Try this one

https://archive.org/details/rtl8139drv

There's no such chip as the "RTL8139ATX". This card is the Ovislink LFE-8139ATX, which probably contains an RTL8139A chip. The different RTL8139 revisions matter in terms of PCI support (the later C and D need 3.3V on PCI so don't work in old <=PCI 2.1 motherboards), but they all share the same drivers.

You can find generic RTL8139 drivers for Win95 on the Vogonsdrivers site: https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fil … &menustate=35,0

If you want specific drivers for this card, look for Ovislink LFE-8139ATX. I doubt they will offer anything extra over the generic drivers and may be older/more buggy.

I tried those drivers on vogonsdrivers but windows complains its not the right driver 😒

What's the PCI ID of that card?

Grzyb wrote on 2024-09-25, 15:47:

What's the PCI ID of that card?

How does one check that?

kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 15:49:

How does one check that?

Most BIOSes display that:

The key are Vendor ID and Device ID.
RTL8139 should use 10EC 8139.

If your BIOS doesn't display that, there are utilities like HWINFO, ASTRA, and many others.

kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 15:20:

I tried those drivers on vogonsdrivers but windows complains its not the right driver 😒

Are you really sure it's the driver issue?

Can the NIC work with another motherboard and/or under another OS?
Can other cards use the same PCI slot without problems?
What's the make and model of the MB that your NIC cannot work with?
Can the NIC be detected on hardware level and provided with an IRQ (like Grzyb's PCI device listing screencap)?
Can you see the NIC (without proper driver) as a yellow question mark under "Other devices" of Windows 95 Device Manager?

If any of your hardware has failed then no software could fix your problem. And I already saw a cracked capacitor at C16.

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

And I already saw a cracked capacitor at C16.

Ceramic capacitors sometimes have this cut:

no idea about the purpose...

Anyway, there are two different RTL8139 drivers for Windows 95, located in separate directories:
W95OSR2 - for OSR2 (NDIS 4)
WIN95A - for earlier versions (NDIS 3)

Make sure to select the proper directory.

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Are you really sure it's the driver issue?

That's what Windows is telling me

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can the NIC work with another motherboard and/or under another OS?

I dont really know as this is the only vintage computer I own.

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can other cards use the same PCI slot without problems?

Also only PCI card I have

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

What's the make and model of the MB that your NIC cannot work with?

I wouldn't know, but i took some pics:
https://imgur.com/a/2hA7mjC

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can the NIC be detected on hardware level and provided with an IRQ (like Grzyb's PCI device listing screencap)?

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

Can you see the NIC (without proper driver) as a yellow question mark under "Other devices" of Windows 95 Device Manager?

Yes, and when restarting Windows it tries to configure the realtek drivers, but when done I still see a warning sign on the device manager, in the details screen it says to try another driver.

I've tried both Win95osr2 and Win95a to no avail 🙁

My BIOS doesn't show the PCI listing, I'll try to get one of those programs but it's complicated now as my floppy has also died 😅

Grzyb wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:41:

Ceramic capacitors sometimes have this cut:

The attachment s-l1600.jpg is no longer available

no idea about the purpose...

I'd assume it works like the "cross," "T," "Benz," or "K"-shaped cuts on top vents of cylindrical electrolytic capacitors, but I've never seen such cuts on ceramic capacitors until now. 😮 IIRC when ceramic capacitors die they just explode like popcorns or burn like soybeans.

kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 18:38:

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 17:14:

What's the make and model of the MB that your NIC cannot work with?

I wouldn't know, but i took some pics:
https://imgur.com/a/2hA7mjC

Looks like an Intel Advanced/RH LPX (Rhinestone) to me. Is that an AST computer?

The MB already has Vibra 16C chip and 3.5mm sockets. If those are working properly I don't see why you need another Crystal-based sound card (OEM version of AZTech Multimedia Pro 16?).

BTW you photographed National Semiconductor PC87306-IBD/VUL (a common Super I/O chip on MB using Intel 430 series chipsets) twice. 😅

kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 18:38:

Yes, and when restarting Windows it tries to configure the realtek drivers, but when done I still see a warning sign on the device manager, in the details screen it says to try another driver.

I've tried both Win95osr2 and Win95a to no avail 🙁

Well that beats me. 😕 Theoretically RTL8139 series aren't too picky on software; I've got RTL8139C working on 430FX and 430TX-based motherboards under Win31/95/98SE.

You might want to remove the sound card and all other non-vital components first.

Last but not least: the driver of my RTL8139C works under DOS but conflicts with EMM386.EXE 🙄 There might be some strange conflicts elsewhere.

kelmer wrote on 2024-09-25, 15:20:

I tried those drivers on vogonsdrivers but windows complains its not the right driver 😒

Pull the sticker off and tell us what exact chip # it is.

Horun wrote on 2024-09-25, 21:38:

Pull the sticker off and tell us what exact chip # it is.

Grzyb's card (using RTL8139A) is the same OvisLink LFE-8139ATX but with a slightly older revision (2.1) than kelmer's (2.3). Judging from the newer revision and letters beneath the edge of the sticker I'd say the chip is an RTL8139B.

It would be a good idea to try in another PCI slot - if there's more than one.
NICs are likely to require bus mastering, and sometimes not all slots support it.

The latest Win95 driver for Realtek RTL8139 I could find... It's version 3.97, dated 2001/10/09 - just try it out. If this works I'll add it to my Realtek drivers page (https://soggi.org/drivers/realtek.htm) - wonder why it isn't there already, I'm getting old.

kind regards
soggi

If that version from soggi doesn't help, maybe try the driver packages direct from OvisLink...

v3.8

...later supplied as a 2 disk set

(also XP version for reference)

You could also try to run the attached card diagnostic app at the DOS prompt to check function...

dormcat wrote on 2024-09-25, 19:50:

The MB already has Vibra 16C chip and 3.5mm sockets. If those are working properly I don't see why you need another Crystal-based sound card (OEM version of AZTech Multimedia Pro 16?).

That's because I have a roland mt-32 and the integrated Vibra 16 does not even have a joystick/midi in port.

Tried the diagnose app within DOS and it says IO/interrupt is illegal, but I dont see an option in my BIOS to change that.

Did also try the other PCI port (my motherboard has a ISA to PCI bridge with just 2 PCI slots) but the problem persists 🙁

BTW thanks all for the suggestions, really helpful community here!

You can sometimes "massage" a cranky PnP PCI bios into assigning "proper" values, through a combination of slot re-assignment, (physically moving the card to another slot), and restricting certain resources to "Legacy/ISA" devices.

A common problem is slot 4 being shared with the on-board resources. (Both using PCI IRQ D) This leads to the card that's trying to share, ending up in tug of war with things like the USB controller, fighting over IRQ12, for example.

I'd recommend moving the card to another physical slot, and denying it any opportunity to be assigned ANYTHING except what is valid, by restricting all the invalid choices.

I woiuldnt know how to do any of those things to be honest, except changing the pci slot, which i did but got the same result. I did remove the sticker (felt bad to ruin the windows logo) and this is what it had: