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+Documentation/networking/vortex.txt
+Andrew Morton <andrewm@uow.edu.au>
+30 April 2000
+
+
+This document describes the usage and errata of the 3Com "Vortex" device
+driver for Linux, 3c59x.c.
+
+The driver was written by Donald Becker <becker@scyld.com>
+
+Don is no longer the prime maintainer of this version of the driver.
+Please report problems to one or more of:
+
+ Andrew Morton <andrewm@uow.edu.au>
+ Netdev mailing list <netdev@oss.sgi.com>
+ Linux kernel mailing list <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
+
+Please note the 'Reporting and Diagnosing Problems' section at the end
+of this file.
+
+
+Since kernel 2.3.99-pre6, this driver incorporates the support for the
+3c575-series Cardbus cards which used to be handled by 3c575_cb.c.
+
+This driver supports the following hardware:
+
+ 3c590 Vortex 10Mbps
+ 3c592 EISA 10mbps Demon/Vortex
+ 3c597 EISA Fast Demon/Vortex
+ 3c595 Vortex 100baseTx
+ 3c595 Vortex 100baseT4
+ 3c595 Vortex 100base-MII
+ 3Com Vortex
+ 3c900 Boomerang 10baseT
+ 3c900 Boomerang 10Mbps Combo
+ 3c900 Cyclone 10Mbps TPO
+ 3c900B Cyclone 10Mbps T
+ 3c900 Cyclone 10Mbps Combo
+ 3c900 Cyclone 10Mbps TPC
+ 3c900B-FL Cyclone 10base-FL
+ 3c905 Boomerang 100baseTx
+ 3c905 Boomerang 100baseT4
+ 3c905B Cyclone 100baseTx
+ 3c905B Cyclone 10/100/BNC
+ 3c905B-FX Cyclone 100baseFx
+ 3c905C Tornado
+ 3c980 Cyclone
+ 3cSOHO100-TX Hurricane
+ 3c555 Laptop Hurricane
+ 3c575 Boomerang CardBus
+ 3CCFE575 Cyclone CardBus
+ 3CCFE575CT Cyclone CardBus
+ 3CCFE656 Cyclone CardBus
+ 3CCFEM656 Cyclone CardBus
+ 3c450 Cyclone/unknown
+
+
+Module parameters
+=================
+
+There are several parameters which may be provided to the driver when
+its module is loaded. These are usually placed in /etc/modprobe.conf
+(/etc/modules.conf in 2.4). Example:
+
+options 3c59x debug=3 rx_copybreak=300
+
+If you are using the PCMCIA tools (cardmgr) then the options may be
+placed in /etc/pcmcia/config.opts:
+
+module "3c59x" opts "debug=3 rx_copybreak=300"
+
+
+The supported parameters are:
+
+debug=N
+
+ Where N is a number from 0 to 7. Anything above 3 produces a lot
+ of output in your system logs. debug=1 is default.
+
+options=N1,N2,N3,...
+
+ Each number in the list provides an option to the corresponding
+ network card. So if you have two 3c905's and you wish to provide
+ them with option 0x204 you would use:
+
+ options=0x204,0x204
+
+ The individual options are composed of a number of bitfields which
+ have the following meanings:
+
+ Possible media type settings
+ 0 10baseT
+ 1 10Mbs AUI
+ 2 undefined
+ 3 10base2 (BNC)
+ 4 100base-TX
+ 5 100base-FX
+ 6 MII (Media Independent Interface)
+ 7 Use default setting from EEPROM
+ 8 Autonegotiate
+ 9 External MII
+ 10 Use default setting from EEPROM
+
+ When generating a value for the 'options' setting, the above media
+ selection values may be OR'ed (or added to) the following:
+
+ 0x8000 Set driver debugging level to 7
+ 0x4000 Set driver debugging level to 2
+ 0x0400 Enable Wake-on-LAN
+ 0x0200 Force full duplex mode.
