Ehternetcard to an old 8600/300

Matsaki

Registered
Hi,
I have had my good old Powermac 8600/300 collecting dust far to long now. Throw away is out of the question :)

I am thinking to put it in service again as a mail server maybe. The problem with this oldies is that came without Ethernet card. Do I have to buy a special for Mac or can I shop around for any cheeper PC card as well?
 
I don't know what kind of ethernet card goes in there, but I have a Apple Inc. Ethernet LC Twisted-Pair card (circa 1993-1994) which worked fine in my old Performa 475. Anyone know if it works in a 8600?
 
The 8600 specs show it has an AAUI port, (needs an AAUI adapter) and a 100baseT port.

In any case, the LC card won't work in the 8600. You would need a PCI card if your machine doesn't have the Ethernet ports.
 
As Bob pointed out, the 8600 comes with built-in ethernet (10Base-T and AAUI).

The only reason to put a card in that system would be to make it 100Base-T or Gigabit, but odds are you aren't going to put anywhere near the type of traffic on that system that would call for either of those.
 
MisterMe said:
You need a type of adapter called a transceiver.
Ah... no you don't.

I now own a 8600/300 (along with an 8500 and a 7500) and they all come with 10Base-T built in. You haven't needed a transceiver since the 61/71/8100 series.

It has both 10Base-T and AAUI on the back.

:rolleyes:

Maybe this will save some time...
 

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Matsaki said:
My 86300 only have a Ethernet Dummy socket, so there is no Ethernet to be found :(
So here is a good question... is this really an 8600?

Apple never sold an 8600 without ethernet. It is part of the logic board and can't be removed.

Do you have a 6400 or 6500? Those came without ethernet.

But no 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500 or 9600 was ever made without ethernet. So unless someone whacked it off the logic board, it should be there.

Oh, and if you have the Performa version of either the 6400 or 6500, as I recall Apple crippled those so even if you put an ethernet card it won't work (it was to force people to buy the Power Macintosh version).

I would be interested in seeing this back panel though. Did it look like the diagram I posted?
 
RacerX said:
Ah... no you don't.

...
You are correct. I should have known that because I own a PM 9500, an older Mac which also had 10 Base-T built-in. As they say: "The brain is always the second thing to go."
 
Yes I am 100% sure it's a 8600 and that there is not any Ethernet. Well I don't know how to check inside the machine, but as I said, there is a socket,, a dummy socket.

I have an offer for a Lantech Ethernet card use to sit in a Powermac 4400, but I don't think that will fit? or?
 
Well, if it's PCI then you should be fine. Remember that it's a Mac so if that Ethernet card worked on that PCI Mac, it should work fine on your 8600 (if that's what it is) as long as you have the driver support along with the card.
 
Matsaki said:
Yes I am 100% sure it's a 8600 and that there is not any Ethernet. Well I don't know how to check inside the machine, but as I said, there is a socket,, a dummy socket.
Okay... I have to ask. What makes you think that the ethernet socket on the back of your system is a dummy socket? How is this socket different from what you thought the socket should be like?

The problem is that other than the case opening... the socket would only be there if the logic board has ethernet. If your system came without ethernet (by design) then the case opening would have been filled with a plug.

It sounds like your system has ethernet already, but you don't think it works for some reason. Unless the logic board is damaged, the same thing stopping the built in ethernet from working would stop an ethernet card from working too (which would be installing an ethernet card with a dummy socket just like the built in ethernet socket).


The thing is, if you can't get the built in ethernet to work, odds are you are going to have even more of an issue with trying to get a third party ethernet card to work.

And being able to get inside the system is going to be required for installing a PCI card.
 
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