SMC 8432T Driver Solutions Page Last revised: August 8, 2000 Please email any suggestions or corrections to Eric Pircher. Rationale Out of the box, Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium do not contain the correct network card driver to enable Optus@Home users to hook up their Nortel CM100 cable modems and operate successfully. The SMC 8432T network card requires a "link beat", which the CM100 doesn't provide. While the SMC-supplied Windows 98 driver features a "No_Link_Test" setting, the WinME and Win2K standard drivers do not. Note: The 8432T should not be confused with the 8432BT or the 1211TX, both of which appear to work just fine with their standard drivers. Drivers Windows 2000 driver (NDIS5) Windows Millennium driver (NDIS5) Until now, it has basically been impossible to get No_Link_Test drivers for Win2K. SMC seemed reluctant to create one (they just replace the card over in the US) and Optus@Home has no plans to help 8432T owners once they announce Windows 2000 support for the @Home product. In a recent phone call to Helpdesk (7/8/00), I was told that "the supplied 8432T cards have 30 days warranty and affected customers will have to purchase their own replacement card". Thanks for nothing! That's why I finally decided to do something about it. Once you install the driver, you'll need to configure the ConnectionType option. This is found by going to the Properties sheet for your Network Connection, selecting Properties for your network card and going to the Advanced tab. Set ConnectionType to "10BaseT No_LinkTest". If you do this before rebooting, you won't need to reboot twice :) Technical Notes The Optus-supplied NDIS 3.1 driver (SMCPWRN.SYS) works fine on Windows 98SE, although that seems a shame since Win98SE already comes with a perfectly good NDIS5 driver. The NDIS 3.1 driver will also work on Windows Millennium, so it's up to you whether you want to use that one or the NDIS 5 driver listed above (you can download a streamlined NDIS3.1 driver here). The Win2K driver will also most likely work on WinME, but I experienced some small problems in that configuration, so I opted to provide the WinME driver separately. Obligatory Disclaimer These drivers are provided without warranty of any kind. Install them at your own risk. Whether your operating system ceases to function or your testicles drop off, the onus always remains with you. Of course, if you have a positive experience as a result of these drivers, I'm all ears :) © 2000 Eric Pircher