PCMCIA nic: getting it working with pcmcia-cs (for n00bs!)

[cPF]

This problem has caused me too much trouble, for not to inform anyone else browsing these forums.

I recommend people with old PCI-to-PCMCIA (not ISA-to-PCMCIA) pcmcia-bridges, that are not cardbus compliant (like many Cirrus controllers, mine is PD6832) to keep using their 2.4 series kernels with standalone "pcmcia-cs" modules, like the README instructs in pcmcia-cs. There seems to be no alternative.

Unlike all manuals tend to say, 2.6 series haven't yet catched up with the development in the standalone pcmcia packages, and some kernel modules are still almost five years old. I couldn't find any text corresponding to this chip in the relatively old revisions of i82365 module sources included in kernel 2.6.4.

The symptom with kernel 2.6 was that I couldn't identify my pcmcia-hardware correctly, because kernel thought it was some sort of real cardbus and loaded yenta_socket), and it failed to read any product information at all of devices in the pcmcia-bus. It always tried to insert a memory_cs module for my 3c589_cs NIC!

We should also instruct people to remember add CRC32 support in 2.4 kernel, or you will get a whole lot of missing symbols. Could someone add this to the original post?

[mstrube]

Thanks for the information...although I resent being called a n00b!

[drdebian]

i followed your instructions, but on my laptop, Dell Inspiron 8100, when I insert my Orinoco Sliver card, the computer freezes and i have to reboot using the power button. when I insert the card the last syslog message is:

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dessimus cardmgr[2265]: executing: 'modprobe orinoco_cs'

even if i try to boot with the card in, it will freeze before finishing the boot, and the above message is also the last message shown.

TIA,
Rick

I have a similar setup as well, try editing /etc/pcmcia/config.opts

in the line
include port 0x100-0x4ff.....
delete the range: 0x800-0x8ff

Wonderful, this was exactly what I looking for! No more lockups! Thank you!

[gentonix]

Hello everyone,

I'm having problems network adapter trouble with IBM Thinkpad 600X and 3C589D NIC. I'm using 2.6.5-gentoo-dev sources and compiled in all the pcmcia stuff (I can go into details if needed) and the 3c589 support as a module. Everything works like a charm for a while, but then the NIC stops responding. I have to reinsert it to get it working again. Dmesg outputs the following:

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eth0: flipped to 10BaseT
eth0: flipped to 10BaseT
eth0: interrupt(s) dropped

So, it seems to me that I have interrupt problems. ls /proc/interrupts says that the 3C589 is using interrupt 11 with a bunch of other devices (uhci_hcd, cs46xx, yenta), so maybe that's the problem. But so far I haven't managed to steer the 3c589 module to use another interrupt. I've tried adding exclude irq 11 to /etc/pcmcia/config.opts but that doesn't seem to affect as the 3c589 module still takes interrupt 11.

Any insight on what could be the problem and/or how this could be solved?

Edit. it stills doesn't work

[charlieg]

Thanks for the information...although I resent being called a n00b!

It probably should read 'agnostic of user experience'. But then again, 'n00b' gets the point across with less brain power required by the reader. (Some people will be tired when doing this stuff after work.)

[flawed_logic]

First of all thank you for the great guide. I would have been lost for a couple days without it. That being said I am haveing a problem. I followed the directions exactly, and everything seems to work except bringing eth0 up.

The modules load fine, the nic is recognized, the link light comes on but when it tries to bring eth0 up it hangs for about 3 minutes then says it failed.

I was just wondering if anybody had any advice or a link to a similer problem cause I am at a loss.

Thanks in advance.

[charlieg]

The modules load fine, the nic is recognized, the link light comes on but when it tries to bring eth0 up it hangs for about 3 minutes then says it failed.

What card do you have? Any other pertinent information? (eg using a non-standard kernel)

[flawed_logic]

Thanks for the reply.

The card I am using is the netgear fa511

I believe I am using a standard kernel

I use dhcp and go through a SMC router

When cardmgr starts it recognises my card and all modules are loaded successfullly but eth0 doesn't start

EDIT: Just tried a 3com nic and got the same results so I don't think it is the card

EDIT: Got it to work, I had to add the line pci=noacpi to my grub.conf thanks again

[Julle]

I'm struggling to get pcmcia to work with 2.6.5 kernel. I have tried all kernel configuration combinations I can think of and searched these forums again and again.

