| (C)Copyright 1999-2004 Marvell(R). |
| All rights reserved |
| =========================================================================== |
| |
| sk98lin.txt created 13-Feb-2004 |
| |
| Readme File for sk98lin v6.23 |
| Marvell Yukon/SysKonnect SK-98xx Gigabit Ethernet Adapter family driver for LINUX |
| |
| This file contains |
| 1 Overview |
| 2 Required Files |
| 3 Installation |
| 3.1 Driver Installation |
| 3.2 Inclusion of adapter at system start |
| 4 Driver Parameters |
| 4.1 Per-Port Parameters |
| 4.2 Adapter Parameters |
| 5 Large Frame Support |
| 6 VLAN and Link Aggregation Support (IEEE 802.1, 802.1q, 802.3ad) |
| 7 Troubleshooting |
| |
| =========================================================================== |
| |
| |
| 1 Overview |
| =========== |
| |
| The sk98lin driver supports the Marvell Yukon and SysKonnect |
| SK-98xx/SK-95xx compliant Gigabit Ethernet Adapter on Linux. It has |
| been tested with Linux on Intel/x86 machines. |
| *** |
| |
| |
| 2 Required Files |
| ================= |
| |
| The linux kernel source. |
| No additional files required. |
| *** |
| |
| |
| 3 Installation |
| =============== |
| |
| It is recommended to download the latest version of the driver from the |
| SysKonnect web site www.syskonnect.com. If you have downloaded the latest |
| driver, the Linux kernel has to be patched before the driver can be |
| installed. For details on how to patch a Linux kernel, refer to the |
| patch.txt file. |
| |
| 3.1 Driver Installation |
| ------------------------ |
| |
| The following steps describe the actions that are required to install |
| the driver and to start it manually. These steps should be carried |
| out for the initial driver setup. Once confirmed to be ok, they can |
| be included in the system start. |
| |
| NOTE 1: To perform the following tasks you need 'root' access. |
| |
| NOTE 2: In case of problems, please read the section "Troubleshooting" |
| below. |
| |
| The driver can either be integrated into the kernel or it can be compiled |
| as a module. Select the appropriate option during the kernel |
| configuration. |
| |
| Compile/use the driver as a module |
| ---------------------------------- |
| To compile the driver, go to the directory /usr/src/linux and |
| execute the command "make menuconfig" or "make xconfig" and proceed as |
| follows: |
| |
| To integrate the driver permanently into the kernel, proceed as follows: |
| |
| 1. Select the menu "Network device support" and then "Ethernet(1000Mbit)" |
| 2. Mark "Marvell Yukon Chipset / SysKonnect SK-98xx family support" |
| with (*) |
| 3. Build a new kernel when the configuration of the above options is |
| finished. |
| 4. Install the new kernel. |
| 5. Reboot your system. |
| |
| To use the driver as a module, proceed as follows: |
| |
| 1. Enable 'loadable module support' in the kernel. |
| 2. For automatic driver start, enable the 'Kernel module loader'. |
| 3. Select the menu "Network device support" and then "Ethernet(1000Mbit)" |
| 4. Mark "Marvell Yukon Chipset / SysKonnect SK-98xx family support" |
| with (M) |
| 5. Execute the command "make modules". |
| 6. Execute the command "make modules_install". |
| The appropriate modules will be installed. |
| 7. Reboot your system. |
| |
| |
| Load the module manually |
| ------------------------ |
| To load the module manually, proceed as follows: |
| |
| 1. Enter "modprobe sk98lin". |
| 2. If a Marvell Yukon or SysKonnect SK-98xx adapter is installed in |
| your computer and you have a /proc file system, execute the command: |
| "ls /proc/net/sk98lin/" |
| This should produce an output containing a line with the following |
| format: |
| eth0 eth1 ... |
| which indicates that your adapter has been found and initialized. |
| |
| NOTE 1: If you have more than one Marvell Yukon or SysKonnect SK-98xx |
| adapter installed, the adapters will be listed as 'eth0', |
| 'eth1', 'eth2', etc. |
| For each adapter, repeat steps 3 and 4 below. |
| |
| NOTE 2: If you have other Ethernet adapters installed, your Marvell |
| Yukon or SysKonnect SK-98xx adapter will be mapped to the |
| next available number, e.g. 'eth1'. The mapping is executed |
| automatically. |
| The module installation message (displayed either in a system |
| log file or on the console) prints a line for each adapter |
| found containing the corresponding 'ethX'. |
| |
| 3. Select an IP address and assign it to the respective adapter by |
| entering: |
| ifconfig eth0 <ip-address> |
| With this command, the adapter is connected to the Ethernet. |
| |
| SK-98xx Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapters: The yellow LED on the adapter |
