Jonathan Stone wrote:
> <<snip>>

> Err,  not quite...
> 
>         i) the 5400 has DSSI onboard, via an SII chip  (as used in 3100s.)
>        ii) I beleive the 5400 has an onboard LANCE with
>             an interface not unlike the 3100s.
> 
>       iii) the 5500 has a weirdo proprietary ``second generation
>            ethernet chip'' for which the only documentation I've
>            ever seen is some marketing-level stuff.   I have no
>            intention of writing a driver for it.
>            You'd be better of with a DEQNA or a DELQA in the Qbus,
>            even if it means no netbooting.
> 
> I hope whoever-it-is out there who has a 5500 and no OS
> for it gets to see point (iii).
> 

That would be me.....
I do recall seeing some AMD LANCE (IIRC) family chips on the I/O board ( 
the exact part numbers escape me at the moment).
Netbooting the DS5500 at this time is not a priority for me; getting 
NetBSD on the Alpha is higher on the list.......

BTW, I'm not afraid of C code; I just don't want to blindly hack away at 
things!

<<another snip>>

Stan