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NetWare-compatible Boot ROMs - zxnet

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NetWare-compatible Boot ROMs

This page provides a collection of Network Boot ROMs suitable for booting from a NetWare server. There are a couple of different kinds of Boot ROMs provided here:

Vendor Chipset/Card Type Tested? Notes Screenshot ROM Link Drivers
3Com 3C509B EtherLink III BootWare No Proprietary BootWare ROM Download
3Com 3C900 EtherLink XL PCI BootWare No Proprietary BootWare ROM Download
Abel DP8390CN IPX No NE1000 compatible card (picture). From here. Download
Accton EN1652 EtherCoax-16 IPX No Dumped from card. Ethernet chip is EN5020. Based on strings it looks like an IPX-type ROM. "For EtherCombo-16, EtherPair-16,-8(WB) and EtherCoax-16,-8(WB) V1.04 (920802)" Download en1652.zip
AMD AMD PCnet RPL Yes Tested with VirtualBox. Was originally provided for download by AMD. Screenshot util_boot.exe Drivers & Utilities
D-Link DE-150 No picture. From here. Download
DE-220 RPL No Publicly available from the D-Link Russia FTP server (https://ftp.dlink.ru/pub/Bootrom/Firmware/).

ROMs on the FTP server are labeled as the original option number you could order from D-Link rather than the cards they go in. From strings present in the ROMs, they all appear to be Novell RPL Boot ROMs. For some cards there are multiple versions available. Many are distributed as self-extracting Zip files.
DE-220 Download (multiple versions)
DE-528 PCI (Realtek 8029 chip) No DE528 Download
DE-530CT (DECchip DC21x40 chip) No DE530CT Download
DFE-500TX (DECchip DC21x40 chip) No DFE-500TX Download
(multiple versions)
DFE-530TX No DFE-530TX Download
(multiple versions)
DFE-538TX No DFE-538TX Download
(multiple versions)
DFE-540TX No DFE-540TX Download
(multiple versions)
DFE-550TX No DFE-550TX Download
(multiple versions)
Genius? E1160C IPX Yes Contributed by Darsey (thanks!). Works with the 86box emulated NE2000 adapter so may work in other NE2000-compatible cards. Not an RPL ROM - this is an old-style IPX boot ROM. May not work with DOS 5 and newer. Download archive includes photos of the card, screenshots, etc. See README.md in the archive for more details. Screenshot Download
Intel EtherExpress 16 IPX/RPL No For cards with a FLASH ROM installed. The default ROM image (probably the one in FLSIMG.EXE) is of the old IPX type. E16RPL.EXE contains a beta RPL image. These images were made available for download by Intel. FLSIMG.EXE
E16RPL.EXE
E16DISK.EXE
Realtek RTL8019AS RPL No Provided for download by Realtek Download Drivers & Utilities
RTL8029AS RPL No Provided for download by Realtek. Tested with 86box but it gives an error - likely an issue with 86box. 86box Download Drivers & Utilities
RTL8139 RPL No Provided for download by Realtek. PXE ROM and flash utility may be in the DOS directory. Download Drivers & Utilities
SMC EtherEZ 8416 (83C795QF) BootWare Yes Proprietary BootWare ROM - license required for use (not freeware). BootWare NW/RPL/TCPIP. Dumped from a Cypress CY27C256 ROM installed in an EtherEZ 8416, PCBA part 60-600509-003. Might work on other SMC cards that use the same drivers. Screenshot Download v1.40
Download v1.60
Driver & Utilities
VIA VT8231, VT8233, VT8235 & VT8237 Integrated (Rhine & Rhine II),VT8251 Integrated RPL No Linked driver package contains RPL firmware (RPM.LOM). Not sure how to use it at this stage. Download

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Disclaimer & Comments

I'm not a netware expert, don't have any of those fancy novell certifications and have never administred a netware network; I've just played with it at home occasionally since 2004 or so. Email me if you've got any suggestions or corrections for this page or any extra information you think is worth including here. My address is david at this websites domain name (without the www bit of course).