Hardware Datasheets?

pcmattman · Post by **pcmattman** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:40 am

Can anyone point me towards datasheets for the following network devices:

VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter (onboard)
3Com 3C905C-TX (dunno what chip)
RTL8180L (this is a chip)
NE DM-1001 (possibly ISA, not detected on PCI)

These four are the only networking devices I have. Bochs can work with a NE2000 card, but I want to be able to test networking on a real PC.[/list]

omin0us · Post by **omin0us** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:36 am

I dunno about data sheets for those. But one thing you might look into that i've been starting to do, is look at older linux kernels (2.2.x, 2.4.x) drivers for the cards you want. And get an idea of how the card works. What registers it uses, commands, etc.

I'm currently doing this for an Intel 10/100PRO driver.

pcmattman · Post by **pcmattman** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:38 am

I found the 3Com data on the Wiki

The other two still remain.

Also: does the pcidev in Bochs mean that I have to have that card, or does it just emulate?

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:39 am

http://rtl8181.sourceforge.net/rtl8181_resources.php Gives some info about the chip on the page.

VIA Technologies VT3043 Rhine I and VT86C100A Rhine II fast ethernet controller chips. There you got chip numbers, Google seems to find datasheets with "VT86C100A" though I didn't bother looking if they're good.

I'm under the impression that 3Com actually is pretty nice about giving datasheets, but their site only gives me link to "license.html" which goes to a page that says "please contact developer support" when I try to find a datasheet for your card, so you probably have to ask 3Com for info, unless you want to learn from the 3c59x driver in Linux..

And about NE DM-1001 I don't know anything at all.

pcmattman · Post by **pcmattman** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:41 am

Actually the datasheets on the Wiki for the 3Com cards are really good. They tell you the offsets of each register and its data for a start, and cover all points of the hardware.

Thanks for your help.

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:46 am

I've got one 8139 in each computer I have, plus one 8139 extra, which I bought for 10€ (new) for my sister, without even knowing it was 8139 based, and turns out she didn't need it after all. Guess which driver I'm going to write next..

pcmattman · Post by **pcmattman** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:49 am

My non-emulator testbed has the NE DM-1001, the 3Com, and possibly the RTL8180L if I feel like it. I would prefer to work with the 3Com, though. Mainly because the NE is old, back when coaxial used to be standard (coaxial + RJ45). And the RTL is part of a wireless card (Belkin, 802.11b card).

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:06 am

Yeah the 3com is also probably the easiest to support.

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:12 am

Actually, DO look at the Linux driver 3c59x.c as it's once of the better documented parts of the kernel, with lots of comments and written in relatively clear style. It's sure to be useful.

pcmattman · Post by **pcmattman** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:15 am

Documented? Really!

I'll look at that.

pcmattman · Post by **pcmattman** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:53 am

Actually, do you know of any way of emulating the 3Com cards in an emulator?

Combuster · Post by **Combuster** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:26 am

Contribute to Bochs

omin0us · Post by **omin0us** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:38 am

I know that qemu now supports at least ne2k_isa, ne2k_pci, & rtl8139 emulation. I dunno if it does some other chipsets though.

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:25 pm

Bochs and QEMU both have support for NE2k and 8139 but that's it.

omin0us · Post by **omin0us** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:34 pm

Oh, I didn't realize bochs did. I was thinking of trying to add rtl8139 support to bochs before. But, no need i suppose. :]