Installation Notes
Broadcom b44 Linux Driver
Version 1.00g
06/07/2006

Broadcom Corporation
16215 Alton Parkway,
Irvine, CA 92619-7013

Copyright (c) 2006 Broadcom Corporation
All rights reserved


Table of Contents
=================

Introduction
Limitations
Packaging
Installing Source RPM Package
Building Driver From TAR File
Driver Settings
Driver Defaults
Unloading and Removing Driver
Driver Messages


Introduction
============

This file describes the b44 Linux driver for the Broadcom 440x
10/100 Mbps PCI Network Controllers.
The latest driver is in the latest 2.6 Linux kernel. It can also be
downloaded from http://www.broadcom.com as a source package, but is
generally not necessary to do so if you are using the latest 2.6
upstream kernel from http://www.kernel.org or one of the latest
vendor kernels from Red Hat, SuSE, or others.

The b44 driver from this Broadcom package is almost identical to the
b44 driver in the latest 2.6 upstream Linux kernel. It includes some
additional kernel compatible code to allow it to compile on older 2.6
and some 2.4 kernels. The version number is also similar but generally
has a one letter suffix at the end, (e.g. 1.00a) to distinguish it from
the in-kernel b44 driver.

The next few sections on packaging, compiling, and installation apply
to the Broadcom driver package only.


Limitations
===========

The current version of the driver has been tested on 2.4.x kernels starting
from 2.4.24 and all 2.6.x kernels. The driver may not compile on kernels
older than 2.4.24. Testing is concentrated on i386 and x86_64 architectures.
Only limited testing has been done on some other architectures such as
powerpc and sparc64.

Minor changes to some source files and Makefile may be needed on some
kernels.


Packaging
=========

To replace an older previously installed or in-kernel b44 driver, follow
the instructions below.

The driver package from http://www.broadcom.com is released in two packaging
formats: source RPM and compressed tar formats. The file names for the two
packages are b44-.src.rpm and b44-.tar.gz.
Identical source files to build the driver are included in both packages.


Installing Source RPM Package
=============================

The following are general guidelines for installing the driver.

1. Install the source RPM package:

rpm -ivh b44-.src.rpm

2. CD to the RPM path and build the binary driver for your kernel:

cd /usr/src/{redhat,OpenLinux,turbo,packages,rpm ..}

rpm -bb SPECS/b44.spec

or

rpmbuild -bb SPECS/b44.spec (for RPM version 4.x.x)

Note that the RPM path is different for different Linux distributions.

3. Install the newly built package (driver and man page):

rpm -ivh RPMS//b44-..rpm

is the architecture of the machine, e.g. i386:

rpm -ivh RPMS/i386/b44-.i386.rpm

Note that the --force option may be needed on some Linux distributions
if conflicts are reported.

The driver will be installed in the following path:

2.4.x kernels:

/lib/modules//kernel/drivers/net/b44.o

2.6.x kernels:

/lib/modules//kernel/drivers/net/b44.ko

4. Load the driver:

insmod b44.o
or
insmod b44.ko (on 2.6.x kernels)
or
modprobe b44

5. To configure network protocol and address, refer to various Linux
documentations.


Building Driver From TAR File
=============================

The following are general guidelines for installing the driver.

1. Create a directory and extract the files:

tar xvzf b44-.tar.gz

2. Build the driver b44.o (or b44.ko) as a loadable module for the
running kernel:

cd src
make

3. Test the driver by loading it:

insmod b44.o
or
insmod b44.ko (on 2.6.x kernels)
or
insmod b44

4. Install the driver:

make install

See RPM instructions above for the location of the installed driver.

5. To configure network protocol and address, refer to various Linux
documentations.


Driver Settings
===============

This and the rest of the sections below apply to both the in-kernel b44
driver and the b44 driver package from Broadcom.

Driver settings can be queried and changed using ethtool. The latest ethtool
can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/gkernel if it is not
already installed. The following are some common examples on how to use
ethtool. See the ethtool man page for more information. ethtool settings do
not persist across reboot or module reload. The ethtool commands can be put
in a startup script such as /etc/rc.local to preserve the settings across a
reboot.

1. Show current speed, duplex, and link status:

ethtool eth0

2. Change speed, duplex, autoneg:

Example: 100Mbps half duplex, no autonegotiation:

ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex half autoneg off

Example: Autonegotiation with full advertisement:

ethtool -s eth0 autoneg on

Example: Autonegotiation with 100Mbps full duplex advertisement only:

ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg on

3. Show flow control settings:

ethtool -a eth0

4. Change flow control settings:

Example: Turn off flow control

ethtool -A eth0 autoneg off rx off tx off

Example: Turn flow control autonegotiation on with tx and rx advertisement:

ethtool -A eth0 autoneg on rx on tx on

Note that this is only valid if speed is set to autonegotiation.

5. Get statistics:

ethtool -S eth0

6. See ethtool man page for more options.


Driver Defaults
===============

Speed : Autonegotiation with all speeds advertised

Flow control : Autonegotiation with rx and tx advertised

MTU : 1500 (range 46 - 1500)


Unloading and Removing Driver
=============================

To unload the driver, use ifconfig to bring down all eth# interfaces opened
by the driver, then do the following:

rmmod b44

Note that on 2.6 kernels, it is not necessary to bring down the eth#
interfaces before unloading the driver module.


If the driver was installed using rpm, do the following to remove it:

rpm -e b44


If the driver was installed using make install from the tar file, the driver
b44.o (or b44.ko) has to be manually deleted from the system. Refer
to the section "Installing Source RPM Package" for the location of the
installed driver.


Driver Messages
===============

The following are the most common sample messages that may be logged in the file
/var/log/messages. Use dmesg -n to control the level at which messages
will appear on the console. Most systems are set to level 6 by default. To see
all messages, set the level higher.

Driver signon:
-------------

b44.c:v1.00b (Apr 20, 2006)


NIC detected:
------------

Link up and speed indication:
----------------------------

b44: eth0: Link is up at 100 Mbps, full duplex.
b44: eth0: Flow control is off for TX and on for RX.


Link down indication:
--------------------

b44: eth0: Link is down.


b44 notes:
----------
speed 10Mbs
The link LED is also a speed LED and when the b44 is set to speed 10Mbs the
link/speed LED will not illuminate. It only illuminates when speed is 100Mbs
AND link is detected.

Tx Pause
Tx pause frame generation is disabled by default. When it is enabled it may
affect b44 performance.