choosing base addresses on NICs

[pfarrar at learningco.com (pfarrar at learningco.com)]

     Hi,
     
     I've never been clear on the base address thing.  And I've spoken with 
     a few others who seemed equally uncertain.  So on all of our behalves, 
     I am posing the following questions.  Any insight would be greatly 
     appreciated:
     
     I have 2 3c509B NICs.  Each has 3 connectors TP, coax and a 9(?)PIN.  
     I need to use the DOS software to configure these to use TP.  No 
     problem.  But I want to put them both in the same box (for the usual 
     reason).  So I have to consider IRQ and Base address (I can find the 
     free IRQs easily enough in /proc/interrupts).  
     
     What rational goes into choosing another IRQ/Base Address pair for the 
     second card?  Most cards seem to default to IRQ 10 and 0x300.  Is 
     there a normal relationship between the IRQ and Base address (like 
     serial ports and IRQs have)?  Or can I just use any free IRQ/address 
     combination?  
     
     My assumption is that 0x300 is the START of an address range.  How 
     large is the range?  
     
     How does the three byte 0xNNN addressing form relate to the addresses 
     presented in /proc/ioports?  My Linux machines are at home, but my 
     memory is that the file lists ranges using four byte address names.
     
     Also, what is 'full duplex' and do I want it enabled?
     
     TIA,
     Peter
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