Documentation/networking/e100.txt

   1 Linux* Base Driver for the Intel(R) PRO/100 Family of Adapters
   2 ==============================================================
   3
   4 March 15, 2011
   5
   6 Contents
   7 ========
   8
   9 - In This Release
  10 - Identifying Your Adapter
  11 - Building and Installation
  12 - Driver Configuration Parameters
  13 - Additional Configurations
  14 - Known Issues
  15 - Support
  16
  17
  18 In This Release
  19 ===============
  20
  21 This file describes the Linux* Base Driver for the Intel(R) PRO/100 Family of
  22 Adapters. This driver includes support for Itanium(R)2-based systems.
  23
  24 For questions related to hardware requirements, refer to the documentation
  25 supplied with your Intel PRO/100 adapter.
  26
  27 The following features are now available in supported kernels:
  28  - Native VLANs
  29  - Channel Bonding (teaming)
  30  - SNMP
  31
  32 Channel Bonding documentation can be found in the Linux kernel source:
  33 /Documentation/networking/bonding.txt
  34
  35
  36 Identifying Your Adapter
  37 ========================
  38
  39 For more information on how to identify your adapter, go to the Adapter &
  40 Driver ID Guide at:
  41
  42   http://support.intel.com/support/network/adapter/pro100/21397.htm
  43
  44 For the latest Intel network drivers for Linux, refer to the following
  45 website. In the search field, enter your adapter name or type, or use the
  46 networking link on the left to search for your adapter:
  47
  48   http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/support_intel.asp
  49
  50 Driver Configuration Parameters
  51 ===============================
  52
  53 The default value for each parameter is generally the recommended setting,
  54 unless otherwise noted.
  55
  56 Rx Descriptors: Number of receive descriptors. A receive descriptor is a data
  57    structure that describes a receive buffer and its attributes to the network
  58    controller. The data in the descriptor is used by the controller to write
  59    data from the controller to host memory. In the 3.x.x driver the valid range
  60    for this parameter is 64-256. The default value is 64. This parameter can be
  61    changed using the command:
  62
  63    ethtool -G eth? rx n, where n is the number of desired rx descriptors.
  64
  65 Tx Descriptors: Number of transmit descriptors. A transmit descriptor is a data
  66    structure that describes a transmit buffer and its attributes to the network
  67    controller. The data in the descriptor is used by the controller to read
  68    data from the host memory to the controller. In the 3.x.x driver the valid
  69    range for this parameter is 64-256. The default value is 64. This parameter
  70    can be changed using the command:
  71
  72    ethtool -G eth? tx n, where n is the number of desired tx descriptors.
  73
  74 Speed/Duplex: The driver auto-negotiates the link speed and duplex settings by
  75    default. The ethtool utility can be used as follows to force speed/duplex.
  76
  77    ethtool -s eth?  autoneg off speed {10|100} duplex {full|half}
  78
  79    NOTE: setting the speed/duplex to incorrect values will cause the link to
  80    fail.
  81
  82 Event Log Message Level:  The driver uses the message level flag to log events
  83    to syslog. The message level can be set at driver load time. It can also be
  84    set using the command:
  85
  86    ethtool -s eth? msglvl n
  87
  88
  89 Additional Configurations
  90 =========================
  91
  92   Configuring the Driver on Different Distributions
  93   -------------------------------------------------
  94
  95   Configuring a network driver to load properly when the system is started is
  96   distribution dependent. Typically, the configuration process involves adding
  97   an alias line to /etc/modprobe.d/*.conf as well as editing other system
  98   startup scripts and/or configuration files.  Many popular Linux
  99   distributions ship with tools to make these changes for you. To learn the
 100   proper way to configure a network device for your system, refer to your
 101   distribution documentation.  If during this process you are asked for the
 102   driver or module name, the name for the Linux Base Driver for the Intel
 103   PRO/100 Family of Adapters is e100.
 104
 105   As an example, if you install the e100 driver for two PRO/100 adapters
 106   (eth0 and eth1), add the following to a configuration file in /etc/modprobe.d/
 107
 108        alias eth0 e100
 109        alias eth1 e100
 110
 111   Viewing Link Messages
 112   ---------------------
 113   In order to see link messages and other Intel driver information on your
 114   console, you must set the dmesg level up to six. This can be done by
 115   entering the following on the command line before loading the e100 driver:
 116
 117        dmesg -n 8
 118
 119   If you wish to see all messages issued by the driver, including debug
 120   messages, set the dmesg level to eight.
 121
 122   NOTE: This setting is not saved across reboots.
 123
 124
 125   ethtool
 126   -------
 127
 128   The driver utilizes the ethtool interface for driver configuration and
 129   diagnostics, as well as displaying statistical information.  The ethtool
 130   version 1.6 or later is required for this functionality.
 131
 132   The latest release of ethtool can be found from
 133   http://ftp.kernel.org/pub/software/network/ethtool/
 134
 135   Enabling Wake on LAN* (WoL)
 136   ---------------------------
 137   WoL is provided through the ethtool* utility.  For instructions on enabling
 138   WoL with ethtool, refer to the ethtool man page.
 139
 140   WoL will be enabled on the system during the next shut down or reboot. For
 141   this driver version, in order to enable WoL, the e100 driver must be
 142   loaded when shutting down or rebooting the system.
 143
 144   NAPI
 145   ----
 146
 147   NAPI (Rx polling mode) is supported in the e100 driver.
 148
 149   See www.cyberus.ca/~hadi/usenix-paper.tgz for more information on NAPI.
 150
 151   Multiple Interfaces on Same Ethernet Broadcast Network
 152   ------------------------------------------------------
 153
 154   Due to the default ARP behavior on Linux, it is not possible to have
 155   one system on two IP networks in the same Ethernet broadcast domain
 156   (non-partitioned switch) behave as expected. All Ethernet interfaces
 157   will respond to IP traffic for any IP address assigned to the system.
 158   This results in unbalanced receive traffic.
 159
 160   If you have multiple interfaces in a server, either turn on ARP
 161   filtering by
 162
 163   (1) entering: echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/arp_filter
 164       (this only works if your kernel's version is higher than 2.4.5), or
 165
 166   (2) installing the interfaces in separate broadcast domains (either
 167       in different switches or in a switch partitioned to VLANs).
 168
 169
 170 Support
 171 =======
 172
 173 For general information, go to the Intel support website at:
 174
 175     http://support.intel.com
 176
 177     or the Intel Wired Networking project hosted by Sourceforge at:
 178
 179     http://sourceforge.net/projects/e1000
 180
 181 If an issue is identified with the released source code on the supported
 182 kernel with a supported adapter, email the specific information related to the
 183 issue to e1000-devel@lists.sourceforge.net.