Chapter 1 Configuring the Driver Software for Sun Quad FastEthernet Adapters

This chapter includes information and instructions for configuring the driver software used by the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter. Unless otherwise noted, all instructions apply to both the Sun Quad FastEthernet PCI adapter and the Sun Quad FastEthernet SBus adapter.

Installing the Driver Software

The Solaris CD-ROM contains the software that must be installed in order to use the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter.

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Note -

Do not use the installation CD-ROM that shipped with your Quad FastEthernet adapter. The software on the Solaris CD-ROM is more current and replaces previous versions of the driver.

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Before using the four network interfaces of the adapter, you will need to create and edit system host files, as described in the next section.

Configuring the Host File

After installing the Sun Quad FastEthernet driver software, you must create a hostname.qfenum file for the Ethernet interfaces on the adapter. You must also create both an IP address and a host name for the Ethernet interfaces in the /etc/hosts file.

To Configure the Host File

1. At the command line, use the grep command to search the /etc/path_to_inst file for qfe devices.

   For a Sun Quad FastEthernet PCI adapter:

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   # grep qfe /etc/path_to_inst
   "/pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@0,1" 0 "qfe"
   "/pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@1,1" 1 "qfe"
   "/pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@2,1" 2 "qfe"
   "/pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@3,1" 3 "qfe"

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   In the example above, the four SUNW,qfe@x,1 instances are from a Sun Quad FastEthernet PCI adapter installed in slot 2.

   For a Sun Quad FastEthernet SBus adapter:

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   # grep qfe /etc/path_to_inst
   "/sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c10000" 1 "qfe"
   "/sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c00000" 0 "qfe"
   "/sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c30000" 3 "qfe"
   "/sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c20000" 2 "qfe"

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   In the example above, the four SUNW,qfe@1 instances are from a Sun Quad FastEthernet SBus adapter installed in slot 1.

2. Create an /etc/hostname.qfenum file, where num is the instance number of each interface you plan to use.

   If you want to use all of the network interfaces from the example in Step 1, you will need to create four files:

   File Name	Instance Number	Adapter Ethernet Network Interface
   /etc/hostname.qfe0	0	0
   /etc/hostname.qfe1	1	1
   /etc/hostname.qfe2	2	2
   /etc/hostname.qfe3	3	3

   • Do not create /etc/hostname.qfenum files for Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter network interfaces you plan to leave unused.

   • The /etc/hostname.qfenum file must contain the host name for the appropriate network interface.

   • The host name should have an IP address that will need to be entered in the /etc/hosts file.

   • The host name should be different from any other host name of any other interface, for example: /etc/hostname.hme0 and /etc/hostname.qfe2 cannot share the same host name.

   Using the instance examples in Step 1, the following example shows the four /etc/hostname.qfenum files required for a system called zardoz that has a Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter (zardoz-11, zardoz-12, zardoz-13, and zardoz-14).

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   # cat /etc/hostname.hme0
   zardoz
   # cat /etc/hostname.qfe0
   zardoz-11
   # cat /etc/hostname.qfe1
   zardoz-12
   # cat /etc/hostname.qfe2
   zardoz-13
   # cat /etc/hostname.qfe3
   zardoz-14

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3. Create an appropriate entry in the /etc/hosts file for each active qfe network interface.

   Using the previous example, you will have:

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   # cat /etc/hosts
   #
   # Internet host table
   #
   127.0.0.1     localhost
   129.144.10.57 zardoz    loghost
   129.144.11.83 zardoz-11
   129.144.12.41 zardoz-12
   129.144.13.67 zardoz-13
   129.144.14.30 zardoz-14

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4. Reboot your system.

Booting From the Network

To use a Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter Ethernet interface as the boot device, perform the following tasks:

To Boot From the Network

1. At the ok prompt type:

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   ok show-devs

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   The show-devs command lists the system devices. You should see the full path name of the qfe devices, similar to the following examples:

   For Sun Quad FastEthernet PCI adapter:

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   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@0,1
   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@1,1
   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@2,1
   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@3,1

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   For Sun Quad FastEthernet SBus adapter:

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   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c30000
   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c20000
   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c10000
   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c00000

   ---

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   Note -

   You need to select only one of these qfe devices for booting.

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2. At the ok prompt type:

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   ok 
   boot full_path_name_of_the_
   qfe_device
   

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Optional Post-Installation Procedures

To customize the performance of the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter, perform the tasks in the following sections.

