Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 10:45:51 -0400 (EDT) From: "Larry S. Lile" <lile@stdio.com> To: Bill Paul <wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu> Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Object library formats Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.980707103029.18086C-100000@heathers2.stdio.com> In-Reply-To: <199807071431.KAA18265@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Tue, 7 Jul 1998, Bill Paul wrote:
> Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Larry S. Lile
> had to walk into mine and say:
>
> > Could this library be linked into a kernel?
> >
> > COFF/TRLLD.O: 80386 COFF executable not stripped - version 30821
> >
> > It is part of the Olicom device driver development kit for their token
> > ring cards. They seem to think it would be compatible with a.out. Also
> > would this library be compatible with an elf'd system?
> >
> > ELF/TRLLD.O: ELF 32-bit LSB relocatable, Intel 80386, version 1,
> > not stripped
>
> I would avoid trying to accomodate foreign object modules. It sets a
> bad precedent. Repeat after me: "You want source code. You want source
> code. These aren't the droids you're looking for."
I really like having the source, but sometimes that is just not possible.
If I can make their object code work in a driver then I will use it,
if not then I will push them for a native object or the source. I
understand their point though, they have spent a lot of money to make
good token ring cards and dont want to give away their technology
but they are making an effort to provide third party accessability.
> On a totally different note, somebody brought Olicom to my attention
> the other day: they also make PCI ethernet NICs based on the ThunderLAN
> chip. These are almost completely identical to the Compaq ThunderLAN
> NICs, except they use a different PCI vendor and product ID, and they
> have the station address encoded at a different location within the
> EEPROM (most ThunderLAN NICs have it at 0x83, they have it at 0xF8;
> accomodating this is easy). Unfortunately, I don't know where to find
> the PCI vendor and product IDs for their cards: all the 'datasheets'
> on their web server are basically just marketing hype. I found one
> place with patches for the Linux driver that claim to add Olicom
> support, but in typical Linux fashion, the patches are broken: the
> patch for the header file is incomplete and lists only the Olicom
> vendor ID, whereas the patch for the C code refers to product IDs for
> the OC-2183/2185, OC-2326 and 2326 NICs. These are nowhere to be found.
>
> I asked Olicom about getting more useful datasheets via their
> 'feedback' section on the web server but haven't heard anything back
> yet.
They were happy to help me, but it did take several days. July 2 is
not a good day to start asking technical questions, oops. Also their
development staff is in Denmark.
> May I ask where you got the token ring device driver kit? Do they have
> it available for download anywhere or did you have to speak to someone
> in particular at Olicom to get it? Do you know if they have kits for
> the ethernet NICs too?
The tokenring kit is at:
http://www.olicom.com
software
TOKEN-RING:Token-Ring PowerMACH Works
I have not seen an ethernet ddk, but that does not mean there isn't
one. You should call them (Corporate office) and ask about it. I
will warn you that you will get passed around and finally end up
most likely talking to the head marketing rep. in your area. The
lady I ended up talking to however was very nice and got me the
ddk (when it was not on the webserver/or the link was broken?) via
e-mail.
> PS: The ThunderLAN chip appears to support both ethernet and token rin
> PHYs; if this is a PCI token-ring NIC thay you have, it may have
> this chip on it, in which case I would visit the Texas Instruments
> web server and obtain the programmer's guide from there.
Why reinvent the wheel? Besides I already looked at the two olicom
cards I have and couldn't find the chips on TI's website :( I found
some very similar numbers but no matches. (Of course I was only looking
for token ring stuff)
Larry Lile
lile@stdio.com
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?Pine.SUN.3.91.980707103029.18086C-100000>