sk98lin(4) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | FILES | BUGS | SEE ALSO

sk98lin(4)              Kernel Interfaces Manual              sk98lin(4)

NAME         top

       sk98lin - Marvell/SysKonnect Gigabit Ethernet driver v6.21

SYNOPSIS         top

       insmod sk98lin.o [Speed_A=i,j,...]  [Speed_B=i,j,...]
       [AutoNeg_A=i,j,...]  [AutoNeg_B=i,j,...]  [DupCap_A=i,j,...]
       [DupCap_B=i,j,...]  [FlowCtrl_A=i,j,...]  [FlowCtrl_B=i,j,...]
       [Role_A=i,j,...]  [Role_B=i,j,...]  [ConType=i,j,...]
       [Moderation=i,j,...]  [IntsPerSec=i,j,...]  [PrefPort=i,j,...]
       [RlmtMode=i,j,...]

DESCRIPTION         top

       Note: This obsolete driver was removed in Linux 2.6.26.

       sk98lin is the Gigabit Ethernet driver for Marvell and SysKonnect
       network adapter cards.  It supports SysKonnect SK-98xx/SK-95xx
       compliant Gigabit Ethernet Adapter and any Yukon compliant
       chipset.

       When loading the driver using insmod, parameters for the network
       adapter cards might be stated as a sequence of comma separated
       commands.  If for instance two network adapters are installed and
       AutoNegotiation on Port A of the first adapter should be ON, but
       on the Port A of the second adapter switched OFF, one must enter:

           insmod sk98lin.o AutoNeg_A=On,Off

       After sk98lin is bound to one or more adapter cards and the /proc
       filesystem is mounted on your system, a dedicated statistics file
       will be created in the folder /proc/net/sk98lin for all ports of
       the installed network adapter cards.  Those files are named
       eth[x], where x is the number of the interface that has been
       assigned to a dedicated port by the system.

       If loading is finished, any desired IP address can be assigned to
       the respective eth[x] interface using the ifconfig(8) command.
       This causes the adapter to connect to the Ethernet and to display
       a status message on the console saying "ethx: network connection
       up using port y" followed by the configured or detected
       connection parameters.

       The sk98lin also supports large frames (also called jumbo
       frames).  Using jumbo frames can improve throughput tremendously
       when transferring large amounts of data.  To enable large frames,
       the MTU (maximum transfer unit) size for an interface is to be
       set to a high value.  The default MTU size is 1500 and can be
       changed up to 9000 (bytes).  Setting the MTU size can be done
       when assigning the IP address to the interface or later by using
       the ifconfig(8) command with the mtu parameter.  If for instance
       eth0 needs an IP address and a large frame MTU size, the
       following two commands might be used:

           ifconfig eth0 10.1.1.1
           ifconfig eth0 mtu 9000

       Those two commands might even be combined into one:

           ifconfig eth0 10.1.1.1 mtu 9000

       Note that large frames can be used only if permitted by your
       network infrastructure.  This means, that any switch being used
       in your Ethernet must also support large frames.  Quite some
       switches support large frames, but need to be configured to do
       so.  Most of the times, their default setting is to support only
       standard frames with an MTU size of 1500 (bytes).  In addition to
       the switches inside the network, all network adapters that are to
       be used must also be enabled regarding jumbo frames.  If an
       adapter is not set to receive large frames, it will simply drop
       them.

       Switching back to the standard Ethernet frame size can be done by
       using the ifconfig(8) command again:

           ifconfig eth0 mtu 1500

       The Marvell/SysKonnect Gigabit Ethernet driver for Linux is able
       to support VLAN and Link Aggregation according to IEEE standards
       802.1, 802.1q, and 802.3ad.  Those features are available only
       after installation of open source modules which can be found on
       the Internet:

       VLAN: ⟨http://www.candelatech.com/~greear/vlan.htmlLink Aggregation: ⟨http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~yumo⟩

       Note that Marvell/SysKonnect does not offer any support for these
       open source modules and does not take the responsibility for any
       kind of failures or problems arising when using these modules.

   Parameters
       Speed_A=i,j,...
              This parameter is used to set the speed capabilities of
              port A of an adapter card.  It is valid only for Yukon
              copper adapters.  Possible values are: 10, 100, 1000, or
              Auto; Auto is the default.  Usually, the speed is
              negotiated between the two ports during link
              establishment.  If this fails, a port can be forced to a
              specific setting with this parameter.

       Speed_B=i,j,...
              This parameter is used to set the speed capabilities of
              port B of an adapter card.  It is valid only for Yukon
              copper adapters.  Possible values are: 10, 100, 1000, or
              Auto; Auto is the default.  Usually, the speed is
              negotiated between the two ports during link
              establishment.  If this fails, a port can be forced to a
              specific setting with this parameter.

