# Need help with setting up networking on FreeBSD



## danielw892010 (Sep 19, 2010)

Hi everybody, i'm pretty new to Linux, so please bare with me...ok so I have a 3COM Etherlink 10/100 PCI NIC that I have on a computer running FreeBSD. I have the PCI_FIX.SYS, but here's where I get confused. There are two files, W9XEL90X.INF W9X90XBC.INF. I don't know which one is the right one to use. I tried using W9XEL90X.INF, but I don't think it worked. I tried using ndisgen to make the kernal. I got to the choice two either do something with the individual firmware files, or build a single driver. I chose build a single driver, but when it got to the last step it said a file in the /usr directory was not there. did I do everything right, but forget to install the proper files into the /usr directory beforehand, or did i mess up with the .inf files?


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## danielw892010 (Sep 19, 2010)

Sorry, forgot to mention that the files for the driver were taken from the CD.


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## kpa (Sep 19, 2010)

You shouldn't need to use the ndidgen stuff with that NIC, it should be supported by xl(4) driver. This should be enough to autoconfigure the interface with DHCP if placed in /etc/rc.conf:


```
ifconfig_xl0="DHCP"
```


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## danielw892010 (Sep 19, 2010)

kpa said:
			
		

> You shouldn't need to use the ndidgen stuff with that NIC, it should be supported by xl(4) driver. This should be enough to autoconfigure the interface with DHCP if placed in /etc/rc.conf:
> 
> 
> ```
> ...



I don't have the XL versions, just the original. http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=support&pathtype=support&sku=3C905C-TX-M


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## kpa (Sep 19, 2010)

The manual page says that it's supported:

```
+o	 3Com 3c905C-TX
```

I happen have the exact same card you have (been unused for years) and I just tested it with FreeBSD 8.1 Release i386, works completely fine with xl(4) driver.

Edit: copy/pasted the wrong line from the man page.


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## wblock@ (Sep 19, 2010)

danielw892010 said:
			
		

> I don't have the XL versions, just the original. http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=support&pathtype=support&sku=3C905C-TX-M



You don't need the Windows drivers at all, FreeBSD has a native driver for that and most other network cards.  *kpa* showed how to use the xl driver included in the GENERIC kernel.

PS: FreeBSD is not Linux, and some people are touchy about confusing the two.


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## danielw892010 (Sep 19, 2010)

Thanks for the help everybody! gonna get my info and set up the rest of the networking stuff on my machine, hopefully everything goes smoothly


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