Document Number: OSUP1018
Product: Observer 5.x/6.x
Date: 7-21-98
Title: Problems with built-in Compaq 10/100 NICs

Problems with built-in Compaq 10/100 NICs

Problem: PC Hangs every time you start Observer (or a few minutes into an Observer session) on Windows NT. The “hang” can also result in a “blue screens”.

If you are using a Compaq PC with the Compaq NIC card that is either built-in to the motherboard or came with the computer, you have probably seen this problem. While Compaq has said their drivers support NDIS 4.0 and promiscuous mode, there is a problem with the driver. Compaq has acknowleged the problem, but does not make the NIC chip set, or write the driver, so can offer no help or solution.

A recent communication from Compaq on this issue stated that “The TI ThunderLan cards we have used for those past couple of years are going away. We [at Compaq] appear to be going toward more mainline chipsets (3Com, Intel...etc...) now. That should do away with a lot of the issues as the older cards start getting phased out by customers as they update systems.”

Solution: We are currently negotiating with the actual driver manufacture (TI ThunderLan) to try to rectify their driver issue. Until then, the only solution is to use a different Network interface Card. Several suggested NICs can be found on our supported NIC list at:

Suggested Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI adapters, or
Suggested PCMCIA Ethernet and Token Ring adapters

(Support documents: OSUP1001 and OSUP1002)