pcelx(7D) Devices pcelx(7D)NAMEpcelx - 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 spec‐
ification. 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 inter‐
face 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 configura‐
tion, identifying an unrecognized card and configuring two or more
cards.
Initial Installation and Configuration
For initial installation and configuration, do the following steps:
1. Install the Solaris software.
2. Boot the system.
3. 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:
1. Become root.
2. 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)
3. 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:
1. Create a /etc/hostname.pcelx# file (where # is a socket number) to
specify the host name to be associated with this interface.
2. Add an IP address for the new host name to the /etc/inet/hosts
file.
3. Ensure that the associated network is listed in /etc/inet/netmasks.
4. Ensure that the Name Service Switch /etc/nssswitch.conf configura‐
tion file includes the network and local services you need.
5. 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 nor‐
mally. 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.
SEE ALSOpcmcia(7D)SunOS 5.10 20 Oct 2000 pcelx(7D)
