", so general support for those
cards seems pretty likely.

[cnb]

According to specs, the DE600-BB was a direct replacement for the DE500-xx in all applications and the DE602 is the recommended replacement for DE600-BB.

According to PCI specs it should be ok as long as the firmware sees the card.

Specs for the Alpha Station 400:

http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/workstations/retired/a400series.html

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/SOC/QB00NPPF.PDF

Latest firmware for the AlphaStation 400:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/alphaserver/firmware/retired_platforms/workstations/ASTN400/

Latest Firmware for the AlphaStation 255:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/alphaserver/firmware/retired_platforms/workstations/ASTN255/

Specs and requirements for the DE602:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/North_America_07-2002/10462_na.PDF

Rgds,

[gilemon]

Thanks for the information.
I just received a 3X-DE602-BB today.
It work perfectly in AS400, didn't try with AS255 yet, but I guess it should be the same.
Thanks again.

[Steven Schweda]

> It work perfectly [...]

What could go wrong?

Does the console firmware recognize the new
network interfaces, and let you set the
operating mode (and so on)?

>>>show ei*

> [...] didn't try with AS255 yet, but I
> guess it should be the same.

I'd expect an AlpSta 255 to be newer/better
than a 400. At least if the firmware is
up-to-date.