root/drivers/net/README.DLINK

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Released 1994-06-13


        CONTENTS:

        1. Introduction.
        2. License.
        3. Files in this release.
        4. Installation.
        5. Problems and tuning.
        6. Using the drivers with earlier releases.
        7. Acknowledgments.


        1. INTRODUCTION.

        This is a set of Ethernet drivers for the D-Link DE-600/DE-620
        pocket adapters, for the parallel port on a Linux based machine.
        Some adapter "clones" will also work.  Xircom is _not_ a clone...
        These drivers _can_ be used as loadable modules,
        and were developed for use on Linux v1.1.13 and above.
        For use on Linux v1.0.X, or earlier releases, see below.

        I have used these drivers for NFS, ftp, telnet and X-clients on
        remote machines. Transmissions with ftp seems to work as
        good as can be expected (i.e. > 80k bytes/sec) from a
        parallel port...:-)  Receive speeds will be about 60-80% of this.
        Depending on your machine, somewhat higher speeds can be achieved.

        All comments/fixes to Bjorn Ekwall (bj0rn@blox.se).


        2. LICENSE.

        This program is free software; you can redistribute it
        and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
        License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
        version 2, or (at your option) any later version.

        This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
        useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
        warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
        PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more
        details.

        You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
        License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
        Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA
        02139, USA.


        3. FILES IN THIS RELEASE.

        README.DLINK  This file.
        de600.c       The Source (,may it be with You :-) for the DE-600
        de620.c       ditto for the DE-620
        de620.h       Macros for de620.c

        If you are upgrading from the d-link tar release, there will
        also be a "dlink-patches" file that will patch Linux v1.1.18:
                linux/drivers/net/Makefile
                linux/drivers/net/CONFIG
                linux/drivers/net/MODULES
                linux/drivers/net/Space.c
                linux/config.in
        Apply the patch by:
        "cd /usr/src; patch -p0 < linux/drivers/net/dlink-patches"
        The old source, "linux/drivers/net/d_link.c", can be removed.


        4. INSTALLATION.

        o Get the latest net binaries, according to current net.wisdom.

        o Read the NET-2 and Ethernet HOWTO's and modify your setup.

        o If your parallel port has a strange address or irq,
          modify "linux/drivers/net/CONFIG" accordingly, or adjust
          the parameters in the "tuning" section in the sources.

        If you are going to use the drivers a loadable modules, do _not_
        enable them while doing "make config", but instead make sure that
        the drivers are included in "linux/drivers/net/MODULES".

        If you are _not_ going to use the driver(s) as loadable modules,
        but instead have them included in the kernel, remember to enable
        the drivers while doing "make config".

        o To include networking and DE600/DE620 support in your kernel:
          # cd /linux
          (as modules:)
          #  make config (answer yes on CONFIG_NET and CONFIG_INET)
          (else included in the kernel:)
          #  make config (answer yes on CONFIG _NET, _INET and _DE600 or _DE620)
          # make clean
          # make depend
          # make zImage (or whatever magic you usually do)

        o I use lilo to boot multiple kernels, so that I at least
          can have one working kernel :-). If you do too, append
          these lines to /etc/lilo/config:

                image = /linux/zImage
                label = newlinux
                root = /dev/hda2 (or whatever YOU have...)

          # /etc/lilo/install

        o Do "sync" and reboot the new kernel with a D-Link
          DE-600/DE-620 pocket adapter connected.

        o The adapter can be configured with ifconfig eth?
          where the actual number is decided by the kernel
          when the drivers are initialized.


        5. "PROBLEMS" AND TUNING,

        o If you see error messages from the driver, and if the traffic
          stops on the adapter, try to do "ifconfig" and "route" once
          more, just as in "rc.inet1".  This should take care of most
          problems, including effects from power loss, or adapters that
          aren't connected to the printer port in some way or another.
          You can somewhat change the behaviour by enabling/disabling
          the macro  SHUTDOWN_WHEN_LOST  in the "tuning" section.
          For the DE-600 there is another macro, CHECK_LOST_DE600,
          that you might want to read about in the "tuning" section.

        o Some machines have trouble handling the parallel port and
          the adapter at high speed. If you experience problems:

          DE-600:
          - The adapter is not recognized at boot, i.e. an Ethernet
            address of 00:80:c8:... is not shown, try to add another
              "; SLOW_DOWN_IO"
            at DE600_SLOW_DOWN in the "tuning" section. As a last resort,
            uncomment: "#define REALLY_SLOW_IO" (see <asm/io.h> for hints).

          - You experience "timeout" messages: first try to add another
              "; SLOW_DOWN_IO"
            at DE600_SLOW_DOWN in the "tuning" section, _then_ try to
            increase the value (original value: 5) at
            "if (tickssofar < 5)" near line 422.

          DE-620:
          - Your parallel port might be "sluggish".  To cater for
            this, there are the macros LOWSPEED and READ_DELAY/WRITE_DELAY
            in the "tuning" section. Your first step should be to enable
            LOWSPEED, and after that you can "tune" the XXX_DELAY values.

        o If the adapter _is_ recognized at boot but you get messages
          about "Network Unreachable", then the problem is probably
          _not_ with the driver.  Check your net configuration instead
          (ifconfig and route) in "rc.inet1".

        o There is some rudimentary support for debugging, look at
          the source. Use "-DDE600_DEBUG=3" or "-DDE620_DEBUG=3"
          when compiling, or include it in "linux/drivers/net/CONFIG".
          IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS YOU CAN'T SOLVE: PLEASE COMPILE THE DRIVER
          WITH DEBUGGING ENABLED, AND SEND ME THE RESULTING OUTPUT!


        6. USING THE DRIVERS WITH EARLIER RELEASES.

        The later v1.1.X releases of the Linux kernel include some
        changes in the networking layer (a.k.a. NET3). This affects
        these drivers in a few places.  The hints that follow are
        _not_ tested by me, since I don't have the diskspace to keep
        all releases on-line.
        Known needed changes to date:
        - release patchfile: some patches will fail, but they should
          be easy to apply "by hand", since they are trivial.
          (Space.c: d_link_init() is now called de600_probe())
        - de600.c: change  "mark_bh(NET_BH)" to  "mark_bh(INET_BH)".
        - de620.c: (maybe) change the code around "netif_rx(skb);" to be
                   similar to the code around "dev_rint(...)" in de600.c


        7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

        These drivers wouldn't have been done without the base
        (and support) from Ross Biro <bir7@leland.stanford.edu>,
        and D-Link Systems Inc.  The driver relies upon GPL-ed
        source from D-Link Systems Inc. and from Russel Nelson at
        Crynwr Software <nelson@crynwr.com>.

        Additional input also from:
        Donald Becker <becker@super.org>, Alan Cox <A.Cox@swansea.ac.uk>
        and Fred N. van Kempen <waltje@uWalt.NL.Mugnet.ORG>

        DE-600 alpha release primary victim^H^H^H^H^H^Htester:
        - Erik Proper <erikp@cs.kun.nl>.
        Good input also from several users, most notably
        - Mark Burton <markb@ordern.demon.co.uk>.

        DE-620 alpha release victims^H^H^H^H^H^H^Htesters:
        - J. Joshua Kopper <kopper@rtsg.mot.com>
        - Olav Kvittem <Olav.Kvittem@uninett.no>
        - Germano Caronni <caronni@nessie.cs.id.ethz.ch>
        - Jeremy Fitzhardinge <jeremy@suite.sw.oz.au>


        Happy hacking!

        Bjorn Ekwall == bj0rn@blox.se

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