NAME
ep - Ethernet driver for 3Com Etherlink III (3c5x9) interfaces
SYNOPSIS
To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following line in your
kernel configuration file:
device ep
Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the
following line in loader.conf(5):
if_ep_load="YES"
DESCRIPTION
The ep device driver supports network adapters based on the 3Com 3C5x9
Etherlink III Parallel Tasking chipset.
Various models of these cards come with a different assortment of
connectors:
AUI/DIX Standard 15 pin connector, also known as 10base5
(thick-net)
10Base2 BNC, also known as thin-net
10BaseT UTP, also known as twisted pair
The default port to use is the port that has been selected with the setup
utility. To override this, use the following media options with
ifconfig(8) or in your /etc/rc.conf file.
10base5/AUI Use the AUI port.
10base2/BNC Use the BNC port.
10baseT/UTP Use the UTP port.
If there are multiple cards in the computer, they are searched for in the
following order: bus, slot, then Ethernet address.
HARDWARE
The ep driver supports Ethernet adapters based on the 3Com 3C5x9
Etherlink III Parallel Tasking chipset, including:
· 3Com 3C1 CF
· 3Com 3C509-TP, 3C509-BNC, 3C509-Combo, 3C509-TPO, 3C509-TPC ISA
· 3Com 3C509B-TP, 3C509B-BNC, 3C509B-Combo, 3C509B-TPO, 3C509B-TPC ISA
· 3Com 3C529, 3C529-TP MCA
· 3Com 3C562/3C563 PCMCIA
· 3Com 3C569B-J-TPO, 3C569B-J-COMBO CBUS
· 3Com 3C574, 3C574TX, 3C574-TX, 3CCFE574BT, 3CXFE574BT, 3C3FE574BT
PCMCIA
· 3Com 3C579-TP, 3C579-BNC EISA
· 3Com 3C589, 3C589B, 3C589C, 3C589D, 3CXE589DT PCMCIA
· 3Com 3CCFEM556B, 3CCFEM556BI PCMCIA
· 3Com 3CXE589EC, 3CCE589EC, 3CXE589ET, 3CCE589ET PCMCIA
· 3Com Megahertz 3CCEM556, 3CXEM556, 3CCEM556B, 3CXEM556B, 3C3FEM556C
PCMCIA
· 3Com OfficeConnect 3CXSH572BT, 3CCSH572BT PCMCIA
· Farallon EtherWave and EtherMac PC Card (P/n 595/895 with BLUE arrow)
NOTES
The 3c509 card has no jumpers to set the address. 3Com supplies software
to set the address of the card in software. To find the card on the ISA
bus, the kernel performs a complex scan operation at IO address 0x110.
Beware! Avoid placing other cards at that address!
Furthermore, the 3c509 should only be configured in EISA mode when
installed in a computer that has actual EISA slots (and an EISA-aware
BIOS). The normal driver auto-detection support is sufficient for non-
EISA systems.
Many different companies sold the 3Com PC Cards under their own private
label. These cards also work.
The Farallon EtherWave and EtherMac card came in two varieties. The ep
driver supports the 595 and 895 cards. These cards have the blue arrow
on the front along with a 3Com logo. The Farallon 595a cards, which have
a red arrow on the front, are also called EtherWave and EtherMac. They
are supported by the sn(4) driver.
DIAGNOSTICS
ep0: reset (status: %x) The driver has encountered a FIFO underrun or
overrun. The driver will reset the card and the packet will be lost.
This is not fatal.
ep0: eeprom failed to come ready The eeprom failed to come ready. This
probably means the card is wedged.
ep0: 3c509 in test mode. Erase pencil mark! This means that someone has
scribbled with pencil in the test area on the card. Erase the pencil
mark and reboot. (This is not a joke).
ep0: No I/O space?! The driver was unable to allocate the I/O space that
it thinks should be there. Look for conflicts with other devices.
ep0: No irq?! The driver could not allocate the interrupt it wanted.
Look for conflicts, although sharing interrupts for PC Card is normal.
ep0: No connectors! The driver queried the hardware for what ethernet
attachment were present, but the hardware reported none that the driver
recognized.
ep0: Unable to get Ethernet address! The driver was unable to read the
ethernet address from the EEPROM. This is likely the result of the card
being wedged.
ep0: if_alloc() failed The driver was unable to allocate a ifnet
structure. This may happen in extremely low memory conditions.
ep0: strange connector type in EEPROM: assuming AUI The driver does not
know what to do with the information the EEPROM has about connectors, so
it is assuming the worst.
ep0: unknown ID 0xXXXXXXXX The driver has found an ID that it believes
it supports, but does not have a specific identification string to
present to the user.
ep0: <%s> at port 0x%03x in EISA mode The 3C509 ISA card is in EISA
mode. This message appears to be purely informational.
ep0: <%s> at x0%03x in PnP mode This card appears to be in Plug and Play
mode. It should be probed as part of the plug and play phase of the ISA
probes.
ep0: Invalid EEPROM checksum! The EEPROM has a bad checksum, so the
driver is ignoring the card.
ep0: bus_setup_intr() failed! The driver was unable to setup the
interrupt handler. This should never happen.
SEE ALSO
altq(4), ed(4), el(4), ie(4), intro(4), ng_ether(4), sn(4), vx(4),
ifconfig(8)
STANDARDS
are great. There is so many to choose from.
BUGS
Support for the 3Com 3C1 CompactFlash is not working.