Remember these? Getting an Ethernet AUI twisted pair adapter working on a PC

Welcome to Mid-Week Mini Mail Call #62! In this video I try to get an old Ethernet AUI adapter working on a PC. This is all leading up to getting a Commodore Zorro II working on the network. It only has coax and AUI, so I needed to find a working AUI Twisted Pair adapter to allow me to use 10Base-T networking with it. Watch me struggle to get this working!
Featured:
D-Link DE-853 AUI Transceiver
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[@gremfive4246]

Your frustration is exactly how it was back in the 90's with pretty much everything. Thats the quintessential retro experience.

[@brentboswell1294]

Hehehe...I remember trying to put Slackware Linux on an old 486, and only being partially successful (driver issues). I gave up on it after being berated in Usenet for not reading all the really fine but hard to find manuals...😒

[@stupidtablet1478]

yup, this triggered some ptsd while watching this. anyone that says this was the good days of computing needs a swift kick in the ass. things are so much better now!

[@MattForbes]

Not really. At least when TP was a standard protocol, everyone (*) knew what they were dealing with. The frustrations in the 90s were down to you and I (and we were paid for). Adrian seems to overlook the obvious.

[@s8wc3]

I think most of the frustration in this video comes down to not having the original disks that came with the card.

[@analspeedbump]

3Com 3C509. I remember hoarding these back in the day, runs on anything with a matching slot. Never a headache.

[@GeekmanCA]

+1 to me being here for those long-form videos. Just like the silent restoration videos, 45 minutes spent watching you refurb a CRT with your friendly voice soothes me in these troubled times.

[@grumpybear62]

Ah Network config in dos, brings back so many memory's of Doom Lan party's . three hours setup for 20mins of gaming

[@georgemaragos2378]

Hi, i still have 4 drops of co-axial under the house from doom days, the garage cupboard also has hmm 4 or 5 lengths of 3 meter co-ax with T-fittings and terminators then came twisted pair and a 5 or 10 port 10/100 switch Regards George

[@davidmcgill1000]

Thank god for IPX.

[@trulahn]

memories that I would rather not remember.

[@BilisNegra]

23:32 That DHCP client is hilarious! "Good news everyone!" it goes. Looks as if it knew about the very long struggle... Well, probably the programmer does know networking can be a pain in the ass quite often. Next level would be "Would you believe it? IT'S FRIGGIN' WORKING!"

[@sertacpamukcu]

There're at least 25 years since my last 10Base5 / Thick Ethernet installation with "Vampire Tap" and 50 Ohm terminators with N Connectors. You made me cry Adrian....

[@bobblum5973]

I have a 3Com AUI transceiver with the interchangeable N-connector in-line and BNC + Tee taps. I think I have a few of the drill bits used for the vampire taps. I also have so many of the 10Base-T transceivers, and a small box of the beige DEC AUI loopback plugs with LED. I should put them up on Ebay... 😉

[@wolvenar]

I actually like the long episodes. I have them on while working, it's a great way to break up the monotony

[@graealex]

You're one of the few creators where I don't mind watching you do your thing for half an hour.

[@PJBonoVox]

Nor me, but he has plenty of KZbin stats and I'm sure they tell a different story.

[@jasejj]

Not only do I remember these, I still use one on a daily basis - I'm a network engineer and have one connected to a Cisco 2511, an ancient router that provides 16 serial ports to connect to my practice lab :)

[@DiverCTH]

Oh gods, not the 2500s. So many wasted hours practicing for my CCNA on those things.

[@scottlarson1548]

In my 30 years of working in rooms full of computers, the only thing I've ever seen spontaneously catch on fire was one of those twisted pair adapters.

[@christopheroliver148]

At my school, those slide clips holding the AUIs always got sloppy, and Suns kept falling off the network as a result. These days, it's the little plastic spring on an RJ45 that gets broken or weak.

[@anotheruser9876]

Adrian, you're so great thinking of other people and their availability of time. Never change.

[@dw1444]

the only issue is that he put alot of waffal to fill out videos which also waste time and he love to whine

[@TrickysFlyingBurrito]

Man I love the long videos, I could watch one every day!!!

