[3c90x] Remove src/drivers/3c90x.txt
Most of the 3c90x.txt file is obsolete. The content from the file has been placed here: http://etherboot.org/wiki/appnotes/3c90x_issues
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Instructions for use of the 3C90X driver for EtherBoot
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Original 3C905B support by:
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Greg Beeley (Greg.Beeley@LightSys.org),
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LightSys Technology Services, Inc.
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February 11, 1999
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Updates for 3C90X family by:
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Steve Smith (steve.smith@juno.com)
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October 1, 1999
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Minor documentation updates by
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Greg Beeley (Greg.Beeley@LightSys.org)
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March 29, 2000
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I OVERVIEW
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The 3c90X series ethernet cards are a group of high-performance busmaster
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DMA cards from 3Com. This particular driver supports both the 3c90x and
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the 3c90xB revision cards. 3C90xC family support has been tested to some
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degree but not extensively.
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Here's the licensing information:
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This program Copyright (C) 1999 LightSys Technology Services, Inc.
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Portions Copyright (C) 1999 Steve Smith.
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This program may be re-distributed in source or binary form, modified,
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sold, or copied for any purpose, provided that the above copyright message
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and this text are included with all source copies or derivative works, and
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provided that the above copyright message and this text are included in the
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documentation of any binary-only distributions. This program is
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distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, without even the warranty of FITNESS FOR
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A PARTICULAR PURPOSE or MERCHANTABILITY. Please read the associated
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documentation "3c90x.txt" before compiling and using this driver.
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II FLASH PROMS
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The 3c90xB cards, according to the 3Com documentation, only accept the
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following flash memory chips:
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Atmel AT29C512 (64 kilobyte)
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Atmel AT29C010 (128 kilobyte)
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The 3c90x cards, according to the 3Com documentation, accept the
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following flash memory chips capacities:
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64 kb (8 kB)
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128 kb (16 kB)
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256 kb (32 kB) and
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512 kb (64 kB)
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Atmel AT29C512 (64 kilobyte) chips are specifically listed for both
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adapters, but flashing on the 3c905b cards would only be supported
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through the Atmel parts. Any device, of the supported size, should
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be supported when programmed by a dedicated PROM programmer (e.g.
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not the card).
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To use this driver in such a PROM, visit Atmel's web site and download
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their .PDF file containing a list of their distributors. Contact the
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distributors for pricing information. The prices are quite reasonable
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(about $3 US each for the 64 kB part), and are comparable to what one would
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expect for similarly sized standard EPROMs. And, the flash chips are much
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easier to work with, as they don't need to be UV-erased to be reprogrammed.
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The 3C905B card actually provides a method to program the flash memory
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while it is resident on board the card itself; if someone would like to
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write a small DOS program to do the programming, I can provide the
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information about the registers and so forth.
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A utility program, 3c90xutil, is provided with Etherboot in the 'contrib'
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directory that allows for the on-board flashing of the ROM while Linux
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is running. The program has been successfully used under Linux, but I
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have heard problem reports of its use under FreeBSD. Anyone willing to
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make it work under FreeBSD is more than welcome to do so!
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You also have the option of using EPROM chips - the 3C905B-TX-NM has been
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successfully tested with 27C256 (32kB) and 27C512 (64kB) chips with a
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specified access time of 100ns and faster.
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III GENERAL USE
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Normally, the basic procedure for using this driver is as follows:
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1. Run the 3c90xcfg program on the driver diskette to enable the
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boot PROM and set it to 64k or 128k, as appropriate.
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2. Build the appropriate 3c90x.fd0 or 3c90x.fd0 floppy image with
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possibly the value CFG_3C90X_XCVR defined to the transceiver type that
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you want to use (i.e., 10/100 rj45, AUI, coax, MII).
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3. Run the floppy image on the PC to be network booted, to get
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it configured, and to verify that it will boot properly.
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4. Build the 3c90x.rom or 3c90x.lzrom PROM image and program
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it into the flash or EPROM memory chip.
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5. Put the PROM in the ethernet card, boot and enable 'boot from
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network first' in the system BIOS, save and reboot.
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Here are some issues to be aware of:
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1. If you experience crashes or different behaviour when using the
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boot PROM, add the setting CFG_3C90X_BOOTROM_FIX and go through the
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steps 2-5 above. This works around a bug in some 3c905B cards (see
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below), but has some side-effects which may not be desirable.
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Please note that you have to boot off a floppy (not PROM!) once for
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this fix to take effect.