| is now active, the link status LED of the primary port is active and |
| the link status LED of the secondary port (on dual port adapters) is |
| blinking (if the ports are connected to a switch or hub). |
| SK-98xx V2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Adapters: The link status LED is active. |
| In addition, you will receive a status message on the console stating |
| "ethX: network connection up using port Y" and showing the selected |
| connection parameters (x stands for the ethernet device number |
| (0,1,2, etc), y stands for the port name (A or B)). |
| |
| NOTE: If you are in doubt about IP addresses, ask your network |
| administrator for assistance. |
| |
| 4. Your adapter should now be fully operational. |
| Use 'ping <otherstation>' to verify the connection to other computers |
| on your network. |
| 5. To check the adapter configuration view /proc/net/sk98lin/[devicename]. |
| For example by executing: |
| "cat /proc/net/sk98lin/eth0" |
| |
| Unload the module |
| ----------------- |
| To stop and unload the driver modules, proceed as follows: |
| |
| 1. Execute the command "ifconfig eth0 down". |
| 2. Execute the command "rmmod sk98lin". |
| |
| 3.2 Inclusion of adapter at system start |
| ----------------------------------------- |
| |
| Since a large number of different Linux distributions are |
| available, we are unable to describe a general installation procedure |
| for the driver module. |
| Because the driver is now integrated in the kernel, installation should |
| be easy, using the standard mechanism of your distribution. |
| Refer to the distribution's manual for installation of ethernet adapters. |
| |
| *** |
| |
| 4 Driver Parameters |
| ==================== |
| |
| Parameters can be set at the command line after the module has been |
| loaded with the command 'modprobe'. |
| In some distributions, the configuration tools are able to pass parameters |
| to the driver module. |
| |
| If you use the kernel module loader, you can set driver parameters |
| in the file /etc/modprobe.conf (or /etc/modules.conf in 2.4 or earlier). |
| To set the driver parameters in this file, proceed as follows: |
| |
| 1. Insert a line of the form : |
| options sk98lin ... |
| For "...", the same syntax is required as described for the command |
| line parameters of modprobe below. |
| 2. To activate the new parameters, either reboot your computer |
| or |
| unload and reload the driver. |
| The syntax of the driver parameters is: |
| |
| modprobe sk98lin parameter=value1[,value2[,value3...]] |
| |
| where value1 refers to the first adapter, value2 to the second etc. |
| |
| NOTE: All parameters are case sensitive. Write them exactly as shown |
| below. |
| |
| Example: |
| Suppose you have two adapters. You want to set auto-negotiation |
| on the first adapter to ON and on the second adapter to OFF. |
| You also want to set DuplexCapabilities on the first adapter |
| to FULL, and on the second adapter to HALF. |
| Then, you must enter: |
| |
| modprobe sk98lin AutoNeg_A=On,Off DupCap_A=Full,Half |
| |
| NOTE: The number of adapters that can be configured this way is |
| limited in the driver (file skge.c, constant SK_MAX_CARD_PARAM). |
| The current limit is 16. If you happen to install |
| more adapters, adjust this and recompile. |
| |
| |
| 4.1 Per-Port Parameters |
| ------------------------ |
| |
| These settings are available for each port on the adapter. |
| In the following description, '?' stands for the port for |
| which you set the parameter (A or B). |
| |
| Speed |
| ----- |
| Parameter: Speed_? |
| Values: 10, 100, 1000, Auto |
| Default: Auto |
| |
| This parameter is used to set the speed capabilities. It is only valid |
| for the SK-98xx V2.0 copper adapters. |
| Usually, the speed is negotiated between the two ports during link |
| establishment. If this fails, a port can be forced to a specific setting |
| with this parameter. |
| |
| Auto-Negotiation |
| ---------------- |
| Parameter: AutoNeg_? |
| Values: On, Off, Sense |
| Default: On |
| |
| The "Sense"-mode automatically detects whether the link partner supports |
| auto-negotiation or not. |
| |
| Duplex Capabilities |
| ------------------- |
| Parameter: DupCap_? |
| Values: Half, Full, Both |
| Default: Both |
| |
| This parameters is only relevant if auto-negotiation for this port is |
| not set to "Sense". If auto-negotiation is set to "On", all three values |
| are possible. If it is set to "Off", only "Full" and "Half" are allowed. |
| This parameter is useful if your link partner does not support all |
