Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2000 23:29:47 -0600 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Install problems with certain hardware Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20000729230720.05049550@localhost>
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I've been working on the problem mentioned in my earlier message, and have discovered that my install problems stemmed from some assumptions in /stand/sysinstall and default configuration information in the "GENERIC" kernel. The Dell machine with which I'm working has a TI Cardbus controller whose default IRQ for management is IRQ 10. Under normal conditions, the kernel recognizes it and gives it this IRQ. This system also has an ESS sound chip at IRQ 5 and an ATI graphics accelerator (AGP) which uses IRQ 11. Neither can be reconfigured from the BIOS setup screen to use other interrupts by default, nor is there control over PCI interrupt steering in the BIOS setup. So, once the kernel starts up, IRQs 5, 10, and 11 are all spoken for. Now comes the PCMCIA configuration portion of /stand/sysinstall, which gives you three choices of IRQs which you can assign to the CardBus controller for use by cards you plug in. The choices are: A) IRQ 10 and 11 (the default); B) IRQ 5 and 10; or C) IRQ 11 only. See the problem? None of these combinations will work because the IRQs in question are all spoken for. I couldn't give the cards IRQ 3 (which was available because there was no sio1) or IRQ 12 (also apparently free), because these wer ethe only three choices offered. I worked around the problem by forcing the CardBus controller's management IRQ to 9 in the kernel configuration. I then chose option A above. (IRQ 11 isn't available, but IRQ 10 is, so I could get one card working.) I inserted an ep (3Com) card in the slot and it was recognized, so I could install over the Internet. It seems to me that /stand/sysinstall should offer a wider range of choices of interrupts for the PCMCIA cards, and shouldn't offer anything that cannot actually be used. Also, it's a good thing I had the 3Com card on hand, because the Ethernet NIC on the Linksys NIC/Modem card, model number PCMLM56, would not work. It's a NE2000 clone, which should be driveable by the ed driver, but apparently it wasn't recognized either during boot or when /stand/sysinstall gave it a tweak. I can't tell if this was because the PC Card controller only had one interrupt and gave it to the modem, or because the ed driver wasn't equipped to handle an NE2000 clone inside a PC Card. Can anyone help with this? --Brett To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
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