man pages section 7: Device and Network Interfaces

pcelx(7D)

Name

pcelx– 3COM EtherLink III PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter

Synopsis

network@<socket>:pcelx<socket>

Description

The pcelx driver supports the 3COM EtherLink III PCMCIA PC Card as a standard Ethernet type of device conforming to the DLPI interface specification. The driver supports the hot-plugging of the PC Card.

The PPA (Physical Point of Attachment) is defined by the socket number the PC Card is inserted in. This means that for IP use, the PC Card should always be plugged into the same socket that the network interface was initially brought up on or else a network reconfiguration should be done to take down the old interface and bring up the new one.

The 3C589, 3C589B, and 3C589C versions of the PC Card are supported on the x86 platform. The 3C589B and 3C589C are supported on the SPARC platform.

PRECONFIGURE

For IBM ThinkPad 760E series systems and systems using the TI PCI1130 PCI-to-CardBus chip (such as the Dell Latitude XPi CD) only: Before bringing the system onto the network, put the PC Card into 8-bit mode by creating a file called /kernel/drv/pcelx.conf containing force-8bit=1;.
It is not possible to boot or install the Solaris software using a 3Com EtherLink III PC Card device.
If the 3Com PC Card device is recognized, the pcelx driver is automatically loaded, ports and IRQs allocated, and special files created (if they don't already exist). No manual configuration of the hardware is necessary or possible.

Known Problems and Limitations

Network services are automatically started when the system is booted. These services are not started when a network interface is added or shut down after the system has been brought up.

CONFIGURATION

Configuration procedures include initial installation and configuration, identifying an unrecognized card and configuring two or more cards.

Initial Installation and Configuration

For initial installation and configuration, do the following steps:

Install the Solaris software.
Boot the system.
Insert the 3Com EtherLink III PC Card device.

Identifying an Unrecognized Card

If you insert a 3C589 card and it is not recognized (no special files created), use the prtconf command and attempt to identify the problem:

Become root.
Run the prtconf -D command to see if your 3C589 card is recognized. A recognized device will appear in the prtconf output. For example:
```
# prtconf -D
.  .  .
pcic, instance #0 (driver name: pcic)
.  .  .
   network, instance #0 (driver name: pcelx)
```
If pcelx does not appear in the prtconf output, there is a problem with the PC Card adapter configuration or with the hardware. You can determine whether the problem is with the card or the adapter by attempting to use the card on another machine or by using it on the same machine using DOS.

Configuring Two or More Cards

Because the 3C589 card is not supported during Solaris installation, you must update network configuration files before it can be used as a network interface:

Create a /etc/hostname.pcelx# file (where # is a socket number) to specify the host name to be associated with this interface.
Add an IP address for the new host name to the /etc/inet/hosts file.
Ensure that the associated network is listed in /etc/inet/netmasks.
Ensure that the Name Service Switch /etc/nssswitch.conf configuration file includes the network and local services you need.
Reboot the system.

Special Files

Device naming in /dev follows standard LAN device naming with the exception that the PPA (physical point of attachment) unit number is the socket where the card resides, not the instance. For the pcelx driver, /dev/pcelx0 (or PPA 0 of /dev/pcelx) is the card in socket 0, while a card in socket 1 is /dev/pcelx1 (or PPA 1 of /dev/pcelx).

Hot Plugging

If you remove the 3C589 card, any information you send is discarded, and no error messages are given.

When you reinsert the card in the same socket, the device operates normally. The behavior is similar to temporarily disconnecting the device from the network.

Files

/kernel/drv/pcelx: pcelx driver
/dev/pcelx: DLPI Style 2 device
/dev/pcelxn: DLPI Style 1 device where: n is the PCMCIA physical socket number.