[@Skauber]

Ah, reminds me of the hours upon hours spent messing around with network drivers and configurations back in the late 90s and early 2000s, it was a complete nightmare back then. Different devices using network cards from different vendors, network hubs and network switches which were temperamental, stuff just suddenly started working when you had sacrificed enough hair off your head, and you would just back away slowly to not upset the network gods again... Kids these days don't understand what a compete nightmare networking used to be back in the days.. :D

[@jeffymooch]

Seeing all these BNC networking jacks made me think of all the art I made out of BNC T-Connectors connected to each other back in the late 90s when working on Novell 3.12 networks.

[@DiverCTH]

But did you ever call in a song request to the Novell engineering support line?

[@jeffymooch]

@@DiverCTH Sadly not, I was 16 and an intern at that point. The physical network was using Cat3 cabling that was originally used for ARCnet. We had homemade breakout cables to go from the RJ11 jacks on the wall to RJ45 ethernet (pins 123 and 6) for a whopping 10Mbps. The accounting firm we worked at was too cheap in 1998 to splurge for Cat5 back then.

[@DiverCTH]

We did the same thing at the university, but the CAT3 was originally intended for the PBX. There were self-terminating 10-base-2 hubs and drops run throughout the building, and someone had the bright idea to try and get some 100-base-T hubs to speed up setting up the labs and lectures. As far as the request line went, Novell charged for each "authorized engineer" their support desk would talk to, and had ungodly high wait times. It was cheaper to have an intern (me) hold the line and patch the call through to our engineer's cell then it was to have the engineer's desk line tied up.

[@CooChewGames]

The joy of old networking... so glad it is now in the past :-)

[@Walczyk]

this was a really special episode! it's great to go along down the rabbit hole getting old computers to talk to each other

[@DanDrown]

The Jab line on the AUI adapter is short for "Jabber" meaning another device is continuing to transmit beyond the maximum packet length. This is either from a mixture of different max MTU settings on the devices, or a defective transmitter.

[@johndododoe1411]

And only happens on shared media like coax or hubbed TP, or with large MTU on the other end .

[@piwex69]

Now thanks to you I recollect all my try-and-error learning of Netware at my 1st job in 1992. Boy was I proud. I worked for D-Link distributor and we had all the good stuff.

[@Spozza]

Please don't totally give up on the long form stuff. Some of us still have an attention span of longer than 5 minutes!

[@jrherita]

It’s also ok to watch using multiple 5 min spans :)

[@knightcrusader]

There is something to be said about the long videos where he shows you everything unabridged. It feels more personable. Very rarely does stuff I work on work right the first time, so I like to see the process for others doing their troubleshooting techniques in real time.

[@mapesdhs597]

Sorry Neil, your sentence was too long to fully read, I can't concentrate for that long. Can't even be arsed spell checking what I've written. Wait, why am I here?... ;) It is though a bit of a collision of encouraged norms when we have YT's algorithm pushing content creators to make videos at least 10 minutes long, while at the same time social media culture is very much about the briefly ephemeral, stuff like Twitter, TikTok and Cube (the latter presumably picking up where Vine left off). There are young people these days who have, after leaving school, not only never fully read a book but actually seem proud of the fact. At this rate society will be back to flint and bow & arrow in no time... I've noticed many channel owners apologising for longer videos. They shouldn't, but then raising people up to higher standards is always more difficult than the lowest common denominator dragging everyone else down. And when financial pressures are at play (how views/subs work, click-through rate, etc.) it must be hard to avoid getting sucked into the mire.

[@hillmyrnarose]

they can always br broken up into 3 or 4 parts@@knightcrusader

[@ChrisB...]

Don't miss the old network days at all. Setting one up for my office back in the day without the Internet for reference, SUCKED!

[@minombredepila1580]

Oh my!. All those years of therapy trying to diminish my network card configuration on DOS trauma with the best psychologists and now Adrian makes a video on it. I can't handle this anymore !!!!. :-)))))))))

[@8antipode9]

Ha ha ha, that brings up some baaaaaaad memories. I've suffered through tons of those "clone" network cards in the olden days. You're repeating advice I used to give out back around the Y2K years. BTW, we used to always use Thin Ethernet. That was a battle all on it's own. Thank GOD for modern networking!!