+ 0x0010 Bus-master enable bit (Old Vortex cards only)
+
+ For example:
+
+ insmod 3c59x options=0x204
+
+ will force full-duplex 100base-TX, rather than allowing the usual
+ autonegotiation.
+
+global_options=N
+
+ Sets the `options' parameter for all 3c59x NICs in the machine.
+ Entries in the `options' array above will override any setting of
+ this.
+
+full_duplex=N1,N2,N3...
+
+ Similar to bit 9 of 'options'. Forces the corresponding card into
+ full-duplex mode. Please use this in preference to the `options'
+ parameter.
+
+ In fact, please don't use this at all! You're better off getting
+ autonegotiation working properly.
+
+global_full_duplex=N1
+
+ Sets full duplex mode for all 3c59x NICs in the machine. Entries
+ in the `full_duplex' array above will override any setting of this.
+
+flow_ctrl=N1,N2,N3...
+
+ Use 802.3x MAC-layer flow control. The 3com cards only support the
+ PAUSE command, which means that they will stop sending packets for a
+ short period if they receive a PAUSE frame from the link partner.
+
+ The driver only allows flow control on a link which is operating in
+ full duplex mode.
+
+ This feature does not appear to work on the 3c905 - only 3c905B and
+ 3c905C have been tested.
+
+ The 3com cards appear to only respond to PAUSE frames which are
+ sent to the reserved destination address of 01:80:c2:00:00:01. They
+ do not honour PAUSE frames which are sent to the station MAC address.
+
+rx_copybreak=M
+
+ The driver preallocates 32 full-sized (1536 byte) network buffers
+ for receiving. When a packet arrives, the driver has to decide
+ whether to leave the packet in its full-sized buffer, or to allocate
+ a smaller buffer and copy the packet across into it.
+
+ This is a speed/space tradeoff.
+
+ The value of rx_copybreak is used to decide when to make the copy.
+ If the packet size is less than rx_copybreak, the packet is copied.
+ The default value for rx_copybreak is 200 bytes.
+
+max_interrupt_work=N
+
+ The driver's interrupt service routine can handle many receive and
+ transmit packets in a single invocation. It does this in a loop.
+ The value of max_interrupt_work governs how mnay times the interrupt
+ service routine will loop. The default value is 32 loops. If this
+ is exceeded the interrupt service routine gives up and generates a
+ warning message "eth0: Too much work in interrupt".
+
+hw_checksums=N1,N2,N3,...
+
+ Recent 3com NICs are able to generate IPv4, TCP and UDP checksums
+ in hardware. Linux has used the Rx checksumming for a long time.
+ The "zero copy" patch which is planned for the 2.4 kernel series
+ allows you to make use of the NIC's DMA scatter/gather and transmit
+ checksumming as well.
+
+ The driver is set up so that, when the zerocopy patch is applied,
+ all Tornado and Cyclone devices will use S/G and Tx checksums.
+
+ This module parameter has been provided so you can override this
+ decision. If you think that Tx checksums are causing a problem, you
+ may disable the feature with `hw_checksums=0'.
+
+ If you think your NIC should be performing Tx checksumming and the
+ driver isn't enabling it, you can force the use of hardware Tx
+ checksumming with `hw_checksums=1'.
+
+ The driver drops a message in the logfiles to indicate whether or
+ not it is using hardware scatter/gather and hardware Tx checksums.
+
+ Scatter/gather and hardware checksums provide considerable
+ performance improvement for the sendfile() system call, but a small
+ decrease in throughput for send(). There is no effect upon receive
+ efficiency.
+
+compaq_ioaddr=N
+compaq_irq=N
+compaq_device_id=N
+
+ "Variables to work-around the Compaq PCI BIOS32 problem"....
+
+watchdog=N
+
+ Sets the time duration (in milliseconds) after which the kernel
+ decides that the transmitter has become stuck and needs to be reset.
+ This is mainly for debugging purposes, although it may be advantageous
+ to increase this value on LANs which have very high collision rates.
+ The default value is 5000 (5.0 seconds).
+
+enable_wol=N1,N2,N3,...
