Ubuntu 10 vs. motherboard asus p5b-plus

Contents

========



- In This Release

- Building and Installation

- Command Line Parameters

- Additional Configurations

- Known Issues

- Support



In This Release

===============



This file describes the Linux* Base Driver for the Attansic(R) L1 Gigabit

Ethernet Adapter, version 1.0.x. This driver supports the 2.4.x and 2.6.x kernels.



This driver is only supported as a loadable module at this time. Attansic is not

supplying patches against the kernel source to allow for static linking of

the driver. For questions related to hardware requirements, refer to the

documentation supplied with your Attansic(R) adapter. All hardware

requirements listed apply to use with Linux.



Building and Installation

=========================



To build a binary RPM* package of this driver, run 'rpmbuild -tb

<filename.tar.gz>'. Replace <filename.tar.gz> with the specific filename of

the driver.



NOTE: For the build to work properly, the currently running kernel MUST match

the version and configuration of the installed kernel sources. If you

have just recompiled the kernel reboot the system now.



RPM functionality has only been tested in Red Hat distributions.



1. Move the base driver tar file to the directory of your choice. For example,

use /home/username/atl1 or /usr/local/src/atl1.



2. Untar/unzip archive:



tar zxf atl1-x.x.x.tar.gz



3. Change to the driver src directory:



cd atl1-x.x.x/src/



4. Compile the driver module:



make install



The binary will be installed as:



/lib/modules/<KERNEL VERSION>/kernel/drivers/net/atl1.[k]o



The install locations listed above are the default locations. They might

not be correct for certain Linux distributions. For more information,

see the ldistrib.txt file included in the driver tar.



5. Install the module:



insmod atl1 <parameter>=<value>



6. Assign an IP address to the interface by entering the following, where

x is the interface number:



ifconfig ethx <IP_address>



7. Verify that the interface works. Enter the following, where <IP_address>

is the IP address for another machine on the same subnet as the interface

that is being tested:



ping <IP_address>



Command Line Parameters

=======================



If the driver is built as a module, the following optional parameters are

used by entering them on the command line with the modprobe or insmod command

using this syntax:



modprobe atl1 [<option>=<VAL1>,<VAL2>,...]



insmod atl1 [<option>=<VAL1>,<VAL2>,...]



For example, with two L001 PCIE adapters, entering:



insmod atl1 TxDescriptors=80,128



loads the atl1 driver with 80 TX descriptors for the first adapter and 128 TX

descriptors for the second adapter.



The default value for each parameter is generally the recommended setting,

unless otherwise noted.



NOTES: A descriptor describes a data buffer and attributes related to the

data buffer. This information is accessed by the hardware.



MediaType

Valid Range: 0-5

0 - auto-negotiate at all supported speeds

1 - only link at 1000Mbps Full Duplex

2 - only link at 100Mbps Full Duplex

3 - only link at 100Mbps Half Duplex

4 - only link at 10Mbps Full Duplex

5 - only link at 10Mbps Half Duplex

Default Value: 0

MediaType forces the line speed/duplex to the specified value in

megabits per second(Mbps). If this parameter is not specified or is set

to 0 and the link partner is set to auto-negotiate, the board will

auto-detect the correct speed.



IntModTimer

Valid Range: 50-65000

Default Value: 100

This value represents the minmum interval between interrupts controller

generated.



RxDescriptors

Valid Range: 128-2047



Default Value: 256

This value is the number of RFD/RRD descriptors allocated by the driver.

Increasing this value allows the driver to buffer more incoming packets.

A receive buffer is also allocated for each descriptor and can be either

2048, 4096, or 8192 bytes, depending on the MTU setting.

The maximum MTU size is 8192.



NOTE: MTU designates the frame size. It only needs to be set for Jumbo

Frames.

NOTE: Depending on the available system resources, the request for a

higher number of receive descriptors may be denied. In this case,

use a lower number.



TxDescriptors

Valid Range: 64-1023



Default Value: 512

This value is the number of transmit descriptors allocated by the driver.

Increasing this value allows the driver to queue more transmits.



NOTE: Depending on the available system resources, the request for a

higher number of transmit descriptors may be denied. In this case,

use a lower number.



FlashVendor

Valid Range: 0-2



Default Value: 0

This value standards on vendor of spi flash used by the adapter.

0 for Atmel, 1 for SST, 2 for ST





Additional Configurations

=========================



Configuring the Driver on Different Distributions

-------------------------------------------------



Configuring a network driver to load properly when the system is started is

distribution dependent. Typically, the configuration process involves adding

an alias line to /etc/modules.conf as well as editing other system startup

scripts and/or configuration files. Many popular Linux distributions ship

with tools to make these changes for you. To learn the proper way to

configure a network device for your system, refer to your distribution

documentation. If during this process you are asked for the driver or module

name, the name for the Linux Base Driver for the Attansic L1 is atl1



As an example, if you install the atl1 driver for two L1 adapters

(eth0 and eth1) and set the speed and duplex to 10full and 100half, add the

following to modules.conf:



alias eth0 atl1

alias eth1 atl1

options atl1 Speed=10,100 Duplex=2,1



Viewing Link Messages

---------------------



Link messages will not be displayed to the console if the distribution is

restricting system messages. In order to see network driver link messages

on your console, set dmesg to eight by entering the following:



dmesg -n 8



NOTE: This setting is not saved across reboots.



Jumbo Frames

------------



The driver supports Jumbo Frames . Jumbo Frames support is enabled by

changing the MTU to a value larger than the default of 1500. Use the

ifconfig command to increase the MTU size. For example:



ifconfig eth<x> mtu 3000 up



NOTE: This setting is not saved across reboots. The setting change can be

made permanent by adding:



MTU=3000



to the file /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth<x>, with Red Hat

distributions, for example. Other distributions may store this setting in a

different location.



NOTE: MTU designates the frame size. To enable Jumbo Frames, increase the MTU

size on the interface beyond 1500.





Known Issues

============



NOTE: For distribution-specific information, see the ldistrib.txt file

included in the driver tar.



Driver Compilation

------------------



When trying to compile the driver by running make install, the following

error may occur:



"Linux kernel source not configured - missing version.h"



To solve this issue, create the version.h file by going to the Linux source

tree and entering:



make include/linux/version.h.



Jumbo Frames System Requirement

-------------------------------



Memory allocation failures have been observed on Linux systems with 64 MB

of RAM or less that are running Jumbo Frames. If you are using Jumbo

Frames, your system may require more than the advertised minimum

requirement of 64 MB of system memory.



Performance Degradation with Jumbo Frames

-----------------------------------------



Degradation in throughput performance may be observed in some Jumbo frames

environments. If this is observed, increasing the application's socket buffer

size and/or increasing the /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_*mem entry values may help.

See the specific application manual and /usr/src/linux*/Documentation/

networking/ip-sysctl.txt for more details.





Support

=======



For general information, go to the Attansic support website at:



http://support.attansic.com



If an issue is identified with the released source code on the supported

kernel with a supported adapter, email the specific information related to

the issue to xiong_huang@attansic.com



License

=======



This software program is released under the terms of a license agreement

between you ('Licensee') and Attansic. Do not use or load this software or any

associated materials (collectively, the 'Software') until you have carefully

read the full terms and conditions of the LICENSE located in this software

package. By loading or using the Software, you agree to the terms of this

Agreement. If you do not agree with the terms of this Agreement, do not

install or use the Software.



* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.