PC ethernet card in MAC OS X problem

mayamaya
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I cant get a PC ethernet card installed in a G4 mac running 10.2.6 to show up in the Network control panel.



I am helping a friend set up a home network between 2 G4s and a PC. His dual 1GHz QS has a cable modem plugged into the built in ethernet port. To connect to his internal network, we needed a second ethernet card. When we installed a PC ethernet card into a PCI slot, I figured it would show up in the Network control panel as an available port. All we get as available ports is the internal modem and the built-in ethernet. My home machine also has "Ethernet PCI slot 4" as an option for my internal network.



I have an the same set-up running fine at home, but we can't seem to get it to work on his machine. Is there a generic OSX network card driver that we need to install? I didn't have to install anything on my machine...



Thanks for any help



Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    jimdreamworxjimdreamworx Posts: 1,095member
    Looking at Apple's original network card, and comparing it to generic PC Ethernet cards, they look radically different. Is the card that you have working the same as the one you are installing? Since you seem to indicate it is a card that would be used on PCs, are there any jumpers that might need to be set?
  • Reply 2 of 7
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member
    If the card is not mac compatible it won't work. There is no generic nic driver.



    dobby.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    mayamaya Posts: 28member
    I suggested to my friend that he should go to a Mac shop to buy his card, just to be safe. The Mac guys there said that he should just go to the PC shop around the corner and get a much cheaper card... "They're exactly the same"



    Anyway, I said that I'd try to find an answer, and he should go back to the Mac shop and find out what the problem is.



    I'm not sure if my PC card is the same as his PC card. I didn't realise there was a difference, and didn't see any jumpers on the card.



    If we find an answer, I'll let you know...
  • Reply 4 of 7
    vandewaalsvandewaals Posts: 450member
    A buddy and I were struggling with a similar problem. He just came into possession of a beige G3 and wanted to use it to share a connection with his PC. The first card we tried to install wouldn't show up in Network Prefs. We rummaged around and found another card he had bought for $5. We looked up the company online and (low and behold) Mac OS X 10.2 drivers. We installed, restarted, and presto: "Ethernet PCI Slot 3"



    We were able to hook the two together (long story, eventually he caved and sprung for a router). This may be the path of least frustration...it was for us.



    His GF: "You two are such geeks."

    His reply: "Nooo....if we were geeks it would be working by now."
  • Reply 5 of 7
    mayamaya Posts: 28member
    So this card had 10.2 drivers? Which company? Do you think that these drivers would work on any generic PC card?
  • Reply 6 of 7
    bygimis turug viiibygimis turug viii Posts: 66member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Maya

    So this card had 10.2 drivers? Which company? Do you think that these drivers would work on any generic PC card?



    Cards with Realtech chipsets have driver support in OS X (either built in or from a download somewhere - I think built in). They also have good support in Linux, which is why I buy them... it doesn't matter who the manufacturer is as long as the chipset is OK.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    mayamaya Posts: 28member
    Well, he had to go back to the Mac shop, where another sales guy said that there are differences between Mac and PC cards. He had to buy a mac card for four times the price of a PC card.
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