RE: Question to 3COM 3c589 owners

[Jim Lee <leejim@peak.org>]

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From: 	Tim Vetter[SMTP:vfr@stm537.ubszh.net.ch]
Sent: 	Saturday, October 07, 1995 12:10 PM
To: 	tp750@cs.utk.edu
Subject: 	Question to 3COM 3c589 owners

>Sorry, this is not a ThinkPad question, but there seem to be a lot  
>of you with these cards out there ... apologies to anyone on the  
>list who's thin-skinned about bandwidth.
>
>I recently took delivery of a 3COM combo card, and was initially  
>pleased to find they'd redesigned the card/cable attachment since I  
>got my first card over a year ago.  The new design has clips on the  
>side of the connector (sort of like you have on SCSI plugs), whereas  
>the old one was just held in by friction.  The problem with the  
>original design was the plug would pull out if you snagged the  
>ethernet cable, which I managed to do all the time.
>
>In that respect the newer design is an obvious improvement (you  
>*can't* pull the plug accidentally), but I find that the connection  
>is extremely flaky.  So much so that I can't work with the TP on my  
>lap anymore, because small tensions on the ethernet cable cause  
>intermittent breaks in the connection, and sometimes even *reboots*  
>(Win95 on a TP750 mono).
>
>Do I have a lame card, or is anyone else with the newer clip-style  
>connector experiencing the same? (ie, maybe it's a design problem).   
>Any war stories on returning defective merchandise to 3COM?

Sounds like a defective card.  Perhaps flexing the cable also flexes the PC board inside the card causing it to short against the case.  Or pehaps they didn't trim the leads on the connector flush enough so that they short when the cable is flexed.  I have one of the new connectors with the ears and have not experienced a single bit of flakiness - I snag the cable with my foot all the time...----------
Jim Lee                         Diamond Quest Consulting
leejim@peak.org                 30563 Ridge St
http://www.peak.org/~leejim     Lebanon, OR 97355