[@kaitlyn__L]

Hear hear! I haven’t even had to use a crossover cable or bring a switch to connect two laptops with a wire in a super long time too. Extremely grateful for plug and play today!

[@nickwallette6201]

And PCI IDs. So much more definitive than “well let’s just write to this port address and see what happens.”

[@thedogwooddandy]

ALERT: DO NOT CHANGE lol. I don't know what your metrics are saying re viewer fall-off at a particular time but stay the course homie! The length of these videos are therapeutic, zen-like, and evidence of clear dedication to the love of this craft.

[@Pulse589]

Can't always listen to everyone Adrian. I love long, in depth videos. It's like settling a plot and then telling a story.

[@kobe3576]

I would watch 1-hour long videos happily. All your content is very interesting and engaging.

[@585585MC]

those who didn't have the dedication and perseverance to do this kind of stuff in the 90's are now either influencers or their audience.

[@nickwallette6201]

The thing about 1 hour long videos is ... you can also watch them in two 30 min chunks. Don’t worry about it. The crew that rolls with 25 year old computers is not the same one whose attention span precludes reading an entire Stop sign.

[@orinokonx01]

These kinds of problems with old hardware is exactly why I love playing with old hardware. It's the adventure, the mystery, the sleepless nights wondering whyyyyyy?? Where did I go wrong in my life!! And then suddenly everything falls into place and your successfully pinging your router! :D

[@johnsonlam]

I love my 3COM 3C509 / 3C905, they have excellent driver support.

[@dataterminal]

FYI internet archive usually has drivers for known manufactures. At least they have the floppy disk image for Microdyne Eagle NE2000 from 1995. Saves dealing with all the weird ass driver websites with their scam adverts and buttons.

[@parrottm76262]

DOS networking was always like black magic. This is very useful for many who have forgotten all the pieces and bits, or new admins who have retro machines they want to network. Great job, thanks for your patience delivering this to us!

[@Manawyrm]

Awesome, always love to see those old machines up and running on the network!

[@Lioncave_Gaming]

Everytime a joy to see your videos. That Energy, knowledge and enthusiasm. Keep on going, stay healthy.

[@craftsman123456]

Adrian don't worry about the length of the videos. I'm not even a fan of IBM pc clones but as others have mentioned your voice is very good and you are very animated. So even Clone videos are a joy to watch. Also you can even play the videos while driving and just listen.

[@GeoffSeeley]

Ah, good old thinnet... that brought back some bad memories! I have to LOL at people today complaining about their network not working after experiencing what you had to do back in the day to get any network card connected. People have no idea the complexities that have been either hidden away or removed in something like networking.

[@georgemaragos2378]

Yeah, now its ...whats the wifi password or why does a 1gig movie take 2 mins to d/l on the server today - whats wrong

[@broderperdurabo]

Brings back memorys from my Netware days.

[@stephenlord1539]

love your 'never say die' attitude, wish I had your patience

[@jefftheusch3071]

Since you have a managed switch, it would be very interesting to mirror the port and use Wireshark to see what (if anything) is actually happening in the Ethernet frames on the wire, especially during those early DHCP failures.

[@VincentGroenewold]

Oh how great were those PC days, I remember going from the Amiga to the PC, used it for 2 years and went to the Mac and Linux. Still think those make way more sense with less headaches.

[@wdd6864]

Honestly these episodes are awesome

[@dennisp.2147]

Who's complaining about long videos? Not me... Also, this video is an example of the reason why I only use 3com cards in my machines.

[@stefanocrespi5424]

Statistics

[@sprybug]

This video reminds me when I was a computer repair tech in the late 90's and occasionally they had me go out on site to do network stuff and it was always frustrating, because everything had to be just right and perfect to work. I hated it. XD

[@dparks256]

This video was super helpful - I’ve been meaning to fiddle with Ethernet in DOS and this is just the primer I needed.