Setting Driver Parameters

The qfe device driver, which is loaded from the Solaris CD-ROM, controls the SUNW,qfe Ethernet devices. The device driver selects the link speed using the auto-negotiation protocol with the link partner. (See "Auto-Negotiation")

You can manually set the qfe device driver parameters to customize each SUNW,qfe device in your system in one of three ways:

• Set a parameter on a per-device basis by creating the qfe.conf file in the /kernel/drv directory.

• Use the ndd utility to temporarily change a parameter. This change is lost when you reboot the system.

• Set the qfe driver parameters generally for all SUNW,qfe devices in the system by entering the parameter variables in the /etc/system file.

See "Setting the qfe Driver Parameters"" for more information.

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Note -

In the future, the /etc/system file will not be available. It is not dynamic reconfiguration compatible.

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To Avoid Losing TCP/IP Parameter Changes

Add the parameter change to a run control script in the /etc/rc2.d directory, similar to the following example:

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#!/sbin/sh
# Local kernel modifications
#
case "$1" in
'start')
	echo "Setting local kernel parameters...\c"
	ndd -set /dev/tcp tcp_rexmit_interval_max 60000
	echo ""
	;;
'stop')
	echo "No kernel parameters changed."
	;;
*)
	echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
	;;
esac
exit 0

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To Force Network Speed Between 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps

1. At the ok prompt, use the show-devs command to list the system devices.

   You should see the full path names of the qfe devices, similar to the following examples:

   For Sun Quad FastEthernet PCI adapter:

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   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@0,1
   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@1,1
   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@2,1
   /pci@1f,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qfe@3,1

   ---

   For Sun Quad FastEthernet SBus adapter:

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   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c30000
   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c20000
   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c10000
   /sbus@1f,0/SUNW,qfe@1,8c00000

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2. Type:

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   ok nvedit
   

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3. Type the following, pressing the Return key at the end of line 0:

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   0: probe-all install-console banner
   1: apply transfer-speed=10 full_ path_name_of_a_
   qfe_device
   

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   Note -

   If you already have commands in NVRAM, append these lines to the end of the file.

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4. Press Control-C after typing full_ path_name_of_a_qfe device.

   Perform Steps 2 to 4 to set the network speed for each qfe network interface.

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   Note -

   In the preceding example, the speed is forced to 10 Mbps. To force the speed to 100 Mbps, replace 10 with 100.

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5. At the ok prompt type:

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   ok nvstore
   ok setenv use-nvramrc? true
   

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6. Reboot your system.

   See "Setting Forced Mode" for more information on forcing network speed.

Auto-Negotiation

A key feature of the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter is auto-negotiation. The auto-negotiation protocol, as specified by the 100BASE-T standard, selects the operation mode (half-duplex or full-duplex), and the auto-sensing protocol selects the speed (10 Mbps or 100 Mbps) for the adapter.

The link speed and modes supported by the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter are listed as follows in decreasing order of priority:

• 100 Mbps, full-duplex

• 100 Mbps, half-duplex

• 10 Mbps, full-duplex

• 10 Mbps, half-duplex

When the system is booted, the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter advertises these capabilities to the link partner at the other end of the link [a hub, switch, or another network interface card (NIC) in a host system]. If the link partner also supports auto-negotiation, it advertises its capabilities over the link. The common highest priority mode supported by both sides is selected for the link operation.

If the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter is connected to a remote system or interface that is not capable of auto-negotiation, your system automatically selects the speed and half-duplex mode.

If the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter is connected to a link partner with which the auto-negotiation protocol fails to operate successfully, you can configure the device to not use this protocol and force the driver to set up the link in the mode and speed of your choice.

local-mac-address Property

Each of the network interfaces of the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter has been assigned a unique Media Access Control (MAC) address, which represents the 48-bit Ethernet address for that network interface. The OpenBoot(TM) firmware reports this MAC address via the local-mac-address property in the device nodes corresponding to the network interfaces.

A system is not obligated to use this assigned MAC address if it has a systemwide MAC address. In such cases, the systemwide MAC address applies to all network interfaces on the system.

The device driver, or any other adapter utility, can use the network device's MAC address (local-mac-address) while configuring it. A network interface's MAC address can be used when booting over the network.

The mac-address property of the network device specifies the network address (systemwide or local-mac-address) used for booting the system. To start using the MAC addresses assigned to the network interfaces of the Sun Quad FastEthernet adapter, set the NVRAM configuration variable local-mac-address? to true.

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ok setenv local-mac-address? true

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