       AutoNeg_A=i,j,...
              Enables or disables the use of autonegotiation of port A
              of an adapter card.  Possible values are: On, Off, or
              Sense; On is the default.  The Sense mode automatically
              detects whether the link partner supports auto-negotiation
              or not.

       AutoNeg_B=i,j,...
              Enables or disables the use of autonegotiation of port B
              of an adapter card.  Possible values are: On, Off, or
              Sense; On is the default.  The Sense mode automatically
              detects whether the link partner supports auto-negotiation
              or not.

       DupCap_A=i,j,...
              This parameter indicates the duplex mode to be used for
              port A of an adapter card.  Possible values are: Half,
              Full, or Both; Both is the default.  This parameter is
              relevant only if AutoNeg_A of port A is not set to Sense.
              If AutoNeg_A is set to On, all three values of DupCap_A (
              Half, Full, or Both) might be stated.  If AutoNeg_A is set
              to Off, only DupCap_A values Full and Half are allowed.
              This DupCap_A parameter is useful if your link partner
              does not support all possible duplex combinations.

       DupCap_B=i,j,...
              This parameter indicates the duplex mode to be used for
              port B of an adapter card.  Possible values are: Half,
              Full, or Both; Both is the default.  This parameter is
              relevant only if AutoNeg_B of port B is not set to Sense.
              If AutoNeg_B is set to On, all three values of DupCap_B (
              Half, Full, or Both) might be stated.  If AutoNeg_B is set
              to Off, only DupCap_B values Full and Half are allowed.
              This DupCap_B parameter is useful if your link partner
              does not support all possible duplex combinations.

       FlowCtrl_A=i,j,...
              This parameter can be used to set the flow control
              capabilities the port reports during auto-negotiation.
              Possible values are: Sym, SymOrRem, LocSend, or None;
              SymOrRem is the default.  The different modes have the
              following meaning:

              Sym = Symmetric
                     Both link partners are allowed to send PAUSE
                     frames.

              SymOrRem = SymmetricOrRemote
                     Both or only remote partner are allowed to send
                     PAUSE frames.

              LocSend = LocalSend
                     Only local link partner is allowed to send PAUSE
                     frames.

              None = None
                     No link partner is allowed to send PAUSE frames.

              Note that this parameter is ignored if AutoNeg_A is set to
              Off.

       FlowCtrl_B=i,j,...
              This parameter can be used to set the flow control
              capabilities the port reports during auto-negotiation.
              Possible values are: Sym, SymOrRem, LocSend, or None;
              SymOrRem is the default.  The different modes have the
              following meaning:

              Sym = Symmetric
                     Both link partners are allowed to send PAUSE
                     frames.

              SymOrRem = SymmetricOrRemote
                     Both or only remote partner are allowed to send
                     PAUSE frames.

              LocSend = LocalSend
                     Only local link partner is allowed to send PAUSE
                     frames.

              None = None
                     No link partner is allowed to send PAUSE frames.

              Note that this parameter is ignored if AutoNeg_B is set to
              Off.

       Role_A=i,j,...
              This parameter is valid only for 1000Base-T adapter cards.
              For two 1000Base-T ports to communicate, one must take the
              role of the master (providing timing information), while
              the other must be the slave.  Possible values are: Auto,
              Master, or Slave; Auto is the default.  Usually, the role
              of a port is negotiated between two ports during link
              establishment, but if that fails the port A of an adapter
              card can be forced to a specific setting with this
              parameter.

       Role_B=i,j,...
              This parameter is valid only for 1000Base-T adapter cards.
              For two 1000Base-T ports to communicate, one must take the
              role of the master (providing timing information), while
              the other must be the slave.  Possible values are: Auto,
              Master, or Slave; Auto is the default.  Usually, the role
              of a port is negotiated between two ports during link
              establishment, but if that fails the port B of an adapter
              card can be forced to a specific setting with this
              parameter.

       ConType=i,j,...
              This parameter is a combination of all five per-port
              parameters within one single parameter.  This simplifies
              the configuration of both ports of an adapter card.  The
              different values of this variable reflect the most
              meaningful combinations of port parameters.  Possible
              values and their corresponding combination of per-port
              parameters:

              ConType   DupCap   AutoNeg   FlowCtrl   Role   Speed
              Auto      Both     On        SymOrRem   Auto   Auto
              100FD     Full     Off       None       Auto   100
              100HD     Half     Off       None       Auto   100
              10FD      Full     Off       None       Auto   10
              10HD      Half     Off       None       Auto   10

              Stating any other port parameter together with this
              ConType parameter will result in a merged configuration of
              those settings.  This is due to the fact, that the per-
              port parameters (e.g., Speed_A) have a higher priority
              than the combined variable ConType.

