root/drivers/net/README.arcnet

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE:  See also README.arcnet-jumpers in this directory for jumper-setting
information if you're like most of us and didn't happen to get a manual with
your ARCnet card.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since no one seems to listen to me otherwise, perhaps a poem will get your
attention:
                        This is scary software
                        If it works I DO CARE.
                        
Hmm, I think I'm allowed to call that a poem, even though it's only two
lines.  Hey, I'm in Computer Science, not English.  Give me a break.

The point is:  I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY want to hear from you if
you test this and get it working.  Or if you don't.  Or anything.

ARCnet 0.32 ALPHA first made it into the Linux kernel 1.1.80 - this was
nice, but after that even FEWER people started writing to me because they
didn't even have to install the patch.  <sigh>

Come on, be a sport!  Send me a success report!

(hey, that was even better than my original poem... this is getting bad!)

Anyway, enough complaining.  Let's get started:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        
These are the ARCnet drivers for Linux.

This is the first non-ALPHA release, so please be careful, and send all
possible success/failure reports to me.  If I don't know when/if/how it
works, I won't be able to answer people's questions.  Do we want that?  Of
course not.

Once again:  DO send me success reports!  I want to know if this is working!
(You know, it might be argued that I'm pushing this point a little too much. 
If you think so, why not flame me in a quick little email?  Please also
include the type of card(s) you're using, software, size of network, and
whether it's working or not.)

My e-mail address is:
        apenwarr@tourism.807-city.on.ca


Where do I discuss these drivers?
---------------------------------

As of the 0.22 release, we have a mailing list specifically for discussion
of the ARCnet drivers for Linux, and anything you might want to interface
them with (ie. DOS).  I'll also post new versions of the Linux-ARCnet
distribution to the list in tar-gzip-uuencode format.

To subscribe to the list, send a message to listserv@tourism.807-city.on.ca
with the following line in the BODY (not the SUBJECT) of your message:
        subscribe linux-arcnet YOUR REAL NAME
Remember to remove your signature, or you'll get an error back.

Send all bug (or success) reports to me or to the list.

You're free to use the comp.os.linux.development newsgroup too, but I can't
guarantee I'll see it there.  (Hopefully, if my news server stays sane, I
will.)

Also, SMC (one of the companies that makes ARCnet cards) has a WorldWideWeb
site you might be interested in, which includes several drivers for various
cards including ARCnet.  Try:
        http://www.smc.com/
        
Novell makes a networking stack for DOS which includes ARCnet drivers.  Try
ftp'ing to ftp.novell.com.

You can get the Crynwr packet driver collection (including arcether.com, the
one you'll want for arcnet cards) from oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/pktdrvr. 
It won't work perfectly on a 386+ without patches, though, and also doesn't
like several cards.  Mail me if you want a fixed version.


Last warning:  This driver may be extremely dangerous, crash your computer,
or kill your dog!  (although I'm pretty sure that I've worked that one
out...)


Loadable Module Support
-----------------------

This is a new feature as of 0.42 ALPHA.

Configure and rebuild Linux.  When asked, say NO to "arcnet support" if you
want loadable module support.

        make config
        make dep
        make clean      
        make zImage
        make modules
        
        
Booting into your "ARCnet" Kernel
---------------------------------

If you're using a loadable module, you need to use insmod to load the
module, and you need to specify various characteristics of your card on the
command line.  For example:
        cd /usr/src/linux/modules
        insmod arcnet.o io=0x300 irqnum=2 shmem=0xd0000
You can also add a num=1, num=2 etc for additional arcnet cards that will
use arc1, arc2 etc for their device names (instead of the default, arc0).
        
Otherwise the driver will load and probe for your card automatically.
        
Now go read the NET-2-HOWTO and ETHERNET-HOWTO for Linux; they should be
available where you picked up this driver.  Think of your ARCnet as a
souped-up (or down, as the case may be) ethernet card.

By the way, be sure to change all references from "eth0" to "arc0" in the
HOWTOs.  Remember that ARCnet isn't a "true" ethernet, and the device name
is DIFFERENT.


How do I get it to work with...?
--------------------------------

NFS: Should be fine linux->linux, just pretend you're using ethernet cards. 
        oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/nfs has some nice DOS clients.  I can't
        get SOSS (dos-based server) to work, although someone has and can't
        figure out why it won't work for me.

DOS: If you're using the freeware arcether.com, you might want to install
        the source code patch.  It helps with PC/TCP, and also can get
        arcether to load if it timed out too quickly.  Mail me if you need a
        precompiled version of arcether.com. (ie. you if don't have a DOS
        assembler)
        
Windows:  See DOS :)

OS2: May work okay.  Please e-mail me if you find a freeware TCP/IP stack
        for OS/2.
        
LAN Manager and Windows for Workgroups: These programs use protocols that
        are incompatible with ARCnet for Linux.  Rather than using the
        internet-standard ARCnet protocol, they try to pretend the cards are
        ethernet, and confuse everyone else on the network.
        
        An upcoming release of ARCnet for Linux may have workarounds for
        this stupid behaviour.


It works: what now?
-------------------

Send mail describing your setup, preferably including driver version, kernel
version, ARCnet card model, CPU type, number of systems on your network, and
list of software in use to me at the following address:
        apenwarr@tourism.807-city.on.ca

I do send (sometimes automated) replies to all messages I receive.  My mail
host is quite weird, so if you don't get a reply within a reasonable time,
please resend.


It doesn't work: what now?
--------------------------

Do the same as above, but also include the output of the ifconfig and route
commands, as well as any pertinent log entries (ie: anything that starts
with "arcnet:" and has shown up since the last reboot) in your mail.

If you want to try fixing it yourself (I highly recommend that you mail me
about the problem first, since it might already have been solved) you may
want to try some of the debug levels available.  For heavy testing on
DEBUG_DURING or more, it would be a REALLY good idea to kill your klogd
daemon first!  DEBUG_DURING displays 4-5 lines for each packet sent or
received.  DEBUG_TX and RX actually DISPLAY each packet as it is sent or
received, which is obviously quite big.

You can run the arcdump shell script (available from me) as root to list the
contents of the arcnet buffers at any time.  To make any sense at all out of
this, you should grab the pertinent RFC's. (some are listed near the top of
arcnet.c).  arcdump assumes your card is at 0xD0000.  If it isn't, edit the
script.

Buffers #0 and 1 are used for receiving, and Buffers #2 and 3 are for
sending.  Ping-pong buffers are implemented both ways, just to confuse you.

If your debug level is DEBUG_DURING or more, the buffers are cleared to a
constant value of 0x42 every time the card is reset (which should only
happen when you do an ifconfig up, or when Linux decides that the driver is
broken).  This is to make it easier to figure out which bytes are being used
by a packet.

You can change the debug level without recompiling the kernel by typing:
        ifconfig arc0 down metric 1x
        /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1
where "x" is the debug level you want.  For example, "metric 14" would put
you at debug level 4.  Debug level 3 is the default (D_EXTRA).


I want to send money: what now?
-------------------------------

Go take a nap or something.  You'll feel better in the morning.

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