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Date:      Tue, 25 Dec 2001 11:16:40 -0800 (PST)
From:      Tom <tom@uniserve.com>
To:        Gabriel Ambuehl <gabriel_ambuehl@buz.ch>
Cc:        stable@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-qa@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Re[2]: 4.5 PRERELEASE - Call for testing
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.10.10112251110170.81618-100000@athena.uniserve.ca>
In-Reply-To: <6183502672.20011225200755@buz.ch>

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On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Gabriel Ambuehl wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> 
> Hello Tom,
> 
> 25 Dec 2001, 19:50:40, you wrote:
> 
> >> Another possibility is you do not have a Samba problem, but a
> >> network problem with auto-negotiate. Some older 10/100 cards and
> >> switch combinations step all over each other. You should lock down
> >> one end to a specific speed 
> >   That is bad advice.  Auto-negotiation is not auto-detect.  If you
> > disable auto-negotiate at one end and specify manual settings, you
> > must disable it on the other end too, and specify the SAME manual
> > settings. Either use auto-negotiate everywhere, or use manual
> > everywhere.  I would recommend using auto everywhere.
> 
> That doesn't reflect my experiences with Realtek 8139 Chipsets. The
> chipset is pretty much broken (but cheap, so you see it VERY often)
> and it doesn't really do the auto-detection of network speeds (often,
> it will work with some 200byte/s) but if you lock it to 100mbit, it
> works flawlessly with all other chipsets I got (among others, Intel
> (both cards and onboard ICH2), Via Rhine and some very old Dec ones)
> on a cheap noname 100mbit switch.

  Beware, Auto-negotiation isn't auto-detection.  Speeds can be
autodetected, but the duplex can't be auto-detected and must be
auto-negotiated.  The single biggest problem with switched networks is the
incorrect assumption that auto-detect and augo-negotiate are the same
thing.  They are not.

  As far as the Realtek 8139 goes, the time spent on bad network cards
isn't worth it, especially on a corporate network.

Tom


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