Re: Ethernet card?

[derek@slab.cisco.com (Derek Taubert)]

In <53j8sp$3up@darla.visi.com> Nathan Mates wrote:
> In article <mvgfrDz25nn.G2F@netcom.com>,
> Marc Farnum Rendino <mvgfr@netcom.com> wrote:
> >I meant to mention another idea. I'm sure I'm not the first, but maybe
> >it's time to think about it again - SCSI Ethernet boxes. The code to
> >use one on a IIGS (or maybe even a IIe!) shouldn't be that different
> >than on a Mac.
> 
>    One word: 'Drivers.' The mac needs special ones to deal with the
> proprietary interfaces, and when people asked the companies a few
> years back for info, the requests were denied.

More words: lack of an interrupt line on Apple II SCSI cards.

It is one thing when you ask a hard drive for a piece of data and then wait 
around for it to fetch it, but it is a completely different manner when 
you're talking about a network where data is coming in when you don't expect 
it and you expect the computer to be doing things in between.

This lack of insight on the Apple II SCSI card designs is a severe limitation 
to using SCSI network adapters.  Even if we had the spec. of the device, our 
SCSI interfaces just couldn't handle the job properly.  I know for a fact 
that a Rev. C SCSI card does not support interrupts, but could be modified to 
do so.  I have no idea about the Apple DMA card, and I'm speculating that 
since the RamFAST is so proprietary that there isn't any hope there.

>    SCSI is nice, but there are still devices that require oddball
> drivers, and just like Stylewriters newer than the original, we're at
> the mercy of the companies who provide info.

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