xref: /linux/Documentation/networking/device_drivers/atm/fore200e.rst (revision b2105aa2c6481fda72c1825800b753a0bf614517)
1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2
3=============================================
4FORE Systems PCA-200E/SBA-200E ATM NIC driver
5=============================================
6
7This driver adds support for the FORE Systems 200E-series ATM adapters
8to the Linux operating system. It is based on the earlier PCA-200E driver
9written by Uwe Dannowski.
10
11The driver simultaneously supports PCA-200E and SBA-200E adapters on
12i386, alpha (untested), powerpc, sparc and sparc64 archs.
13
14The intent is to enable the use of different models of FORE adapters at the
15same time, by hosts that have several bus interfaces (such as PCI+SBUS,
16or PCI+EISA).
17
18Only PCI and SBUS devices are currently supported by the driver, but support
19for other bus interfaces such as EISA should not be too hard to add.
20
21
22Firmware Copyright Notice
23-------------------------
24
25Please read the fore200e_firmware_copyright file present
26in the linux/drivers/atm directory for details and restrictions.
27
28
29Firmware Updates
30----------------
31
32The FORE Systems 200E-series driver is shipped with firmware data being
33uploaded to the ATM adapters at system boot time or at module loading time.
34The supplied firmware images should work with all adapters.
35
36However, if you encounter problems (the firmware doesn't start or the driver
37is unable to read the PROM data), you may consider trying another firmware
38version. Alternative binary firmware images can be found somewhere on the
39ForeThought CD-ROM supplied with your adapter by FORE Systems.
40
41You can also get the latest firmware images from FORE Systems at
42https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FORE_Systems. Register TACTics Online and go to
43the 'software updates' pages. The firmware binaries are part of
44the various ForeThought software distributions.
45
46Notice that different versions of the PCA-200E firmware exist, depending
47on the endianness of the host architecture. The driver is shipped with
48both little and big endian PCA firmware images.
49
50Name and location of the new firmware images can be set at kernel
51configuration time:
52
531. Copy the new firmware binary files (with .bin, .bin1 or .bin2 suffix)
54   to some directory, such as linux/drivers/atm.
55
562. Reconfigure your kernel to set the new firmware name and location.
57   Expected pathnames are absolute or relative to the drivers/atm directory.
58
593. Rebuild and re-install your kernel or your module.
60
61
62Feedback
63--------
64
65Feedback is welcome. Please send success stories/bug reports/
66patches/improvement/comments/flames to <lizzi@cnam.fr>.
67