Right now I have kernel configured like this. PCMCIA, yenta and i82365 included but no device drivers. I also have emerged pcmcia-cs.

At first I got this in startup.

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modbrobe i82365 failed

After searching forums for a while I found solution from here:

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php? ... 365+failed

So I edited /etc/conf.d/pcmcia and now I don't get that message anymore. But instead of it I get this.

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cardmgr[4969]: no pcmcia driver in /proc/devices

I which pcmcia-cs site says.

3.1 Base PCMCIA kernel modules do not load

Symptoms:

* Kernel version mismatch errors are reported when the PCMCIA startup script runs.
* After startup, lsmod does not show any PCMCIA modules.
* cardmgr reports ``no pcmcia driver in /proc/devices'' in the system log.

Kernel modules contain version information that is checked against the current kernel when a module is loaded. The type of checking depends on the setting of the CONFIG_MODVERSIONS kernel option. If this is false, then the kernel version number is compiled into each module, and insmod checks this for a match with the running kernel. If CONFIG_MODVERSIONS is true, then each symbol exported by the kernel is given a sort of checksum. These codes are all compared against the corresponding codes compiled into a module. The intent was for this to make modules less version-dependent, because the checksums would only change if a kernel interface changed, and would generally stay the same across minor kernel updates. In practice, the checksums have turned out to be even more restrictive, because many kernel interfaces depend on compile-time kernel option settings. Also, the checksums turned out to be an excessively pessimistic judge of compatibility.

The practical upshot of this is that kernel modules are closely tied to both the kernel version, and the setting of many kernel configuration options. Generally, a set of modules compiled for one 2.2.19 kernel will not load against some other 2.2.19 kernel unless special care is taken to ensure that the two were built with similar configurations. This makes distribution of precompiled kernel modules a tricky business.

You have several options:

* If you obtained precompiled drivers as part of a Linux distribution, verify that you are using an unmodified kernel as supplied with that distribution. If you intend to use precompiled modules, you generally must stick with the corresponding kernel.
* If you have reconfigured or upgraded your kernel, you will probably need to compile and install the PCMCIA package from scratch. This is easily done if you already have the kernel source tree installed. See Compilation and installation for detailed instructions.
* In some cases, incompatibilities in other system components can prevent correct loading of kernel modules. If you have upgraded your own kernel, pay attention to the ``minimal requirements'' for module utilities and binutils listed in the Documentation/Changes file in the kernel source code tree.

So I unmerged and re-emerged pcmcia-cs under 2.6.5 kernel but no help.

I'm out of ideas. So if someone knows how to get things working please help.

[powdahound]

*Bump!!!*

I have the same problem as the poster above me with the 2.6.7-r6 kernel. Please help if you have this working on 2.6!

I am trying to set up my 3COM 3CCFE575BT PCMCIA NIC...

[jmpnz]

soroko,
Thanks, I too have more hair because of your post but how did you determine that this was the problem?

I have a similar setup as well, try editing /etc/pcmcia/config.opts

in the line
include port 0x100-0x4ff.....
delete the range: 0x800-0x8ff

[charlieg]

Thanks to dmitrio for keeping an updated version up on gentoo-wiki.com!

[ett_gramse_nap]

Thanks to dmitrio for keeping an updated version up on gentoo-wiki.com!

What do you mean? It's the same old 2.4 stuff... please, give us a 2.6 howto!

[el_Salmon]

give us a 2.6 howto

The 2.6 how-to should be very similar:
The differences are:

• * PCMCIA Cardbus support enabled in kernel
  * To compile kernel with

  Code: Select all

  make && make modules_install

  instead of

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  # make dep && make bzImage modules modules_install

  See Gentoo Guide

[ett_gramse_nap]

Sure, but what exactly should be enabled in the kernel. There is one option about pcmcia and cardbus in general (I think) above pci hotplugging and then some pcmcia stuff beneath in the networking stuff. I think it's a mess. As a bonus some people even argue one shouldn't use the pcmcia-cs package.