[@stereotimo]

All these 90's PC setups. Can't say I miss them. Three hours of wrestling. Delighted though, that Finland had still a helpful resource, metropoli BBS. 👍👍

[@averyzucco220]

It's cool. The troubleshooting is helpful for similar problems I have with my own projects. It's very informative.

[@halenmartini6705]

I really enjoy the longer videos! Please keep them up!

[@roadsiderebels3039]

The reason I watch the 'long'videos.....I enjoy them! Dont change a thing!

[@ultrametric9317]

Adrian, what you just did in this video, was like 1030-lunch on a typical day in the mid-90s :) "This is ridiculous!!"

[@ncmattj]

Please keep making long form videos!

[@HighlandSteam]

Thin and thick net in DOS were my day to day bread and butter

[@mikemar42]

Awesome video! Keep up the great work brother. We like what you're layin' down. Don't stop!!!!!

[@Narayan_1996]

Do not give up on longer videos, Adrian! I absolutely love them all, they help me a lot during my insomnia nights (Not that they make me sleep, quite the contrary) and I like to watch all of them ♥

[@hillmyrnarose]

try sleeping pills

[@roberthall9839]

Would be really interesting to see a video of the basement setup such as how you setup your FTP server on a docker container. Think that would be a bit different and very interesting. Perhaps a second channel video. Keep up the good work!

[@kaitlyn__L]

Adrian’s NAS basement! I concur :)

[@PJBonoVox]

Definitely second channel. That's not rocket science and definitely not retro.

[@DaedalusRaistlin]

It's not winter on my side of the hemisphere, but I'm still in lockdown so it ends up being much the same - can't go outside. Sometimes I have to watch your videos in 2 parts, but there's no problem with that. No need to apologise for making great long videos.

[@ericksonlk]

I have learned so far that if I want to test something this old I know it won't be easy.

[@johncoyle707]

i like that u make long in depth videos

[@gato38]

OMG you said winter, the forbidden word!!

[@johnmerryman1825]

Ugh this was my life back in the 90s, I remember trying to get an ethernet PCMCIA card working in an early ThinkPad and having nothing but problems. And trying to get a 3com Etherlink-III PCI working in Slackware Linux, which required a custom kernel module. Fun times (not!)

[@jeffymooch]

Also, in his conclusion, I was sure he was going to start singing "Don't go chasing waterfalls" the cadence of his delivery made me think of it.

[@electronraygun6346]

I kinda like the longer videos! It's too "peopley" outside! :-0

[@Okurka.]

Play the video at 0.25x speed.

[@spagamoto]

I have that phrase on my pillow haha

[@Porygonal64]

:-0

[@electronraygun6346]

@@spagamoto It's my daily mantra! And also it is too "peopley" out there! :-)

[@electronraygun6346]

@@Okurka. Bah! Stop trying to sell me that newfangled KZbin premium thing! I get enough nag popups already lol! :-)

[@pabloreiter]

Que recuerdos, esa epoca donde realmente habia que saber, gracias he vuelto 30 años en el tiempo. Te ganaste un like y un nuevo suscriptor. What memories, that time where you really had to know, thank you I have returned 30 years in time. You earned a like and a new subscriber.

[@maikelpeeters7328]

i like the long videos more than the short one! keep up the good videos Adrian

[@DavidWonn]

20:50 "[…] everyone is selling it […]" That certainly speaks for its popularity. ;-)

[@webestilo]

Oh, Adrian what a charming intro. 😊

[@fumthings]

14:55 wow once again, glad you didn't "give up"

[@VelocityBlasters]

I'm going to be honest, Adrian. The longer the better! It's fun getting to virtually hang out with you while you tinker.

[@pipschannel1222]

I think watching your videos is fun, even in the summer, Adrian! :-)

[@andykillsu]

Pretty sure everyone here would like an hour video over a 30 min video, you make a amazing content

[@Colin_Ames]

Very interesting, as always. It’s been a long time since I had to mess around with networking in DOS. Regarding your comment on video length, I enjoy the longer ones but don’t always have time to watch them. Three reasons: 1) There are so many great channels out there that I have to divide my time between them, otherwise I would spend way too much time staring at my iPad. 2) I have hobbies that occupy my time. 3) I just moved house, and getting settled in the new place is taking up a lot of time that could be used watching Adrian Black videos. In any case, keep them coming and I will watch as much I can.

[@necro_ware]

Heh, I literally was messing around with exactly the same Microdyne network card a week ago. I also spent probably 2 hours to get it finally running. I have to admit, once it is working it has a quite good performance and runs at same rates as a 3Com. If someone is in need of a network card for DOS without head aches, a Realtek is also super easy to setup and very cheap and easy to find, but the throughput is not quite as good as with 3Com.

[@Tangobaldy]

I watch hour long videos easily. Everyone is losing massive views recently

[@webserververse5749]

Is what happens when people have 9-5 jobs

[@TheInternetHelpdeskPlays]

Back in 2002ish, my first proper job was in a school and I had to install a network card in a dos pc, I got a whole windows 95 network with nt4 server setup and configured before I managed to get the dos machine networked. Nice to know I wasn't going mad. And yes, it was an ne2000 board.

[@MrLukealbanese]

Wow, old networking - good luck with that!! Its hard enough now!! Superb video Adrian, very good, look forward to the Amiga networking video!!

[@JamesHalfHorse]

This brought memories of my dos networking days. I had forgotten a lot of this... or blocked it out.

[@djpirtu2]

Metropoli BBS from Finland! Great place to find old drivers and software. I called there with modem back in nineties when it was just a BBS. BTW, IRQ 15 is IDE Secondary channel, where IRQ 14 is the Primary.

[@cbmsysmobile]

Accton EN1642 is an Ethernet card, 10 Mbps - Uses NE1000 drivers

[@letthetunesflow]

The longer the better for me 😆!!! I know it’s not possible but I’d take a two hour video a day to watch in the evening, and an hour long one in the morning with my coffee! Hah!

[@darkwind9000]

I really want to try this out!

[@twocvbloke]

I remember getting one in a box of random cards years back, an older metal-cased thing, possibly also a D-link, never did figure out how it worked, but it went missing over time anyway, neat little gadgets though... :D

[@cacheman]

26:42 The 3c509 was a staple and rock in my home network back in the day. Compatible with everything. SQE apparently stands for "Signal Quality Errors", and the switches enables a heartbeat that the local system can use to detect that the transceiver is connected. The internet suggests this was a workaround from a by-gone era. The User Guide (0900766b8002ace9.pdf) at page 9 does suggest it be enabled if the host is a computer with a NIC, and off for repeaters and hubs and the like (routers). According to a diagram at the back of the guide, when you have a model with two separate SQE-switches, the left-most should be up, and the right-most actually does the switching (up=enable, down=disable). So no clear answer on why there are two, but whatever. It works for you, I was just trying to figure out what they did.

[@dolphhandcreme]

According to Google, the Accton EN1642 is a regular 10MBit Ethernet-Card.

[@AxelWerner]

Networking hell of the 90s.

[@DJ-BeerHunter]

I love the long videos

[@Starcat128]

Nah you good with your vids 💪🏽🦁

[@clifffiftytwo]

Running old DEC and SGI machines you have to have the AUI adapters & they’re becoming more rare (expensive).

[@-CrippledNinja-]

Quite frankly, I don't mind long videos. In fact I think it's your bread and butter.

[@Codeaholic1]

Jumperless cards are the work of the devil. What this video really needs is more Netware!

[@Lethaltail]

"the weather wont be so beautiful" idk cooking to death wasnt so beautiful and i like it chilly especially here in texas

[@jussikuusela7345]

I remember going through a shitload of used P1 and 486 computers that was donated to our school in 2000... there was a mix of AUI, TP, Coax, and TokenRing cards. The company that donated them had had all the gear networked, and had converters between departments that were based on different networking methods. What they failed to donate us were the converters which were obsolete to them. On the other hand, we would wipe all data from the hard drives and reinstall the Windows 95 and 3.11 OSes that the computers were licensed for, and we would lose any networking configurations anyway so it was easiest to just install a few brand new Ethernet cards as needed. Some fond memories, I went to that school 89 to 95, then worked there as an intern in 2000... last year the building was deemed unrepairable and inoperable due to improper building techniques from the start in the 60's, then a few cheap fouled up renovations, leading to persistent moisture and mold problems, and was finally bulldozed this year. Not exactly sure what they are planning to put on the Vacant Lot (TM), heheh.

[@chuckthetekkie]

Got to love the days before GOOD plug and play. Although Networking TODAY can be a royal PITA.

[@AerikForager]

These cards are great for parts!

[@RoyAntaw]

I still enjoy the long-form videos, as I'm living in the Blue Mountains 120 km west of Sydney and we are now in our third month of lockdown due to the human malware version two. My first job after dropping out of uni in 1987 was to help install a Novell Netware network for the Department of Local Government with two Compaq 386 servers and 50 NEC Powermate 286 client machines. Also, I wrote some of the Database software in AREV (A PICK like database system) for the department and went on to be the first PC analyst programmer for the Department.

[@sumplais]

I was gonna say "My goodness, you need a 3com 3c509" but I think you already know that.

[@--Zook--]

I watch youtube pretty much exclusively. I have over 800 subscriptions. In my case you are correct that hour long videos are a bit long for my daily watch. But I do save them for my weekend. For me the sweet spot is 20-30 min.

[@dave7244]

I like longer stuff. I rarely watch “short vids”

[@alakani]

Bringing back some memories, around 2002 or so I got a DOS 286 on the internet like this, just because

[@jessihawkins9116]

do you have proof of this? 🤨

[@alakani]

@@jessihawkins9116 Probably? But not if you ask like that. Do you have an actual question or comment?

[@jessihawkins9116]

@@alakani that is quite a boast. I’d like to see proof of this. 🤨

[@alakani]

@@jessihawkins9116 It's not a big deal. It was a $5 thrift store computer. DOS IP stacks existed for many years at that point, I didn't write them. I'm not sure why I would bother digging up pictures and posting them somewhere and finding archive links just to appease a 'nothing ever happened' guy who's not actually interested in the subject itself?

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

your 100% right LOL that's all I use is 3com Cards they just work.. and a Full Video on setting up networking on DOS can help me and a lot of people..

[@johng.1703]

I remember a longlonglong time ago using an AUI switch with AUI network cards hat used these adaptors for a 10baeT network. the real fun part was getting DOS to use a 32bit TCP/IP protocol.

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

A tutorial for DOS networking going into the overall gestalt as well as the general specifics a user will encounter would be a real help to the community and the world in general. It might not get you the Nobel Prize, or an Emmy, but over time the viewership will climb for sure. .... Or your money back!

[@Cherijo78]

The hardest part of early networking honestly is dealing with the individual cards and their drivers. We saw a bit of it with what Adrian was going through. Each card has its own particularized driver, and the setup utilities have very narrow windows where they only support a narrow number of cards. Sometimes, when new versions came out, they wouldn't support previous cards, only the current generation. So, half the battle is just finding the right exact drivers for your exact card with the exact right setup utility.

[@gorak9000]

@@Cherijo78 Yeah, I used to play with networking in DOS way back in the mid 90's. Most of the cards I got had a disk with them that had the right utilites and drivers on them. You just kept all those disks in your handy dandy disk box, and everything was great. Networking in general was a little bit painful to get going, but once it was working it was amazing. There's a reason I don't do the whole "retro" computer thing these days - I did it all when these computers were cutting edge - that was enough. It was a PIA then, and it'd be even more of a PIA now (but I still have many of these old ISA NICs in a box somewhere, and probably still have all the original disks somewhere too!). These days, I only dig into the retro stuff if it's needed to get some other unique (and useful) piece of old gear going. There's just far too many new projects to work on to waste time going back and re-living the pain that was ISA cards, jumpers, and manually setting base IO addresses and IRQs. Been there, done it, have the tee-shirt!

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

@@Cherijo78 Lived it too.

[@Metabolis]

I always used to use ncsa telnet many moons ago for dos network connectivity, but mtcp sounds nice 👍