(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

I just tried Puppy on an old 600MHz Compaq Presario notebook - boy does it make that old hardware look good! No more Windows95 for that baby. However it looks like the onboard NIC is toast. Can anybody recommend a currently-available PCMCIA NIC that should work in Puppy without too much trouble?

Thank you very much.

Ok, I dusted off some of my old PCMCIA ethernet cards to see which still work in an updated variant of Puppy 2.14. You'll probably have problems finding a new PCMCIA NIC as they are basically history. Here's what I recommend instead - check eBay for one of the following PCMCIA cards that I've just tested and work:

- 3Com 3CCFE575CT 10/100 LAN CardBus. The network-wizard doesn't detect this automatically, but choose to load module '3c59x', then DHCP and the card works perfectly. Make sure you get the adapter cable (dongle) along with the card.

- DELL 3CCFE575CT-D Fast Ethernet 10/100 BASE-TX. Re-badged 3Com 3CCFE575CT (as above)

- 3Com 3CCFE574BT Megahertz 10/100 LAN PC Card. The network-wizard detects this automatically and loads module '3c574_cs'. Just click DHCP and the card works perfectly. Make sure you get the adapter cable (dongle) along with the card.

- 3Com 3CXFE574BT Megahertz 10/100 LAN PC Card with XJACK connector. The network-wizard detects this automatically and loads module '3c574_cs'. Just click DHCP and the card works perfectly. This card has a special connector that pops out - doesn't need an adapter cable (dongle).

These cards were quite common around 2000 so you should be able to find one cheap on eBay.

Paul

Thanks for the info! Sorry bout the delay, thought I had this forum set to notify.

Looks like there are plenty of 3coms on eBay, I'll try one!

I'm having trouble finding the 3c59x module on the list in Puppy Linux 3.00 to load for a 3Com Fast Ethernet 10/100 Base-TX PCMCIA card. Do some network modules get deleted as they move up in version?

Played with Pup more tonight. I found the answer to my own question. Just go into Menu-System-Bootmanager configure boot-up. Click on add a new module and 3C59x was on the list. Cool!

Sorry found another way. Just open Puppy Set-up. Second from the top is configure startup of puppy which brings you into the bootmanager as well. I'll have to figure out what all the different modules are next since all of them can't be for network set-up.

Many thanks -- I found what appeared to be a missing 3c59x module using your technique. Now I can DHCP to my DSL ISP.

I'm breathing new life into an old TOSHIBA Tecra 550CDT laptop w/ just 64MB ram and a 4 GB disk using Puppy 3.02.