| possible combinations. |
| |
| Flow Control |
| ------------ |
| Parameter: FlowCtrl_? |
| Values: Sym, SymOrRem, LocSend, None |
| Default: SymOrRem |
| |
| This parameter can be used to set the flow control capabilities the |
| port reports during auto-negotiation. It can be set for each port |
| individually. |
| Possible modes: |
| -- Sym = Symmetric: both link partners are allowed to send |
| PAUSE frames |
| -- SymOrRem = SymmetricOrRemote: both or only remote partner |
| are allowed to send PAUSE frames |
| -- LocSend = LocalSend: only local link partner is allowed |
| to send PAUSE frames |
| -- None = no link partner is allowed to send PAUSE frames |
| |
| NOTE: This parameter is ignored if auto-negotiation is set to "Off". |
| |
| Role in Master-Slave-Negotiation (1000Base-T only) |
| -------------------------------------------------- |
| Parameter: Role_? |
| Values: Auto, Master, Slave |
| Default: Auto |
| |
| This parameter is only valid for the SK-9821 and SK-9822 adapters. |
| For two 1000Base-T ports to communicate, one must take the role of the |
| master (providing timing information), while the other must be the |
| slave. Usually, this is negotiated between the two ports during link |
| establishment. If this fails, a port can be forced to a specific setting |
| with this parameter. |
| |
| |
| 4.2 Adapter Parameters |
| ----------------------- |
| |
| Connection Type (SK-98xx V2.0 copper adapters only) |
| --------------- |
| Parameter: ConType |
| Values: Auto, 100FD, 100HD, 10FD, 10HD |
| Default: Auto |
| |
| The parameter 'ConType' is a combination of all five per-port parameters |
| within one single parameter. This simplifies the configuration of both ports |
| of an adapter card! The different values of this variable reflect the most |
| meaningful combinations of port parameters. |
| |
| The following table shows the values of 'ConType' and the corresponding |
| combinations of the per-port parameters: |
| |
| ConType | DupCap AutoNeg FlowCtrl Role Speed |
| ----------+------------------------------------------------------ |
| Auto | Both On SymOrRem Auto Auto |
| 100FD | Full Off None Auto (ignored) 100 |
| 100HD | Half Off None Auto (ignored) 100 |
| 10FD | Full Off None Auto (ignored) 10 |
| 10HD | Half Off None Auto (ignored) 10 |
| |
| Stating any other port parameter together with this 'ConType' variable |
| will result in a merged configuration of those settings. This due to |
| the fact, that the per-port parameters (e.g. Speed_? ) have a higher |
| priority than the combined variable 'ConType'. |
| |
| NOTE: This parameter is always used on both ports of the adapter card. |
| |
| Interrupt Moderation |
| -------------------- |
| Parameter: Moderation |
| Values: None, Static, Dynamic |
| Default: None |
| |
| Interrupt moderation is employed to limit the maximum number of interrupts |
| the driver has to serve. That is, one or more interrupts (which indicate any |
| transmit or receive packet to be processed) are queued until the driver |
| processes them. When queued interrupts are to be served, is determined by the |
| 'IntsPerSec' parameter, which is explained later below. |
| |
| Possible modes: |
| |
| -- None - No interrupt moderation is applied on the adapter card. |
| Therefore, each transmit or receive interrupt is served immediately |
| as soon as it appears on the interrupt line of the adapter card. |
| |
| -- Static - Interrupt moderation is applied on the adapter card. |
| All transmit and receive interrupts are queued until a complete |
| moderation interval ends. If such a moderation interval ends, all |
| queued interrupts are processed in one big bunch without any delay. |
| The term 'static' reflects the fact, that interrupt moderation is |
| always enabled, regardless how much network load is currently |
| passing via a particular interface. In addition, the duration of |
| the moderation interval has a fixed length that never changes while |
| the driver is operational. |
| |
| -- Dynamic - Interrupt moderation might be applied on the adapter card, |
| depending on the load of the system. If the driver detects that the |
| system load is too high, the driver tries to shield the system against |
| too much network load by enabling interrupt moderation. If - at a later |
| time - the CPU utilizaton decreases again (or if the network load is |
| negligible) the interrupt moderation will automatically be disabled. |
| |
| Interrupt moderation should be used when the driver has to handle one or more |
| interfaces with a high network load, which - as a consequence - leads also to a |
| high CPU utilization. When moderation is applied in such high network load |
| situations, CPU load might be reduced by 20-30%. |
| |
| NOTE: The drawback of using interrupt moderation is an increase of the round- |
| trip-time (RTT), due to the queueing and serving of interrupts at dedicated |
| moderation times. |
| |
| Interrupts per second |
| --------------------- |
| Parameter: IntsPerSec |
| Values: 30...40000 (interrupts per second) |
| Default: 2000 |
| |
| This parameter is only used if either static or dynamic interrupt moderation |
| is used on a network adapter card. Using this parameter if no moderation is |
| applied will lead to no action performed. |
| |
| This parameter determines the length of any interrupt moderation interval. |
| Assuming that static interrupt moderation is to be used, an 'IntsPerSec' |
| parameter value of 2000 will lead to an interrupt moderation interval of |
| 500 microseconds. |
| |
| NOTE: The duration of the moderation interval is to be chosen with care. |
| At first glance, selecting a very long duration (e.g. only 100 interrupts per |
| second) seems to be meaningful, but the increase of packet-processing delay |
| is tremendous. On the other hand, selecting a very short moderation time might |
| compensate the use of any moderation being applied. |
| |
| |
| Preferred Port |
| -------------- |
| Parameter: PrefPort |
| Values: A, B |
| Default: A |
| |
| This is used to force the preferred port to A or B (on dual-port network |
| adapters). The preferred port is the one that is used if both are detected |
| as fully functional. |
| |
| RLMT Mode (Redundant Link Management Technology) |
| ------------------------------------------------ |
| Parameter: RlmtMode |
| Values: CheckLinkState,CheckLocalPort, CheckSeg, DualNet |
| Default: CheckLinkState |
| |
| RLMT monitors the status of the port. If the link of the active port |
| fails, RLMT switches immediately to the standby link. The virtual link is |
| maintained as long as at least one 'physical' link is up. |
| |
| Possible modes: |
| |
| -- CheckLinkState - Check link state only: RLMT uses the link state |
| reported by the adapter hardware for each individual port to |
| determine whether a port can be used for all network traffic or |
| not. |
| |
| -- CheckLocalPort - In this mode, RLMT monitors the network path |
| between the two ports of an adapter by regularly exchanging packets |
| between them. This mode requires a network configuration in which |
| the two ports are able to "see" each other (i.e. there must not be |
| any router between the ports). |
| |
| -- CheckSeg - Check local port and segmentation: This mode supports the |
| same functions as the CheckLocalPort mode and additionally checks |
| network segmentation between the ports. Therefore, this mode is only |
| to be used if Gigabit Ethernet switches are installed on the network |
| that have been configured to use the Spanning Tree protocol. |
| |
| -- DualNet - In this mode, ports A and B are used as separate devices. |
| If you have a dual port adapter, port A will be configured as eth0 |
| and port B as eth1. Both ports can be used independently with |
| distinct IP addresses. The preferred port setting is not used. |
| RLMT is turned off. |
| |
| NOTE: RLMT modes CLP and CLPSS are designed to operate in configurations |
| where a network path between the ports on one adapter exists. |
| Moreover, they are not designed to work where adapters are connected |
| back-to-back. |
| *** |
| |
| |
| 5 Large Frame Support |
| ====================== |
| |
| The driver supports large frames (also called jumbo frames). Using large |
| frames can result in an improved throughput if transferring large amounts |
| of data. |
| To enable large frames, set the MTU (maximum transfer unit) of the |
| interface to the desired value (up to 9000), execute the following |
| command: |
| ifconfig eth0 mtu 9000 |
| This will only work if you have two adapters connected back-to-back |
| or if you use a switch that supports large frames. When using a switch, |
| it should be configured to allow large frames and auto-negotiation should |
| be set to OFF. The setting must be configured on all adapters that can be |
| reached by the large frames. If one adapter is not set to receive large |
| frames, it will simply drop them. |
| |
| You can switch back to the standard ethernet frame size by executing the |
| following command: |
| ifconfig eth0 mtu 1500 |
| |
| To permanently configure this setting, add a script with the 'ifconfig' |
| line to the system startup sequence (named something like "S99sk98lin" |
