Re: Trying to install linux with Allied-Telesyn network adaptor
Paul Wade wrote:
>
> Discothequ@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm getting extremely frustrated trying to install linux. I can
> install the
> base system without any problems, but I cannot configure my network
> card
> correctly, thus I cannot run the dselect program to complete my
> installation
> via FTP. I have an AT1510 plug and play ethernet adaptor, but when
> installing linux I can't find an option for that, that will work.
> According
> to all the HOW-TOs and FAQs it says that my card is compatible with
> the AMD
> Lance chips. When I choose that option in the network device driver
> options
> it always says installation failed. What am I doing wrong? I've
> looked
> through the myriad of documentations, but I can't seem to find step
> by step
> instructions for configuring this card. According to Win95 control
> panel my
> settings for the card are:
> IRQ-10
> DMA-7
> Input/Output range 0300-0317
>
> Can anybody, please give me step by step intructions on how to
> configure this
> card properly so I can complete the installation of linux?
>
> Please, thanks.
>
> I have some $18 NE2000 cards that are plug-and-play compatible. Using
> the floppy that comes with them, I disable plug-and-play and choose
> fixed I/O addresses and IRQ levels. To use it with w95, I have to
> install it as an NE2000-compatible and specify the settings, but it
> works well with Linux this way.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Paul Wade, CEO
> Greenbush Technologies Corporation
> Web: http://www.greenbush.com/
> Email: mailto:paulwade@greenbush.com
> *********************************
> Fresh Linux CD's mailed monthly
> No refrigeration needed
> Under 1 billion sold!
> *********************************
What Paul is trying to tell you is that the Linux kernel currently
does not support Plug-and-Play devices. That said, there are a few
work-arounds. The easiest method is to change the settings on the
card so that the device will work with fixed IRQ/DMA/IO settings--
many cards support this. Another method is to use the isapnptools
package (I'm not sure what the debian package name is, but I know
that a package exists.). This package is supposed to be able to
sense/set things on PnP ISA boards. Apparently many people use this
package with good success. I tried to use it and never got it to
work. The third method is to first boot into Win95, which will
configure the devices, and then "warm boot" into Linux (presumably
using loadlin). I use this method because most of the time my
computer is in Win95 (until, that is, there's a linux replacement
for MS-Phone, which does a bang-up job of being an answering machine/
fax machine). Just check to see what the settings are from the control
panel. If Linux doesn't sense them you can set the for the driver
by passing them as parameters to the kernel. Here's a snipet from
the Ethernet-HOWTO (yup, that's right, you didn't RTFM):
10.1.1. The ether command
In its most generic form, it looks something like this:
ether=IRQ,BASE_ADDR,PARAM_1,PARAM_2,NAME
All arguments are optional. The first non-numeric argument is taken
as the NAME.
IRQ: Obvious. An IRQ value of `0' (usually the default) means to
autoIRQ. It's a historical accident that the IRQ setting is first
rather than the base_addr -- this will be fixed whenever something
else changes.
BASE_ADDR: Also obvious. A value of `0' (usually the default) means
to probe a card-type-specific address list for an ethercard.
PARAM_1: It was orginally used as an override value for the memory
start for a shared-memory ethercard, like the WD80*3. Some drivers
use the low four bits of this value to set the debug message level. 0
-- default, 1-7 -- level 1..7, (7 is maximum verbosity) 8 -- level 0
(no messages). Also, the LANCE driver uses the low four bits of this
value to select the DMA channel. Otherwise it uses auto-DMA.
PARAM_2: The 3c503 driver uses this to select between the internal and
external transceivers. 0 -- default/internal, 1 -- AUI external. The
Cabletron E21XX card also uses the low 4 bits of PARAM_2 to select the
output media. Otherwise it detects automatically.
NAME: Selects the network device the values refer to. The standard
kernel uses the names `eth0', `eth1', `eth2' and `eth3' for bus-
attached ethercards, and `atp0' for the parallel port `pocket'
ethernet adaptor. The arcnet driver uses `arc0' as its name. The
default setting is for a single ethercard to be probed for as `eth0'.
Multiple cards can only be enabled by explicitly setting up their base
address using these LILO parameters. The 1.0 kernel has LANCE-based
ethercards as a special case. LILO arguments are ignored, and LANCE
cards are always assigned `eth<n>' names starting at `eth0'.
Additional non-LANCE ethercards must be explicitly assigned to
`eth<n+1>', and the usual `eth0' probe disabled with something like
`ether=0,-1,eth0'. ( Yes, this is bug. )
Note especially from the above that for the LANCE driver, the low
four bits of PARAM_1 specify the DMA channel. So, let's say you use
LOADLIN. You're in Win95, and you select Shutdown from the start menu
and choose "Reboot into DOS". You then go to your loadlin directory
and type 'loadlin blah blah' and boot up Linux. You will specify
(as one of the "blah"s) the boot parameter, which will be (assuming
your card will be eth0:
ether=10,0x300,7,0,eth0
That should do the trick.
--
Jens B. Jorgensen
jjorgens@bdsinc.com
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