Linux Ethernet-Howto

by Paul Gortmaker

1. Introduction

• 1.1 New Versions of this Document
• 1.2 Using the Ethernet-Howto
• 1.3 HELP - It doesn't work!

2. What card should I buy for Linux?

• 2.1 So What Drivers are Stable?
• 2.2 Eight bit vs 16 bit Cards
• 2.3 32 Bit (VLB/EISA/PCI) Ethernet Cards
• 2.4 Available 100Mbs Cards and Drivers
• 2.5 100VG versus 100BaseT
• 2.6 Type of cable that your card should support

3. Frequently Asked Questions

• 3.1 Alpha Drivers -- Getting and Using them
• 3.2 Using More than one Ethernet Card per Machine
• 3.3 The ether= thing didn't do anything for me. Why?
• 3.4 Problems with NE1000 / NE2000 cards (and clones)
• 3.5 Problems with SMC Ultra/EtherEZ and WD80*3 cards
• 3.6 Problems with 3Com cards
• 3.7 FAQs Not Specific to Any Card.

4. Performance Tips

• 4.1 General Concepts
• 4.2 ISA Cards and ISA Bus Speed
• 4.3 Setting the TCP Rx Window
• 4.4 Increasing NFS performance

5. Vendor/Manufacturer/Model Specific Information

• 5.1 3Com
• 5.2 Accton
• 5.3 Allied Telesyn/Telesis
• 5.4 AMD / Advanced Micro Devices
• 5.5 Ansel Communications
• 5.6 Apricot
• 5.7 Arcnet
• 5.8 AT&T
• 5.9 Boca Research
• 5.10 Cabletron
• 5.11 Cogent
• 5.12 Compaq
• 5.13 Danpex
• 5.14 D-Link
• 5.15 DFI
• 5.16 Digital / DEC
• 5.17 Farallon
• 5.18 Fujitsu
• 5.19 Hewlett Packard
• 5.20 IBM / International Business Machines
• 5.21 ICL Ethernet Cards
• 5.22 Intel Ethernet Cards
• 5.23 Kingston
• 5.24 LinkSys
• 5.25 Microdyne
• 5.26 Mylex
• 5.27 Novell Ethernet, NExxxx and associated clones.
• 5.28 Proteon
• 5.29 Pure Data
• 5.30 Racal-Interlan
• 5.31 RealTek
• 5.32 Sager
• 5.33 Schneider & Koch
• 5.34 SEEQ
• 5.35 SMC (Standard Microsystems Corp.)
• 5.36 Texas Instruments
• 5.37 Thomas Conrad
• 5.38 VIA
• 5.39 Western Digital
• 5.40 Winbond
• 5.41 Xircom
• 5.42 Zenith
• 5.43 Znyx
• 5.44 Identifying an Unknown Card
• 5.45 Drivers for Non-Ethernet Devices

6. Cables, Coax, Twisted Pair

• 6.1 Thin Ethernet (thinnet)
• 6.2 Twisted Pair
• 6.3 Thick Ethernet

7. Software Configuration and Card Diagnostics

• 7.1 Configuration Programs for Ethernet Cards
• 7.2 Diagnostic Programs for Ethernet Cards

8. Technical Information

• 8.1 Programmed I/O vs. Shared Memory vs. DMA
• 8.2 Writing a Driver
• 8.3 Driver interface to the kernel
• 8.4 Technical information from 3Com
• 8.5 Notes on AMD PCnet / LANCE Based cards
• 8.6 Multicast and Promiscuous Mode
• 8.7 The Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF)

9. Networking with a Laptop/Notebook Computer

• 9.1 Using SLIP
• 9.2 PCMCIA Support
• 9.3 ISA Ethercard in the Docking Station.
• 9.4 Pocket / parallel port adaptors.

10. Miscellaneous.

• 10.1 Passing Ethernet Arguments to the Kernel
• 10.2 Using the Ethernet Drivers as Modules
• 10.3 Related Documentation
• 10.4 Disclaimer and Copyright
• 10.5 Closing