+
+ Enable Wake-on-LAN support for the relevant interface. Donald
+ Becker's `ether-wake' application may be used to wake suspended
+ machines.
+
+ Also enables the NIC's power management support.
+
+global_enable_wol=N
+
+ Sets enable_wol mode for all 3c59x NICs in the machine. Entries in
+ the `enable_wol' array above will override any setting of this.
+
+Media selection
+---------------
+
+A number of the older NICs such as the 3c590 and 3c900 series have
+10base2 and AUI interfaces.
+
+Prior to January, 2001 this driver would autoeselect the 10base2 or AUI
+port if it didn't detect activity on the 10baseT port. It would then
+get stuck on the 10base2 port and a driver reload was necessary to
+switch back to 10baseT. This behaviour could not be prevented with a
+module option override.
+
+Later (current) versions of the driver _do_ support locking of the
+media type. So if you load the driver module with
+
+ modprobe 3c59x options=0
+
+it will permanently select the 10baseT port. Automatic selection of
+other media types does not occur.
+
+
+Transmit error, Tx status register 82
+-------------------------------------
+
+This is a common error which is almost always caused by another host on
+the same network being in full-duplex mode, while this host is in
+half-duplex mode. You need to find that other host and make it run in
+half-duplex mode or fix this host to run in full-duplex mode.
+
+As a last resort, you can force the 3c59x driver into full-duplex mode
+with
+
+ options 3c59x full_duplex=1
+
+but this has to be viewed as a workaround for broken network gear and
+should only really be used for equipment which cannot autonegotiate.
+
+
+Additional resources
+--------------------
+
+Details of the device driver implementation are at the top of the source file.
+
+Additional documentation is available at Don Becker's Linux Drivers site:
+
+ http://www.scyld.com/network/vortex.html
+
+Donald Becker's driver development site:
+
+ http://www.scyld.com/network
+
+Donald's vortex-diag program is useful for inspecting the NIC's state:
+
+ http://www.scyld.com/diag/#pci-diags
+
+Donald's mii-diag program may be used for inspecting and manipulating
+the NIC's Media Independent Interface subsystem:
+
+ http://www.scyld.com/diag/#mii-diag
+
+Donald's wake-on-LAN page:
+
+ http://www.scyld.com/expert/wake-on-lan.html
+
+3Com's documentation for many NICs, including the ones supported by
+this driver is available at
+
+ http://support.3com.com/partners/developer/developer_form.html
+
+3Com's DOS-based application for setting up the NICs EEPROMs:
+
+ ftp://ftp.3com.com/pub/nic/3c90x/3c90xx2.exe
+
+Driver updates and a detailed changelog for the modifications which
+were made for the 2.3/2,4 series kernel is available at
+
+ http://www.uow.edu.au/~andrewm/linux/#3c59x-2.3
+
+
+Autonegotiation notes
+---------------------
+
+ The driver uses a one-minute heartbeat for adapting to changes in
+ the external LAN environment. This means that when, for example, a
+ machine is unplugged from a hubbed 10baseT LAN plugged into a
+ switched 100baseT LAN, the throughput will be quite dreadful for up
+ to sixty seconds. Be patient.
+
+ Cisco interoperability note from Walter Wong <wcw+@CMU.EDU>:
+
+ On a side note, adding HAS_NWAY seems to share a problem with the
+ Cisco 6509 switch. Specifically, you need to change the spanning
+ tree parameter for the port the machine is plugged into to 'portfast'
+ mode. Otherwise, the negotiation fails. This has been an issue
+ we've noticed for a while but haven't had the time to track down.
+
+ Cisco switches (Jeff Busch <jbusch@deja.com>)
+
+ My "standard config" for ports to which PC's/servers connect directly:
+
+ interface FastEthernet0/N
+ description machinename
+ load-interval 30
+ spanning-tree portfast
+
+ If autonegotiation is a problem, you may need to specify "speed
+ 100" and "duplex full" as well (or "speed 10" and "duplex half").
