Hardware MAC address change?

[coderecycle]

I know there are tools that will allow someone to change their MAC address, tried them and they work. However, i was wondering if it was possible to change the MAC address in the hardware its self. I know it is burned onto the card but just in case i would like to know if in anyway it is possible

[SirDice]

I think that depends on the cards. Some cards can and some can't.

[Irongeek]

I imagine most ROMs in cards are write once. I think you will just have to change it the old fashion way:

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...ht=mac+address

[i2c]

Yea on older cards the MAC is stored in an eprom, which you can only erase/ rewrite with the use of and ultra violet light, they tend to be of the 22vXXX series and there are large amounts of information regrading reprogramming them, its also very easy to rip the binary stored in the eprom and modify it (providing the processor on the card doesnt checksum the program)

eeproms, are also used and this means that you can alter the binary with the computer on, using some speical program that some manufacturers produce, I can't remember where ive seen these but i know they exist.

Flash memory is increasingly being used and this allows you to navigate to the memery location and you can overwrite this using dos debug or similar.

ROM's is a misleading name IMO, you can write to most again you just need the write kit. sometimes the manuafacturer blows the internal fuses, but this is relativly easy to reverse with a £15 microscope and a steady hand... and if not because of the nature of the device you can still read the binary for it becuase its Readable, and you can then burn it into a new chip which will probably cost less that £3.

Ive seen the DOS debug method used before but I saw that maybe 5 or 6 years ago...so i wouldnt have a clue about the link sorry.

i2c

[Irongeek]

You know, I never thought of that i2c. Since many NICs have firmware that can be upgraded I guess it would make sense that the MAC would be written on the same eeprom.

[coderecycle]

Thanks alot for the feed back everyone