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Date:      Wed, 13 Mar 96 18:00:46 EST
From:      gtc@aloft.att.com (gary.corcoran)
To:        questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   device problems
Message-ID:  <9603132300.AA10372@stargazer>

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I am a new FreeBSD user who has just successfully installed the 2.1.0
RELEASE version, including XFree86.  I also recompiled a custom kernel for
the devices in my system.  It mostly works, but I have two major problems:
No networking, and no (usable) mouse.

My network card is a 3Com 3C579, which is listed in the hardware compatibilty
list for FreeBSD.  However, I was unable to find an entry for the 3C579 in
the LINT configuration file.  So, hoping that the 3C509 driver was also the
one for the 3C579, I put that in my kernel configuration file, except that
since it is an EISA card, I did not specify the port address.  Upon
booting, I get the following messages:

1 3C5x9 board(s) on EISA found at 0x2000
ep0: 3c5x9 at 0x0 in test mode. Erase pencil mark!
ep0: eeprom failed to come ready.
epprobe: ignoring model ffff
ep0 not found

So, it finds the card, sort of, but then doesn't "like" it.
Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? (and/or what that 'Erase pencil mark!'
message means? )

My other big problem occurs when I try to run X.  No, not a problem with
the display, but a problem with my mouse!  I have a built-in (PS/2 style)
mouse port on my motherboard, so I compiled the "psm" device into my kernel.
(and do not have the mse device)
I see the following message on bootup:

psm0 at 0x60-0x63 irq 12 on motherboard

So, it seems to be found by the kernel okay.  The problem is, when I try
to *use* the mouse after starting X, the behavior of the mouse is very
erratic, to put it mildly.  Almost any motion of the mouse, in any direction,
puts the cursor to the top of the screen, and tends to put it to the
extreme left.  If, by random chance, I can get it to any other part of the
screen, any tiny motion *WHATSOEVER* of the mouse zooms it back up to the top
of the screen.

Obviously, there's a communication problem with the mouse.  If I had to
guess, I would guess that it is acting like a serial bit-rate mismatch
between what the mouse is sending and the hardware on the motherboard
(presuming that a PS/2 mouse still sends serial characters).

But I didn't find any documentation about how, if it's possible, to set
the communication bit-rate for the mouse.

So, does anyone have a clue about what may be the problem with my PS/2
mouse?

Thank you,
Gary Corcoran
gtc@aloft.att.com




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