Re: Question about use of PMAD-AA ethernet adapter on Decstation

[Len Sorensen <lsorense@opengraphics.com>]

On Mon, Oct 06, 2003 at 11:37:00PM +0200, Karsten Merker wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 06, 2003 at 04:29:41PM -0400, Len Sorensen wrote:
> 
> > I haven't managed to get my add on ethernet card to work in Debian Linux
> > yet on my Decstation 5000/133.  I was looking through the kernal patch
> > for mips, and saw this code:
> > 
> > #if 0
> >   /* We use this driver for the onboard LANCE only */
> > 
> >         /* Scan slots for PMAD-AA cards first. */
> >  #ifdef CONFIG_TC
> >         if (TURBOCHANNEL) {
> > [snip]
> >                }
> >        }
> > #endif
> > #endif
> > 
> > This looks to me as if it purposely makes the PMAD-AA not even an option
> > to use, although I was told at one point that supposedly it should work.
> 
> > Does anyone have an update on the status of the driver?
> 
> The code in declance.c does not work correctly with the PMAD-AA. The
> driver assigned eth0 to the PMAD-AA even though it does not really
> support this card and it assigned eth1 to the (working) onboard
> lance. As it made no sense to have a non-working card as the primary
> interface, I disabled the PMAD-AA detection in the piece of code
> listed above.
> 
> The mipsel 2.4.19 kernel package version 2.4.19-0.020911.6 and newer
> contains a (quite crude) patch which should make the PMAD-AA useable
> besides the onboard interface. Could you please try that one and tell
> me whether it works for you?
> 
> There had been plans to include proper PMAD-AA support in the
> standard declance driver, but up to now nobody actually has managed
> to do that.

Wel the code as it is in the pmadaa.c driver must be working now, since
the card is now working for me in a 5000/133, and the onboard is working
too at the same time.  It helped once I put the card IN the machine I
was playing with. :)

Len Sorensen