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2. The possible need to manually set the CFG_3C90X_XCVR value to
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configure the transceiver type. Values are listed below.
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3. The possible need to define CFG_3C90X_PRESERVE_XCVR for use in
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operating systems that don't intelligently determine the
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transceiver type.
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Some things that are on the 'To-Do' list, perhaps for me, but perhaps
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for any other volunteers out there:
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1. Extend the driver to fully implement the auto-select
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algorithm if the card has multiple media ports.
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2. Fix any bugs in the code <grin>....
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3. Extend the driver to support the 3c905c revision cards
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"officially". Right now, the support has been primarily empirical
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and not based on 3c905C documentation.
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Now for the details....
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This driver has been tested on roughly 300 systems. The main two
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configuration issues to contend with are:
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1. Ensure that PCI Busmastering is enabled for the adapter (configured
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in the CMOS setup)
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2. Some systems don't work properly with the adapter when plug and
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play OS is enabled; I always set it to "No" or "Disabled" -- this makes
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it easier and really doesn't adversely affect anything.
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Roughly 95% of the systems worked when configured properly. A few
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have issues with booting locally once the boot PROM has been installed
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(this number has been less than 2%). Other configuration issues that
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to check:
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1. Newer BIOS's actually work correctly with the network boot order.
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Set the network adapter first. Most older BIOS's automatically go to
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the network boot PROM first.
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2. For systems where the adapter was already installed and is just
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having the PROM installed, try setting the "reset configuration data"
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to yes in the CMOS setup if the BIOS isn't seen at first. If your BIOS
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doesn't have this option, remove the card, start the system, shut down,
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install the card and restart (or switch to a different PCI slot).
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3. Make sure the CMOS security settings aren't preventing a boot.
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The 3c905B cards have a significant 'bug' that relates to the flash prom:
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unless the card is set internally to the MII transceiver, it will only
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read the first 8k of the PROM image. Don't ask why -- it seems really
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obscure, but it has to do with the way they mux'd the address lines
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from the PCI bus to the ROM. Unfortunately, most of us are not using
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MII transceivers, and even the .lzrom image ends up being just a little
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bit larger than 8k. Note that the workaround for this is disabled by
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default, because the Windows NT 4.0 driver does not like it (no packets
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are transmitted).
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So, the solution that I've used is to internally set the card's nvram
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configuration to use MII when it boots. The 3c905b driver does this
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automatically. This way, the 16k prom image can be loaded into memory,
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and then the 3c905b driver can set the temporary configuration of the
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card to an appropriate value, either configurable by the user or chosen
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by the driver.
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To enable the 3c905B bugfix, which is necessary for these cards when
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booting from the Flash ROM, define -DCFG_3C90X_BOOTROM_FIX when building,
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create a floppy image and boot it once.
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Thereafter, the card should accept the larger prom image.
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The driver should choose an appropriate transceiver on the card. However,
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if it doesn't on your card or if you need to, for instance, set your
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card to 10mbps when connected to an unmanaged 10/100 hub, you can specify
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which transceiver you want to use. To do this, build the 3c905b.fd0
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image with -DCFG_3C90X_XCVR=x, where 'x' is one of the following
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values:
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0 10Base-T
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1 10mbps AUI
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3 10Base-2 (thinnet/coax)
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4 100Base-TX
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5 100Base-FX
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6 MII
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8 Auto-negotiation 10Base-T / 100Base-TX (usually the default)
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9 MII External MAC Mode
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255 Allow driver to choose an 'appropriate' media port.
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Then proceed from step 2 in the above 'general use' instructions. The
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.rom image can be built with CFG_3C90X_XCVR set to a value, but you
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normally don't want to do this, since it is easier to change the
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transceiver type by rebuilding a new floppy, changing the BIOS to floppy
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boot, booting, and then changing the BIOS back to network boot. If
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CFG_3C90X_XCVR is not set in a particular build, it just uses the
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current configuration (either its 'best guess' or whatever the stored
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CFG_3C90X_XCVR value was from the last time it was set).
