Call for testers: Broadcom 5705 gigabit ethernet

From: Bill Paul <wpaul_at_FreeBSD.ORG>
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 12:01:35 -0700 (PDT)
While I still don't have any documentation for the BCM5705, I recently
obtained a Broadcom driver with 5705 support. After scrutinizing it
carefully, it looks like the differences between it and its predecessors
are:

- No jumbo frame support
- RX return ring is limited in size to 512 entries
- No support for DMA'ed statistics block (stats must be read from
  registers instead)
- Initialization of certain on-chip blocks and parameters are skipped
- 5705 rev A0 has a bug that requires a workaround: the driver has
  to poll the NIC's memory after setting up the RX descriptor ring
  to verify the chip has actually loaded it.

I have merged all these changes into a copy of the bge(4) driver
from -current (should also work with 5.1-RELEASE). You can get it from:

http://www.freebsd.org/~wpaul/Broadcom/5705

To use it, just drop the supplied if_bge.c and if_bgereg.h files into
/sys/dev/bge and recompile your kernel and/or if_bge.ko module.

Unfortunately, I don't have a machine with a 5705 chip in it, so I need
other people to help me test these changes. If you have avilable right
now:

- a laptop or other box with a 5705 gigE chip
- FreeBSD 5.1-RELEASE or -CURRENT
- another network interface that you can use to load this driver

Then please test this updated driver for me and report back. Information
that I would like to see:

- Describe the system with the 5705 chip in it (I'm under the impression
  the 5705 is being used in embedded configurations only)
- A copy of dmesg output showing the ASIC revision of your chip (doesn't
  have to be a verbose boot, though I won't mind if it is)
- A detailed description of any problems you may observe while testing
  the driver

Information I don't want to see:

- Requests for help with other totally unrelated drivers
- Requests for help transfering large sums of money out of Nigeria
- Information about septic tank clealing
- Pictures of people getting it on with barnyard animals
- Bikeshed arguments

Thanks in advance for any help anyone is able to provide.

-Bill

--
=============================================================================
-Bill Paul            (510) 749-2329 | Senior Engineer, Master of Unix-Fu
                 wpaul_at_windriver.com | Wind River Systems
=============================================================================
      "If stupidity were a handicap, you'd have the best parking spot."
=============================================================================
Received on Sun Jul 13 2003 - 10:01:36 UTC

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