XL(4) OpenBSD Programmer's Manual XL(4)
NAME
xl - 3Com EtherLink XL and Fast EtherLink XL Ethernet
SYNOPSIS
xl* at pci? dev ? function ?
xl* at cardbus? dev ? function ?
DESCRIPTION
The xl device driver supports the 3Com EtherLink XL and Fast EtherLink XL
family of Ethernet cards, and embedded controllers based on the 3Com
``boomerang'' and ``cyclone'' bus master EtherLink XL chips. This in-
cludes, among others, the following models:
3C575 10/100 LAN CardBus PC Card
3C900 EtherLink XL PCI
3C900B EtherLink XL PCI
3C905 Fast EtherLink XL PCI
3C905B Fast EtherLink XL PCI
3C905C Fast EtherLink XL PCI
3C980 Fast EtherLink Server NIC
3CSOHO OfficeConnect Fast Ethernet NIC
It also supports embedded 3C905-TX and 3C905B-TX Ethernet hardware found
in certain Dell OptiPlex and Dell Precision desktop machines, as well as
some Dell Latitude laptop docking stations. Other models of 3Com network
cards are supported by the ec(4), eg(4), el(4), ep(4), and ie(4) drivers.
Category 3, 4 or 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable should be used for
RJ-45 (10baseT), thick Ethernet coaxial (RG59 B/U, 50 ohm) for AUI/DIX,
and thin Ethernet coaxial (RG58 A/U or C/U, 50 ohm +/- 4) for BNC
(10base2). Some 3Com NICs also support MII connectors (switchable
10/100Mbps UTP). The 3C905B-FX and other similar cards are capable of
100Mbps over fiber.
The 3C985 series of Gigabit cards are supported by the ti(4) driver.
The following media types and options (as given to ifconfig(8)) are sup-
ported:
media autoselect
Enable autoselection of media type and options. Note that
this media type is only available with adapters that have ex-
ternal PHYs or built-in autonegotiation logic. For 3C900 and
3C900B adapters, the driver will choose the mode specified in
the EEPROM. You can change this by adding media options to
the appropriate /etc/hostname.xlX file.
media 100baseFX mediaopt full-duplex
For those cards that support it, force full-duplex 100Mbps op-
eration over fiber.
media 100baseFX mediaopt half-duplex
For those cards that support it, force half-duplex 100Mbps op-
eration over fiber.
media 100baseTX mediaopt full-duplex
Set 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet) operation and force full-duplex
mode.
media 100baseTX mediaopt half-duplex
Set 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet) operation and force half-duplex
mode.
media 10baseT mediaopt full-duplex
Set 10baseT (UTP) operation and force full-duplex mode.
media 10baseT mediaopt half-duplex
Set 10baseT (UTP) operation and force half-duplex mode.
media 10base5
Set 10base5 (thick-net) operation (half-duplex only).
media 10base2
Set 10base2 (thin-net) operation (half-duplex only).
For more information on configuring this device, see ifconfig(8). To view
a list of media types and options supported by your card try ifconfig -m
<device>. For example, ifconfig -m xl0.
DIAGNOSTICS
xl%d: couldn't map memory A fatal initialization error has occurred.
xl%d: couldn't map interrupt A fatal initialization error has occurred.
xl%d: device timeout The device has stopped responding to the network,
or there is a problem with the network connection (cable).
xl%d: no memory for rx list The driver failed to allocate an mbuf for
the receiver ring.
xl%d: no memory for tx list The driver fauled to allocate an mbuf for
the transmitter ring when allocating a pad buffer or collapsing an mbuf
chain into a cluster.
xl%d: command never completed! Some commands issued to the 3C90x ASIC
take time to complete: the driver is supposed to wait until the ``command
in progress'' bit in the status register clears before continuing. In
rare instances, this bit may not clear. To avoid getting caught in an
infinite wait loop, the driver only polls the bit a finite number of
times before giving up, at which point it issues this message. This mes-
sage may be printed during driver initialization on slower machines. If
you see this message but the driver continues to function normally, the
message can probably be ignored.
xl%d: chip is in D3 power state -- setting to D0 This message applies
only to 3C905B adapters, which support power management. Some operating
systems place the 3C905B in low power mode when shutting down, and some
PCI BIOSs fail to bring the chip out of this state before configuring it.
The 3C905B loses all of its PCI configuration in the D3 state, so if the
BIOS does not set it back to full power mode in time, it won't be able to
configure it correctly. The driver tries to detect this condition and
bring the adapter back to the D0 (full power) state, but this may not be
enough to return the driver to a fully operational condition. If you see
this message at boot time and the driver fails to attach the device as a
network interface, you will have to perform second warm boot to have the
device properly configured.
Note that this condition only occurs when warm booting from another oper-
ating system. If you power down your system prior to booting OpenBSD,
the card should be configured correctly.
xl%d: WARNING: no media options bits set in the media options
register! This warning may appear when using the driver on some Dell
Latitude docking stations with built-in 3C905-TX adapters. For whatever
the reason, the ``MII available'' bit in the media options register on
this particular equipment is not set, even though it should be (the
3C905-TX always uses an external PHY transceiver). The driver will at-
tempt to guess the proper media type based on the PCI device ID word.
The driver makes a lot of noise about this condition because the author
considers it a manufacturing defect.
SEE ALSO
ec(4), eg(4), el(4), ep(4), ie(4), ti(4), ifmedia(4), ifconfig(8)
HISTORY
The xl device driver first appeared in FreeBSD 3.0. OpenBSD support was
added in OpenBSD 2.4.
AUTHOR
The xl driver was written by Bill Paul <wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu>.
OpenBSD 2.7 August 16, 1998 3