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Date:      Mon, 4 Oct 1999 11:28:59 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Bill Paul <wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu>
To:        bbursey@mechv.me.tuns.ca (Bryan Bursey)
Cc:        current@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Issues with xl0
Message-ID:  <199910041529.LAA12800@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.991003080352.21888A-100000@mechv.me.tuns.ca> from "Bryan Bursey" at Oct 3, 99 08:09:49 am

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WARNING: the following reply contains Extreme Ranting which may be too
intense for young audiences. Those not wishing to experience Extreme 
Ranting should #define NO_EXTREME_RANTING.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Bryan Bursey 
had to walk into mine and say:

> I attempted to move from -STABLE to -CURRENT last night, but without any
> luck.  I decided to start with a current snapshot (19990928), but was
> unable to install using the floppies provided on releng3.freebsd.org.

#ifndef NO_EXTREME_RANTING
But the exact reason why you were unable to install is a secret, right?
Clearly the details of the failure would be of no use to anyone, so you
chose not to share them, yes?

How many times do I have to say it: "it didn't work," "it failed,"
"I couldn't make it do blah" and similar vague descriptions don't help
anybody. Don't start in with a vague statement about a problem and then
expect to be asked for more details later: give the details first! It
saves a lot of time!
#endif
 
> Thinking it might have been a floppy issue,

#ifndef NO_EXTREME_RANTING
It may as well have been an arthritis issue for all we know.
#endif

> I used my 3.3-STABLE floppies
> and simply changed the install options so that I'd get 4.0.  This worked
> until I restarted my machine at the end of the install.  It came back up
> ok, but I was again unable to connect to the network.

This is too vague. You're leaving out a ton of details, like: did you
even see the xl0 probe messages in the kernel. You know, basic stuff which
nobody else will know since we're not able to see over your shoulder.
 
> Can anyone tell me if there are known issues with the xl0 driver in 4.0,
> or if it has been superceded by another driver which works with 3Com
> 3C900B.

#ifndef NO_EXTREME_RANTING
No no no. *You* tell *us* if there are any issues! *You* tell *us* if
you're having any problems! And then *you* tell *us* in explicit detail
what they are! How hard is it to understand that!

No, there isn't any other driver. But because you didn't make eves the
slightest effort to explain your problem, I can't begin to even help you.
#endif

You didn't specify which 3c900B card you have: there are several
of them with different media options:

- 3c900B-FL 10baseFL fiber-optic
- 3c900B-TPO 10baseT "Twisted Pair Only"
- 3c900B-TPC 10baseT and 10base2 "Twisted Pair and Coax"
- 3c900B-COMBO 10baseT, 10base2 and 10base5 (AUI)

#ifndef NO_EXTREME_RANTING
If you'd bothered to watch what happens when the kernel boots, you would
have been able to tell whether or not the 3c900B card was detected (and
I know it was in spite of your unwillingless to say so). You would also
have been able to tell what media was selected (10baseT, 10base5 or
10base2, depending a bit on exactly which model card you have, which you
also didn't tell us). Then had you bothered to rub two brain cells
together, you might have been able to tell if maybe the default media
selection read from the EEPROM was incorrect and possibly tried to use 
ifconfig to set it correctly.
#endif

If you have a TPO or FL adapter, then there's only one media choice, and
the driver should have selected it properly. If you have a TPC or a COMBO
adapter, then somebody may have fiddled with the 3C90XCFG.EXE utility and
selected the wrong default media in the EEPROM. The driver will only use
what the EEPROM says; it doesn't autoprobe. If you used the 3C90XCFG.EXE
utility to select the "auto" choice, then the driver will pick a reasonable
default and expect you to be clever enough to change it with ifconfig if
the choice is wrong. For example, for a COMBO card, it will choose 10baseT.
If you don't like 10baseT, you can do the following:

# ifconfig xl0 media 10base2/BNC
# ifconfig xl0 media 10base5/AUI

Or if you really want 10baseT:

# ifconfig xl0 media 10baseT/UTP

If you want to use this setting during the install, then enter the media
option command in the box that says "extra options to ifconfig" in the
TCP/IP configuration screen (i.e. "media 10base2/BNC").

> Thanks for any help (or other random thoughts).

#ifndef NO_EXTREME_RANTING
You want random thoughts? Fine: I wish it would stop raining, I hope
the Mets make it to the playoffs, my shoes are too tight, you're ugly
and your mother dresses you funny.

I know what you're thinking: "why is he being so nasty?" Because I can't
stand it when people expect me to play the "minimum information" game,
and you are by no means the first. Some people may be able to read a 
chewing gum wrapper and divine the secrets of the universe, but I'm not 
one of them.
#endif

-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"
=============================================================================


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