Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 20:54:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Bill Paul <wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu> To: sepotvin@videotron.ca (Stephane E. Potvin) Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Intel 82558 driver/documentation Message-ID: <199810160054.UAA15604@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu> In-Reply-To: <3624C075.5E49A768@videotron.ca> from "Stephane E. Potvin" at Oct 14, 98 03:17:09 pm
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Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Stephane E. Potvin had to walk into mine and say: > Hi, > > Does anyone have an idea where one could find programming documentation > for this Ethernet chip? Intel rep keep saying that no such thing exits > (sic). I am told that it is very similar to the 82557 (supported by fxp > driver) but I want to check by myself the differences to make sure the > driver supports it correctly. > > Thanks in advance! As people have said already, the 82558 is the same as an 82557 chip except with a built-in PHY. Intel's internal name for these chips is 'Speedo.' If your Intel rep says it doesn't exist, he's either lying to you or he's woefully underinformed. Both chips should be supported by the fxp driver. As for programming documentation, you need to contact a local Intel sales office and ask for the 82557 or 82558 Developer Kit, and prepare to sign a non disclosure agreement. If you rummage around at http://developer.intel.com you will find an datasheets for the 82557 and 82558 chips, but don't be fooled: these datasheets have been stategically emasculated. The 'software interface' section is only about 5 pages long (out of a total of 85) and doesn't give you any of the details about all of the registers in the chip and how to program them, nor does it describe the descriptor format. This information is in a developer's guide, which is part of the kit and covered by NDA. It may be possible to negotiate terms with Intel to allow you to release source code of any drivers you may wite, however you will still need to sign the NDA. This is of course completely stupid and I encourage you and all your friends to complain to Intel about this policy. Hopefully they'll eventually get the point and do away with the NDA requirement. -Bill -- ============================================================================= -Bill Paul (212) 854-6020 | System Manager, Master of Unix-Fu Work: wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu | Center for Telecommunications Research Home: wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu | Columbia University, New York City ============================================================================= "It is not I who am crazy; it is I who am mad!" - Ren Hoek, "Space Madness" ============================================================================= To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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