Devices                                                  dmfe(7D)



NAME
     dmfe - Davicom Fast Ethernet driver for Davicom DM9102A

SYNOPSIS
     /kernel/drv/sparcv9/dmfe


DESCRIPTION
     The dmfe  Ethernet  device  provides  100Base-TX  networking
     interfaces  using  the  Davicom  DM9102A  chip, which incor-
     porates its own internal transceiver.


     The dmfe driver functions include controller initialization,
     frame  transmit  and receive, promiscuous and multicast sup-
     port, and error recovery and reporting. Multiple controllers
     installed within the system are supported by the driver.


     The 100Base-TX standard specifies an auto-negotiation proto-
     col to automatically select the mode and speed of operation.
     The internal transceiver  is  capable  of  performing  auto-
     negotiation  with  the remote-end of the link (link partner)
     and receives the capabilities of the remote end. It  selects
     the  highest  common  denominator mode of operation based on
     the priorities. The internal  transceiver  also  supports  a
     forced-mode  of operation under which the driver selects the
     operational mode.

APLICATION PROGRAMING INTERFACE
     The /dev/dmfe cloning character-special device  is  used  to
     access all Davicom DM9102A devices installed in the system.


     You must send an explicit DLATACHREQ message to associate
     the opened stream with a particular device (ppa). The ppa ID
     is interpreted as an unsigned integer data  type  and  indi-
     cates  the  corresponding device  instance (unit) number. If
     the ppa field value does not correspond to  a  valid  device
     instance  number for this system, an error (DLERORACK) is
     returned. The device is initialized on first attach and  de-
     initialized (stopped) at last detach.


     The values returned by the driver in the DLINFOACK  primi-
     tive in response to a DLINFOREQ are as follows:

         o    Maximum  SDU  is  1500   (ETHERMTU  -  defined   in
              sys/ethernet.h).

         o    Minimum SDU is 0.




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Devices                                                  dmfe(7D)



         o    DLSAP address length is 8.

         o    MAC type is DLETHER.

         o    The sap length value  is  -2,  meaning the physical
              address  component  is followed immediately by a 2-
              byte sap component within the DLSAP address.

         o    The broadcast address value is   the  Ethernet/IE
              broadcast address (F:F:F:F:F:F).


     Once   in   the   DLATACHED   state,  you  must  send    a
     DLBINDREQ  to  associate a particular Service Access Point
     (SAP) with the stream.

CONFIGURATION
     By default, the dmfe  driver  performs  auto-negotiation  to
     select  the  speed and mode of the link. Link speed and mode
     can be 100 Mbps (full or half-duplex) or 10  Mbps  (full  or
     half-duplex) as described in the 100Base-TX standard.


     The auto-negotiation protocol  automatically  selects  speed
     mode (either 100 Mbps or 10 Mbps) and operation mode (either
     full-duplex or half-duplex) as the highest common  denomina-
     tor supported by both link partners. Because the dmfe device
     supports all modes, this effectively  selects  the  highest-
     throughput mode supported by the other device.


     Alternatively, you can explicitly specify the  link  parame-
     ters by adding entries to the dmfe driver configuration file
     (/kernel/drv/dmfe.conf). You can set the speed parameter  to
     10  or 100 to force dmfe devices to operate at the specified
     speed. Additionally, you can set the  full-duplex  parameter
     to 0 or 1 to disable or force full-duplex operation, respec-
     tively.


     Note that specifying either "speed" or "full-duplex"  expli-
     citly  disables  auto-negotiation.  To  enable the driver to
     determine the appropriate setting for  each  parameter,  you
     should  always  set  both  parameters. If it is necessary to
     force either speed or duplex setting (for  example,  because
     the   dmfe  device  is connected to an ancient device or hub
     that does not  support  auto-negotiation),  both  parameters
     should  be explicitly specified to match the requirements of
     the external device.

FILES




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Devices                                                  dmfe(7D)



     /dev/dmfe                   Character special device


     /kernel/drv/dmfe            32-bit kernel module (x86)


     /kernel/drv/sparcv9/dmfe    64-bit kernel module (SPARC)


     /kernel/drv/amd64/dmfe      64-bit kernel module (x86)


     /kernel/drv/dmfe.conf       dmfe configuration file


ATRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:



     
           ATRIBUTE TYPE               ATRIBUTE VALUE       
    
     Architecture                 SPARC, x86                  
    


SEE ALSO
     attributes(5), gld(7D), dlpi(7P), streamio(7I)


     Writing Device Drivers


     STREAMS Programming Guide


     Network Interfaces Programmer's Guide
















SunOS 5.11          Last change: 17 Sep 2007                    3