       Moderation=i,j,...
              Interrupt moderation is employed to limit the maximum
              number of interrupts the driver has to serve.  That is,
              one or more interrupts (which indicate any transmit or
              receive packet to be processed) are queued until the
              driver processes them.  When queued interrupts are to be
              served, is determined by the IntsPerSec parameter, which
              is explained later below.  Possible moderation modes are:
              None, Static, or Dynamic; None is the default.  The
              different modes have the following meaning:

              None No interrupt moderation is applied on the adapter
              card.  Therefore, each transmit or receive interrupt is
              served immediately as soon as it appears on the interrupt
              line of the adapter card.

              Static Interrupt moderation is applied on the adapter
              card.  All transmit and receive interrupts are queued
              until a complete moderation interval ends.  If such a
              moderation interval ends, all queued interrupts are
              processed in one big bunch without any delay.  The term
              Static reflects the fact, that interrupt moderation is
              always enabled, regardless how much network load is
              currently passing via a particular interface.  In
              addition, the duration of the moderation interval has a
              fixed length that never changes while the driver is
              operational.

              Dynamic Interrupt moderation might be applied on the
              adapter card, depending on the load of the system.  If the
              driver detects that the system load is too high, the
              driver tries to shield the system against too much network
              load by enabling interrupt moderation.  If—at a later
              time—the CPU utilization decreases again (or if the
              network load is negligible), the interrupt moderation will
              automatically be disabled.

              Interrupt moderation should be used when the driver has to
              handle one or more interfaces with a high network load,
              which—as a consequence—leads also to a high CPU
              utilization.  When moderation is applied in such high
              network load situations, CPU load might be reduced by
              20–30% on slow computers.

              Note that the drawback of using interrupt moderation is an
              increase of the round-trip-time (RTT), due to the queuing
              and serving of interrupts at dedicated moderation times.

       IntsPerSec=i,j,...
              This parameter determines the length of any interrupt
              moderation interval.  Assuming that static interrupt
              moderation is to be used, an IntsPerSec parameter value of
              2000 will lead to an interrupt moderation interval of 500
              microseconds.  Possible values for this parameter are in
              the range of 30...40000 (interrupts per second).  The
              default value is 2000.

              This parameter is used only if either static or dynamic
              interrupt moderation is enabled on a network adapter card.
              This parameter is ignored if no moderation is applied.

              Note that the duration of the moderation interval is to be
              chosen with care.  At first glance, selecting a very long
              duration (e.g., only 100 interrupts per second) seems to
              be meaningful, but the increase of packet-processing delay
              is tremendous.  On the other hand, selecting a very short
              moderation time might compensate the use of any moderation
              being applied.

       PrefPort=i,j,...
              This parameter is used to force the preferred port to A or
              B (on dual-port network adapters).  The preferred port is
              the one that is used if both ports A and B are detected as
              fully functional.  Possible values are: A or B; A is the
              default.

       RlmtMode=i,j,...
              RLMT monitors the status of the port.  If the link of the
              active port fails, RLMT switches immediately to the
              standby link.  The virtual link is maintained as long as
              at least one "physical" link is up.  This parameters
              states how RLMT should monitor both ports.  Possible
              values are: CheckLinkState, CheckLocalPort, CheckSeg, or
              DualNet; CheckLinkState is the default.  The different
              modes have the following meaning:

              CheckLinkState Check link state only: RLMT uses the link
              state reported by the adapter hardware for each individual
              port to determine whether a port can be used for all
              network traffic or not.

              CheckLocalPort In this mode, RLMT monitors the network
              path between the two ports of an adapter by regularly
              exchanging packets between them.  This mode requires a
              network configuration in which the two ports are able to
              "see" each other (i.e., there must not be any router
              between the ports).

              CheckSeg Check local port and segmentation: This mode
              supports the same functions as the CheckLocalPort mode and
              additionally checks network segmentation between the
              ports.  Therefore, this mode is to be used only if Gigabit
              Ethernet switches are installed on the network that have
              been configured to use the Spanning Tree protocol.

              DualNet In this mode, ports A and B are used as separate
              devices.  If you have a dual port adapter, port A will be
              configured as eth[x] and port B as eth[x+1].  Both ports
              can be used independently with distinct IP addresses.  The
              preferred port setting is not used.  RLMT is turned off.

              Note that RLMT modes CheckLocalPort and CheckLinkState are
              designed to operate in configurations where a network path
              between the ports on one adapter exists.  Moreover, they
              are not designed to work where adapters are connected
              back-to-back.

FILES         top

       /proc/net/sk98lin/eth[x]
              The statistics file of a particular interface of an
              adapter card.  It contains generic information about the
              adapter card plus a detailed summary of all transmit and
              receive counters.

       /usr/src/linux/Documentation/networking/sk98lin.txt
              This is the README file of the sk98lin driver.  It
              contains a detailed installation HOWTO and describes all
              parameters of the driver.  It denotes also common problems
              and provides the solution to them.

BUGS         top

       Report any bugs to linux@syskonnect.de

SEE ALSO         top

       ifconfig(8), insmod(8), modprobe(8)

Linux man-pages (unreleased)     (date)                       sk98lin(4)