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[[ Note for the more technically inclined: The CFG_3C90X_XCVR value is
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programmed into a register in the card's NVRAM that was reserved for
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LanWorks PROM images to use. When the driver boots, the card comes
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up in MII mode, and the driver checks the LanWorks register to find
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out if the user specified a transceiver type. If it finds that
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information, it uses that, otherwise it picks a transceiver that the
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card has based on the 3c905b's MediaOptions register. This driver isn't
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quite smart enough to always determine which media port is actually
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_connected_; maybe someone else would like to take on that task (it
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actually involves sending a self-directed packet and seeing if it
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comes back. IF it does, that port is connected). ]]
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Another issue to keep in mind is that it is possible that some OS'es
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might not be happy with the way I've handled the PROM-image hack with
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setting MII mode on bootup. Linux 2.0.35 does not have this problem.
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Behavior of other systems may vary. The 3com documentation specifically
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says that, at least with the card that I have, the device driver in the
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OS should auto-select the media port, so other drivers should work fine
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with this 'hack'. However, if yours doesn't seem to, you can try defining
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CFG_3C90X_PRESERVE_XCVR when building to cause Etherboot to keep the
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working setting (that allowed the bootp/tftp process) across the eth_reset
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operation.
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IV FOR DEVELOPERS....
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If you would like to fix/extend/etc. this driver, feel free to do so; just
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be sure you can test the modified version on the 3c905B-TX cards that the
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driver was originally designed for. This section of this document gives
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some information that might be relevant to a programmer.
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A. Main Entry Point
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a3c90x_probe is the main entry point for this driver. It is referred
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to in an array in 'config.c'.
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B. Other Important Functions
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The functions a3c90x_transmit, a3c90x_poll, a3c90x_reset, and
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a3c90x_disable are static functions that EtherBoot finds out about
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as a result of a3c90x_probe setting entries in the nic structure
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for them. The EtherBoot framework does not use interrupts. It is
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polled. All transmit and receive operations are initiated by the
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etherboot framework, not by an interrupt or by the driver.
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C. Internal Functions
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The following functions are internal to the driver:
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a3c90x_internal_IssueCommand - sends a command to the 3c905b card.
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a3c90x_internal_SetWindow - shifts between one of eight register
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windows onboard the 3c90x. The bottom 16 bytes of the card's
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I/O space are multiplexed among 128 bytes, only 16 of which are
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visible at any one time. This SetWindow function selects one of
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the eight sets.
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a3c90x_internal_ReadEeprom - reads a word (16 bits) from the
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card's onboard nvram. This is NOT the BIOS boot rom. This is
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where the card stores such things as its hardware address.
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a3c90x_internal_WriteEeprom - writes a word (16 bits) to the
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card's nvram, and recomputes the eeprom checksum.
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a3c90x_internal_WriteEepromWord - writes a word (16 bits) to the
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card's nvram. Used by the above routine.
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a3c90x_internal_WriteEepromWord - writes a word (16 bits) to the
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card's nvram. Used by the above routine.
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D. Globals
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All global variables are inside a global structure named INF_3C90X.
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So, wherever you see that structure referenced, you know the variable
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is a global. Just keeps things a little neater.
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E. Enumerations
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There are quite a few enumerated type definitions for registers and
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so forth, many for registers that I didn't even touch in the driver.
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Register types start with 'reg', window numbers (for SetWindow)
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start with 'win', and commands (for IssueCommand) start with 'cmd'.
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Register offsets also include an indication in the name as to the
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size of the register (_b = byte, _w = word, _l = long), and which
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window the register is in, if it is windowed (0-7).
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F. Why the 'a3c90x' name?
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I had to come up with a letter at the beginning of all of the
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identifiers, since 3com so conveniently had their name start with a
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number. Another driver used 't' (for 'three'?); I chose 'a' for
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no reason at all.
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Addendum by Jorge L. deLyra <delyra@latt.if.usp.br>, 22Nov2000 re
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working around the 3C905 hardware bug mentioned above:
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Use this floppy to fix any 3COM model 3C905B PCI 10/100 Ethernet cards
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that fail to load and run the boot program the first time around. If
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they have a "Lucent" rather than a "Broadcom" chipset these cards have
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a configuration bug that causes a hang when trying to load the boot
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program from the PROM, if you try to use them right out of the box.
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The boot program in this floppy is the file named 3c905b-tpo100.rom
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from Etherboot version 4.6.10, compiled with the bugfix parameter
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CFG_3C90X_BOOTROM_FIX
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You have to take the chip off the card and boot the system once using
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this floppy. Once loaded from the floppy, the boot program will access
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the card and change some setting in it, correcting the problem. After
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that you may use either this boot program or the normal one, compiled
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without this bugfix parameter, to boot the machine from the PROM chip.
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[Any recent Etherboot version should do, not just 4.6.10 - Ed.]
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