+
+ WARNING: DO NOT hook up hubs/switches/bridges to these
+ specially-configured ports! The switch will become very confused.
+
+
+Reporting and diagnosing problems
+---------------------------------
+
+Maintainers find that accurate and complete problem reports are
+invaluable in resolving driver problems. We are frequently not able to
+reproduce problems and must rely on your patience and efforts to get to
+the bottom of the problem.
+
+If you believe you have a driver problem here are some of the
+steps you should take:
+
+- Is it really a driver problem?
+
+ Eliminate some variables: try different cards, different
+ computers, different cables, different ports on the switch/hub,
+ different versions of the kernel or ofthe driver, etc.
+
+- OK, it's a driver problem.
+
+ You need to generate a report. Typically this is an email to the
+ maintainer and/or linux-net@vger.kernel.org. The maintainer's
+ email address will be inthe driver source or in the MAINTAINERS file.
+
+- The contents of your report will vary a lot depending upon the
+ problem. If it's a kernel crash then you should refer to the
+ REPORTING-BUGS file.
+
+ But for most problems it is useful to provide the following:
+
+ o Kernel version, driver version
+
+ o A copy of the banner message which the driver generates when
+ it is initialised. For example:
+
+ eth0: 3Com PCI 3c905C Tornado at 0xa400, 00:50:da:6a:88:f0, IRQ 19
+ 8K byte-wide RAM 5:3 Rx:Tx split, autoselect/Autonegotiate interface.
+ MII transceiver found at address 24, status 782d.
+ Enabling bus-master transmits and whole-frame receives.
+
+ NOTE: You must provide the `debug=2' modprobe option to generate
+ a full detection message. Please do this:
+
+ modprobe 3c59x debug=2
+
+ o If it is a PCI device, the relevant output from 'lspci -vx', eg:
+
+ 00:09.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX [Fast Etherlink] (rev 74)
+ Subsystem: 3Com Corporation: Unknown device 9200
+ Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 19
+ I/O ports at a400 [size=128]
+ Memory at db000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
+ Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=128K]
+ Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
+ 00: b7 10 00 92 07 00 10 02 74 00 00 02 08 20 00 00
+ 10: 01 a4 00 00 00 00 00 db 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
+ 20: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 b7 10 00 10
+ 30: 00 00 00 00 dc 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 01 0a 0a
+
+ o A description of the environment: 10baseT? 100baseT?
+ full/half duplex? switched or hubbed?
+
+ o Any additional module parameters which you may be providing to the driver.
+
+ o Any kernel logs which are produced. The more the merrier.
+ If this is a large file and you are sending your report to a
+ mailing list, mention that you have the logfile, but don't send
+ it. If you're reporting direct to the maintainer then just send
+ it.
+
+ To ensure that all kernel logs are available, add the
+ following line to /etc/syslog.conf:
+
+ kern.* /var/log/messages
+
+ Then restart syslogd with:
+
+ /etc/rc.d/init.d/syslog restart
+
+ (The above may vary, depending upon which Linux distribution you use).
+
+ o If your problem is reproducible then that's great. Try the
+ following:
+
+ 1) Increase the debug level. Usually this is done via:
+
+ a) modprobe driver debug=7
+ b) In /etc/modprobe.conf (or /etc/modules.conf for 2.4):
+ options driver debug=7
+
+ 2) Recreate the problem with the higher debug level,
+ send all logs to the maintainer.
+
+ 3) Download you card's diagnostic tool from Donald
+ Backer's website http://www.scyld.com/diag. Download
+ mii-diag.c as well. Build these.
+
+ a) Run 'vortex-diag -aaee' and 'mii-diag -v' when the card is
+ working correctly. Save the output.
+
+ b) Run the above commands when the card is malfunctioning. Send
+ both sets of output.
+
+Finally, please be patient and be prepared to do some work. You may end up working on
+this problem for a week or more as the maintainer asks more questions, asks for more
+tests, asks for patches to be applied, etc. At the end of it all, the problem may even
+remain unresolved.
+
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