ep(4) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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EP(4)                   NetBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual                  EP(4)


NAME

     ep -- driver for 3Com EtherLink III Ethernet interfaces


SYNOPSIS

     ep0 at isa? port ? irq ?
     ep* at isapnp?
     ep* at eisa? slot ?
     ep* at mca? slot ?
     ep* at pci? dev ? function ?
     ep* at pcmcia? function ?


DESCRIPTION

     The ep device driver supports the 3Com EtherLink III family of Ethernet
     cards.

     The 3c515 is an ISA 10/100 card with DMA capability.  The chipset is sim-
     ilar to that of the 3c905, with some changes to make it work with the
     more limited ISA bus address space.  This card is supported, although DMA
     is not used.

     The EISA and PCI 3c59x devices use an older DMA engine which is not capa-
     ble of multi-segment DMA.  DMA on these devices is not used.

     The 3c529 is a MCA device, and doesn't support DMA.

     The PCI 3c90x devices have multi-segment DMA capability, which is not
     supported by the ep driver.  To use the DMA capabilities of these cards,
     the ex(4) driver must be used.

     The PCI 3c90xB devices are not supported by the ep driver, as they do not
     include support for programmed I/O.  These devices are supported by the
     ex(4) driver.

     The 3c575 is a CardBus device, and is supported by ex(4) driver.


MEDIA SELECTION

     There are 3 main chipset classes supported by the ep driver.  Each has
     their own media selection capabilities.

     The first class is the ``3c509'' class.  This includes the 3c509, 3c509B,
     3c529, 3c579, 3c562, and 3c589.  These devices can support 10BASE-T,
     10BASE2, and 10BASE5.  Available media will be displayed when the device
     is found by the kernel.

     The second class is the ``Vortex'' class.  This includes the 3c592,
     3c579, 3c590, and 3c595.  This class also includes the 3c900-TPO and
     3c900-COMBO; they use the ``Boomerang'' chipset, but use Vortex-style
     media selection.  These devices have many different media types varying
     by model.  Some models have an external MII connector for connecting an
     external PHY.  This is supported by means of the ``manual'' media type.
     Available media will be displayed when the device is found by the kernel.

     The third class is the ``Boomerang'' class.  This includes the 3c515,
     3c905, and 3c574.  These devices support media selection via MII.  The
     3c515 and 3c905 have an nsphy(4), and the 3c574 has a tqphy(4), for this
     purpose.  See ifmedia(4) and mii(4) for more information.


HARDWARE

     Supported cards include:

           3c509   ISA 10Mbps card, in BNC and multiport variants

           3c509B  ISA Plug-and-Play 10Mbps card, in BNC and multiport vari-
                   ants

           3c515   ISA Plug-and-Play 10/100 card with UTP

           3c529   MCA 10Mbps card, in UTP+AUI and BNC+AUI variants

           3c556B  PCMCIA 56K modem-10/100Mbps Ethernet combo card with dongle

           3c562   PCMCIA modem-10Mbps Ethernet combo card with dongle

           3c572B  OfficeConnect.  Same as 3c574, but with newer revision of
                   tqphy(4)

           3c574   PCMCIA 10/100Mbps card with dongle

           3c579   EISA 10Mbps card, in UTP, BNC, and multiport variants

           3c589   PCMCIA 10Mbps card with dongle

           3c590   PCI 10Mbps multiport card with DMA capability

           3c592   EISA 10Mbps card with DMA capability

           3c595   PCI 10/100Mbps with different media options and DMA capa-
                   bility

           3c597   EISA 10/100Mbps card with DMA capability

           3c900   PCI 10Mbps card in 10BASE-T and multiport variants with DMA
                   capability

           3c905   PCI 10/100Mbps card in 10BASE-T, multiport, and fast vari-
                   ants with DMA capability


NOTES

     EtherLink III cards have 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
     0x100.  Beware!  Avoid placing other cards at that address!

     The 3Com configuration utilities can `autosense' the active media and
     save it as default.  The saved default medium is the medium that was
     active at the time the configuration utility was run.  The ep driver does
     not yet re-autosense the active media at boot time.  If the EEPROM
     autosense bit is set, the driver simply uses the media type sensed and
     saved when the configuration utility was run.


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.)


SEE ALSO

     eisa(4), ex(4), ifmedia(4), intro(4), isa(4), isapnp(4), mca(4), mii(4),
     nsphy(4), pci(4), pcmcia(4), tqphy(4), ifconfig(8)

NetBSD 10.1                    October 11, 2021                    NetBSD 10.1