[el_Salmon]

If you emerge pcmcia-cs ebuild with linux 2.6, portage compiles only PCMCIA tools (configuration files, utilities...) but not PCMCIA drivers. These drivers must be compile in kernel: (hermes support or prism54 support, PCMCIA or PCI support, etc). The problem is gentoo-dev-sources (2.6.7-r11) don't get orinoco patches for monitor mode.

[ett_gramse_nap]

I just can't get it to work, so here's the story, hope someone can help.

My pcmcia-card is a Netgear FA511 (Cardbus).

I'm using gentoo-dev-sources-2.6.7-gentoo-r10 with

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CONFIG_HOTPLUG="y"

/../

CONFIG_PCMCIA=y
CONFIG_YENTA=y
CONFIG_CARDBUS=y

/../

CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI=y

None of he PCMCIA network device support under Networking is enabled, in other words: CONFIG_NET_PCMCIA is not set. My card isn't even in there so it wasn't like I had a choice.

After installing that kernel and rebooting without the pcmcia or the net.eth0 init scripts I ran

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/etc/init.d/pcmcia start

which came out fine and produced

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cardmgr[6675]: watching 2 sockets

So far so good. The problems arise when trying to fire up eth0.

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/etc/init.d/pcmcia start

namely gives

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* Bringing eth0 up...
*    eth0 dhcp                                               [ !! ]

and no more! The darn init script could at least be a little informative, couldn't it? Running ifconfig confirms that eth0 isn't up and running. I have double checked that my /etc/conf.d/net is correct and using dhcp.

Please help me out on this one! I'm completely stuck...

[ett_gramse_nap]

Problem solved! Apparently one should enable one of the Networking-options... I had to have a module called "tulip" loaded to use my card.

[MasterOfTheHat]

All right, I am definitely a n00b on G2 and on Linux in general, but a friend of mine praised G2 so I thought I would try it...

It took me a while to get the OS loaded onto my toshiba Tecra 530CDT laptop, but I finally got it to boot. During the install, my 3Com Megahertz 3CXEM556 modem and 10/100 NIC combo pcmcia card worked great, if i used the 'dopcmcia' option on boot. Once I got G2 installed, however, I haven't had any luck.

I've walked through this tutorial at least twice, and still no luck. According to the pcmcia-cs page, this card is supported under the 3c589_cs driver.

Where do I go from here? What info do you need me to post? I am using a static IP and I know /etc/conf.d/net is set up correctly.

insmod 3c589_cs gives me:
init_module: INvalid argument

insmod serial_cs gives me the same.
(i notice both of those on boot)

Any ideas?

- MotH

[dmitrio]

I have copied this HOWTO, with permission of charlieg and anz and el_Salmon to gentoo-wiki.com
http://gentoo-wiki.com/index.php?title= ... PCMCIA_NIC
If you see anything that should be added or changed, feel free to do so.

Thank you for a great HOWTO.

PS: article updated with the note from el_Salmon for 2.6 Kernel.

[TheCat]

try anything, but no luck...
I'm (try to) using 2.6.7-r11 on very old laptop (targa TN549 ProII, 166mmx, 32 mb). with debian-woody (2.4.18) installation floppy my pcmcia card working fine (with i82365 module), but no with gentoo.
my /etc/conf.d/pcmcia contains:
PCIC="yenta_socket"

lsmod shows modules:
ds, yenta_socket and pcmcia_core

but when I run cardmgr I get "no sockets found!"
"modprobe i82365" says "No such device"
any help?

[el_Salmon]

Try to compile all PCMCIA basic drivers you need in kernel, not like modules. Enable all: yenta_socket, i82365, ds, etc. Maybe you have not installed "module-init-tools" ebuild. This is necessary to load modules with kernel 2.6.x

[TheCat]

Try to compile all PCMCIA basic drivers you need in kernel, not like modules. Enable all: yenta_socket, i82365, ds, etc. Maybe you have not installed "module-init-tools" ebuild. This is necessary to load modules with kernel 2.6.x

I have "module-init-tools-3.0-r2", but I try to complile all PCMCIA basic drivers in kernel. but it didn't help
I don't know what to do...

[TheCat]

I found I don't have /var/lib/pcmcia directory
but maybe it's not main...

[TheCat]

so strange. with 2.4.26-r6 everything is working fine...
2.6.7 didn't have enought pcmcia support?