Re: etherboot-3.2

[Paulo Jorge Veloso Lameirinhas <address@removed.on.request>]

On Fri, 12 Dec 1997 markus@infoscape.com wrote:

> Paulo Jorge Veloso Lameirinhas writes:
>  > > It depends on whether someone has the time to write a driver. Obviously
>  > > that person has to have the hardware too. Etherboot is a volunteer
>  > > effort.
>  > >
>  > What Kind of HardWare Is Needed ... Besides the Nic(s) ...
> 
> You really do not need much more than the NICs (and at least two
> PC's); although it does make things easier if you can get access to an
> EPROM burner or (preferably) have a FlashCard. If the latter is not an
> option, you can always boot from floppy or use a second network card
> (e.g. an old NE2k) to bootstrap the image for the new card. This is
> the approach that I have taken and it gives you very fast turn-around
> times.
> 
>  > > No, the structure of Linux and Etherboot are quite different for
>  > > reasons too long to explain here.
>  > >
>  > Where Can I Get That Kind of Information ...
> 
> The structure of the etherboot drivers is very simple. You have to
> write a function that probes for the card and (if successful) returns
> pointers to a few other functions. These include code to reset and to
> disable the card. And two functions for datatransmission; one for
> sending and the other one for polling. The use of interrupts is
> discouraged because at boottime you cannot fully rely on the machine
> to be properly initialized. When writing the driver you should try to
> make it as fault tolerant as possible; even if this means sacrificing
> some performance. Drivers have to be fully capable of autoprobing for
> all parameters. This sounds a lot more difficult than it really is.
> 
> Linux drivers are a lot more complex because they usually try to
> achieve optimal performance. This means that they make use of
> interrupts and DMA transfers where available; but they also require a
> properly initialized system and might require the user to do some
> extra configuration. When converting a driver from Linux to etherboot
> you can usually remove about 50% of the code which is way to
> sophisticated for a BOOT prom. The most difficult part is usually
> converting the driver from interrupt driven mode to a polling
> driver.


> This part will probably require you to have access to
> technical documentation for the card.

I Do Not Have Access To That Kind of Information Besides the NICs
But I Whish To Do Something ...
I Also Have 3c509 NICs and I Was Asking To My Self ...
If I Read The Linux Driver Code For This One From Donald Becker
And Also Read The Code In etherboot For This One
To Understand More About This Kind of Stuff ... !!!
And Later Read The Linux Driver Code " eepro.c " From Bao Ha
This Could Be a Start ... ???

> On the whole, if you have access to decent documentation and you can
> base your work on an existing (Linux) driver, expect to spend between
> two and five days to convert the driver. You might have to spend a few 
> more days for fine-tuning.
> 
>  > > Have you joined the Netboot mailing list? There are experts in that
>  > > mailing list who know more than I do.
>  > >
>  > How Can I Joined To That Mailing List ...
> 
> Send mail to majordomo@baghira.han.de; the body should read
>  subscribe netboot
> 
> An archive of the list is available from
> http://www.han.de/~gero/netboot/archive/maillist.html
> 
> 
> Markus

Thank You Markus.
Paulo.

> 
> -- 
> Markus Gutschke                         Internet: markus@infoscape.com
> Infoscape, Inc                          Phone:    +1-415-537-3778
> 657 Mission Street, Suite 200
> San Francisco, CA 94105
> 
> Disclaimer: The above message represents my personal opinion; It does
>             not constitute an offical statement by Infoscape!
> 
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                                       |    <email address removed on request>
     Paulo Jorge Veloso Lameirinhas    |    <email address removed on request>
                                       |    <email address removed on request>
				       |    <email address removed on request>
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     Licenciatura em Engenharia Electrotecnica e de Computadores
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