As several have pointed out, the 3c509 and 3c509b are different beasts, the 'b' version being considered the "better" card. The 3c509B has been around long enough, though, that most 3c509 drivers support the B card. I've used the 3c509x series cards on DOS, Windows 9x, Netware 3 & 4, Linux, and I would say it is my favorite network card (at least with the PNP features turned off on the B relesase!). I have confirmed that the 3c509b does work with GB-Lite 3.0.1
HOWEVER, I'm going to stick my neck out here a bit and say I have had BAD luck with the 3c509x with GNATbox Lite! I found version 2.1 would run for a few weeks at a time, and other times crash after only a few days (coming up with something like "unable to allocate buffer" error message when pinging out of the "crashed" NIC). I replaced the machine (it was a Packard Bell 486SX25 w/12M RAM -- yes, junk), and assuming that it wouldn't be the NICs, I put the NICs (3c509, original release) in a better system (NCR 486DX33 system, 16M RAM), and upgraded to GNATbox Lite 3.0.1. Got much more consistant results -- it crashed (same buffer message) every couple days. Thinking the problem might be a bum card (even 3coms can fail), I replaced the 3c509s with a pair of 3c509Bs, and again, had a crash after a couple days (the consistancy here is a little strange). A friend of mine who pointed GNATbox out to me told me this was QUITE unlike any experience he had with his systems or those of his customers, so I replaced the cards with a pair of SMC8416 cards, which have been working very well now for a couple weeks with no unexplained quirks. In short, based on my experience with two different boxes and two different pairs of 3c509 cards, I would HIGHLY recommend AGAINST the 3c509 of any revison for GNATbox, although they are a darned good product for other applications. And yes, I realize several people said they have done quite well with the 3c509. I just felt I should share my experience, and wish to re-iterate that my experience has been with GB-Lite on 486 class systems only. Nick