| in /etc/rc.d/rc2.d). |
| *** |
| |
| |
| 6 VLAN and Link Aggregation Support (IEEE 802.1, 802.1q, 802.3ad) |
| ================================================================== |
| |
| The Marvell Yukon/SysKonnect Linux drivers are able to support VLAN and |
| Link Aggregation according to IEEE standards 802.1, 802.1q, and 802.3ad. |
| These features are only available after installation of open source |
| modules available on the Internet: |
| For VLAN go to: http://www.candelatech.com/~greear/vlan.html |
| For Link Aggregation go to: http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~yumo |
| |
| NOTE: SysKonnect GmbH does not offer any support for these open source |
| modules and does not take the responsibility for any kind of |
| failures or problems arising in connection with these modules. |
| |
| NOTE: Configuring Link Aggregation on a SysKonnect dual link adapter may |
| cause problems when unloading the driver. |
| |
| |
| 7 Troubleshooting |
| ================== |
| |
| If any problems occur during the installation process, check the |
| following list: |
| |
| |
| Problem: The SK-98xx adapter cannot be found by the driver. |
| Solution: In /proc/pci search for the following entry: |
| 'Ethernet controller: SysKonnect SK-98xx ...' |
| If this entry exists, the SK-98xx or SK-98xx V2.0 adapter has |
| been found by the system and should be operational. |
| If this entry does not exist or if the file '/proc/pci' is not |
| found, there may be a hardware problem or the PCI support may |
| not be enabled in your kernel. |
| The adapter can be checked using the diagnostics program which |
| is available on the SysKonnect web site: |
| www.syskonnect.com |
| |
| Some COMPAQ machines have problems dealing with PCI under Linux. |
| Linux. This problem is described in the 'PCI howto' document |
| (included in some distributions or available from the |
| web, e.g. at 'www.linux.org'). |
| |
| |
| Problem: Programs such as 'ifconfig' or 'route' cannot be found or the |
| error message 'Operation not permitted' is displayed. |
| Reason: You are not logged in as user 'root'. |
| Solution: Logout and login as 'root' or change to 'root' via 'su'. |
| |
| |
| Problem: Upon use of the command 'ping <address>' the message |
| "ping: sendto: Network is unreachable" is displayed. |
| Reason: Your route is not set correctly. |
| Solution: If you are using RedHat, you probably forgot to set up the |
| route in the 'network configuration'. |
| Check the existing routes with the 'route' command and check |
| if an entry for 'eth0' exists, and if so, if it is set correctly. |
| |
| |
| Problem: The driver can be started, the adapter is connected to the |
| network, but you cannot receive or transmit any packets; |
| e.g. 'ping' does not work. |
| Reason: There is an incorrect route in your routing table. |
| Solution: Check the routing table with the command 'route' and read the |
| manual help pages dealing with routes (enter 'man route'). |
| |
| NOTE: Although the 2.2.x kernel versions generate the routing entry |
| automatically, problems of this kind may occur here as well. We've |
| come across a situation in which the driver started correctly at |
| system start, but after the driver has been removed and reloaded, |
| the route of the adapter's network pointed to the 'dummy0'device |
| and had to be corrected manually. |
| |
| |
| Problem: Your computer should act as a router between multiple |
| IP subnetworks (using multiple adapters), but computers in |
| other subnetworks cannot be reached. |
| Reason: Either the router's kernel is not configured for IP forwarding |
| or the routing table and gateway configuration of at least one |
| computer is not working. |
| |
| Problem: Upon driver start, the following error message is displayed: |
| "eth0: -- ERROR -- |
| Class: internal Software error |
| Nr: 0xcc |
| Msg: SkGeInitPort() cannot init running ports" |
| Reason: You are using a driver compiled for single processor machines |
| on a multiprocessor machine with SMP (Symmetric MultiProcessor) |
| kernel. |
| Solution: Configure your kernel appropriately and recompile the kernel or |
| the modules. |
| |
| |
| |
| If your problem is not listed here, please contact SysKonnect's technical |
| support for help (linux@syskonnect.de). |
| When contacting our technical support, please ensure that the following |
| information is available: |
| - System Manufacturer and HW Informations (CPU, Memory... ) |
| - PCI-Boards in your system |
| - Distribution |
| - Kernel version |
| - Driver version |
| *** |
| |
| |
| |
| ***End of Readme File*** |