3Com 3C996B-T 10/100/ 1000Mbps PCI-X RJ45

draconpern

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May 22, 2024
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3com 3c996B-T cards are plentiful on ebay, and since I didn't see any documentation on making it work for SGI...
Here is what I used to reprogram a 3Com 3C996B-T card to be usable on SGI Fuel. It makes it look like a 3C996B-T-SGI1 (part) 9210289. Please note this doesn't work on 3C996B-SX fiber version of the card.

You'll need an older PC motherboard with a PCI bus, PCI-X not required because it's compatible. And linux mint 21 (ubuntu probably), ethtool is available on the normal download, live cd mode. No installation required. Just substitute eth0 with the right device from ifconfig -a. Mine is enp1s2, yours will be in the form of enpXsY.

First backup the old information somewhere. If you are using linux mint live environment, be sure to save it on usb or network, etc.
Code: 
sudo bash
ethtool -e eth0 length 4 offset 0xa4 raw on > 0xa4.bin
ethtool -e eth0 length 96 offset 0x100 raw on > 0x100.bin

Then to program the card.
Code: 
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0xa4 value 0x80
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0xa5 value 0x10
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0xa6 value 0x10
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0xa7 value 0xa9
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x100 value 0x82
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x101 value 0x20
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x102 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x103 value 0x53
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x104 value 0x47
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x105 value 0x49
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x106 value 0x20
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x107 value 0x47
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x108 value 0x69
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x109 value 0x67
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x10A value 0x61
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x10B value 0x62
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x10C value 0x69
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x10D value 0x74
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x10E value 0x20
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x10F value 0x45
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x110 value 0x74
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x111 value 0x68
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x112 value 0x65
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x113 value 0x72
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x114 value 0x6E
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x115 value 0x65
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x116 value 0x74
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x117 value 0x20
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x118 value 0x43
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x119 value 0x6F
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x11A value 0x6E
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x11B value 0x74
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x11C value 0x72
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x11D value 0x6F
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x11E value 0x6C
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x11F value 0x6C
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x120 value 0x65
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x121 value 0x72
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x122 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x123 value 0x90
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x124 value 0x5A
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x125 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x126 value 0x50
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x127 value 0x4E
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x128 value 0x07
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x129 value 0x39
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x12A value 0x32
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x12B value 0x31
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x12C value 0x30
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x12D value 0x32
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x12E value 0x38
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x12F value 0x39
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x130 value 0x45
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x131 value 0x43
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x132 value 0x04
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x133 value 0x30
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x134 value 0x30
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x135 value 0x30
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x136 value 0x32
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x137 value 0x53
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x138 value 0x4E
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x139 value 0x0A
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x13A value 0x57
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x13B value 0x45
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x13C value 0x43
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x13D value 0x52
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x13E value 0x46
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x13F value 0x46
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x140 value 0x36
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x141 value 0x41
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x142 value 0x38
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x143 value 0x39
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x144 value 0x4D
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x145 value 0x4E
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x146 value 0x04
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x147 value 0x31
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x148 value 0x30
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x149 value 0x42
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x14A value 0x37
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x14B value 0x52
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x14C value 0x56
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x14D value 0x32
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x14E value 0x78
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x14F value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x150 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x151 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x152 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x153 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x154 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x155 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x156 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x157 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x158 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x159 value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x15A value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x15B value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x15C value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x15D value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x15E value 0x00
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x669955aa length 1 offset 0x15F value 0x00

Installing in a SGI Fuel running IRIX 6.5.30 automatically recognized the card and assigned it tg1.

If you find this helpful, please reply! Thanks.

Sources:
github.com

chaos/servers/system/pci/pci-id.c at master · chaos4ever/chaos

The chaos Operating System. Contribute to chaos4ever/chaos development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

sgi: tricks: gigabit ethernet

rqsall.com rqsall.com
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Woof and ruckusman
I'm not after a gigabit ethernet BUT this is incredibly interesting and very well documented.

From the live Mint install you've effectively overwritten the PCI and Vendor ID's on the card to identify and initialise with the SGI Tigon driver as opposed to making those changes in the driver file, which was the way it was accomplished on Nekochan in the very beginning - colour me impressed, it's a very useful method.
 
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