Power Macintosh 6500/275 PCI Network Card Options

[kenrainforth]

Hi,

My Power Macintosh 6500/275 doesn't have a network card installed and was just wondering if there were any recommendations or any compatible recent cards available I could get off Amazon (UK) etc. I've checked several websites stating what cards will work (listed below) but just wondered if there was something that wasn't being described as 'Vintage/Rare/Retro' with a price tag to match. I've also wondered, as I have a USB card installed, if there was a USB Network Dongle that would work? I'm running System 9.1 and will try to get 9.2 on there using a fix I've read about online, don't know if that changes any of the recommendations or not but thought I'd state it.....also, I don't know why I'm going to try upgrading to 9.2....it's just in my nature.

Any help, advice would be much appreciated.

Best Regards,

Ken

----------------------------
PCI network cards

• Apple:
  • Ethernet 10Base-T/10Base-2/AAUI Card
• Farallon:
  • Fast EtherTX 10/100 PCI Card - PN994-TX
  • Fast EtherTX-10/100 PCI Plus - PN996(L)
  • Gigabit PCI Card - PN9000-SX
  • EtherMac PCI Card 10Base-T- PN593-TP
  • EtherMac PCI Card 10Base-T/Thin - PN593-C
  • EtherMac PCI Card - PN893-TP
• Sonnet:
  • Aria Exteme N PCI
  • Presto Gigabit Pro

 

[LightBulbFun]

a common cheap n cheerful ethernet card would be anything RTL8139 based

its an ethernet card/chipset that has drivers for literally every OS under the sun

 

[AphoticD]

a common cheap n cheerful ethernet card would be anything RTL8139 based

its an ethernet card/chipset that has drivers for literally every OS under the sun

I'll second that. I used a cheap RTL8139 PCI card in a Power Macintosh 7220/200 many years back - it worked fine in Mac OS 8.6 and 9.1, as well as several PowerPC Linux distros of the time.

 

[kenrainforth]

a common cheap n cheerful ethernet card would be anything RTL8139 based

its an ethernet card/chipset that has drivers for literally every OS under the sun

Thank you for this, really appreciate it, I'll go in search of one now. Thanks again.
[doublepost=1548863219][/doublepost]

I'll second that. I used a cheap RTL8139 PCI card in a Power Macintosh 7220/200 many years back - it worked fine in Mac OS 8.6 and 9.1, as well as several PowerPC Linux distros of the time.

Also, thank you for seconding it, much appreciated. Cheers.

 

[EnriqueG]

Another vote for rtl8139 chipset.

I had one Sawtooth G4 with a faulty built in ethernet port and an old Realtek card from PC worked great as substitute.

 

[kenrainforth]

Great, I've ordered one today on eBay £3.50, can't go wrong....well, on price anyway. Thanks for your responses. I'll update this once it arrives and I've tested it. Cheers.

 

[LightBulbFun]

I cant recall if it works OOB or not in 9.1/9.2, if it does not work OOB

you can download drivers for it from here https://www.realtek.com/en/componen...ontrollers-10-100m-fast-ethernet-pci-software

 

[kenrainforth]

Fantastic, what a great forum this is! Really appreciate the help, I never had a Mac when I was growing up and by the time I went into IT as a job it was DOS then DOS/Windows then Windows NT and so on. It was funny seeing drivers labelled Novell Client for OS/2 and Embedded NT4.0 in the list for this card. Takes me back.

I've been a modern Mac user for maybe 10 years, love the products, can't help getting carried away with the stuff. I've recently wanted to go back a bit and look at some of the older models, the 6500 came up on eBay and was near me in immaculate condition, like new to be honest so I got it. Since then I've made a few schoolboy errors, wiping the machine before copying off the USB card drives, installing 9.1 over 8.6 from an ISO mounted on the desktop....failed, re-wipe. So other than buying this machine I've had to buy a USB floppy drive for my MacBook Pro and an external DVD/RW drive - just in case.

I'm now up to 9.2.2 after using the OS 9 Helper app, all working nicely and I'm now watching A Hard Day's Night, cause it can and I can!

Bit of a long reply but just thought I'd put some background around my request.

Thanks all again.

Ken

 

[Swabbie]

I cant recall if it works OOB or not in 9.1/9.2, if it does not work OOB

you can download drivers for it from here https://www.realtek.com/en/componen...ontrollers-10-100m-fast-ethernet-pci-software

I know this is an old thread but I’m wondering if this is still true.

I scoured that Realtek drivers page and found driver support for anything BUT macOS.

I too need a PCI Ethernet card for my PM6500 but emails to Realtek asking if they have ANY compatible for my system/OS and they said no.

I went ahead and bought this card since it had the RTL8139D chip you all mentioned below and waiting for it it arrive

PCI Realtek RTL8139D 10/100M 10/100Mbps RJ45 Ethernet Network Lan Card Adapter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for PCI Realtek RTL8139D 10/100M 10/100Mbps RJ45 Ethernet Network Lan Card Adapter at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Can anyone here confirm that this card definitely works in their gazelle architecture board (6400, 6500 & TAM).

There’s no way I’m spending the kind of money demanded for a commslot II Ethernet card.

 

[LightBulbFun]

I know this is an old thread but I’m wondering if this is still true.

I scoured that Realtek drivers page and found driver support for anything BUT macOS.

I too need a PCI Ethernet card for my PM6500 but emails to Realtek asking if they have ANY compatible for my system/OS and they said no.

I went ahead and bought this card since it had the RTL8139D chip you all mentioned below and waiting for it it arrive

PCI Realtek RTL8139D 10/100M 10/100Mbps RJ45 Ethernet Network Lan Card Adapter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for PCI Realtek RTL8139D 10/100M 10/100Mbps RJ45 Ethernet Network Lan Card Adapter at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Can anyone here confirm that this card definitely works in their gazelle architecture board (6400, 6500 & TAM).

There’s no way I’m spending the kind of money demanded for a commslot II Ethernet card.

odd looks like they removed all the Apple ones specifically I wonder why, if you go to web archive they where there

anyways you can find the driver here https://www.macintoshrepository.org...9c-l-rtl8139d-l-rtl8100-l-rtl8130-rtl8139b-l-

0001-rtsmac-8139302.zip is the one you want

 

[reddrag0n]

i have a dlink dfe-538tx with classic mac driver and it seems to work in my g4