Linux and Compaq Token Ring
Updated June 13, 2001
Created June 11, 2001

TR Card Used:

Vendor ID Device ID Name Spare # Assembly # Option #
1014 003e Compaq IBM 16/4 Token Ring PCI Special NIC - or -
Compaq PCI Wake on LAN II 16/4 Token-Ring Adapter 		135449-001 133750-001 133749-B21

If your card is the first on on the ring:

If your TR Card is the first one on the ring network, then the Olympic driver ring speed autodetection will not detect a speed and the driver will not force the card onto the network. If this is the first one on the network, you will need to set the speed manually with the ringspeed parameter. 
rmmod olympic
modprobe olympic ringspeed=4
ifconfig tr0 10.1.1.1
ping 10.1.1.1
Note: The driver will probably not load if you are not connected to a Multi Access Unit (which is basically a "hub").

Note: I tested with 2 Compaq TR NICs (135449-001) and had put "options olympic ringspeed=4" in both of their /etc/modules.conf files. Both systems worked ok with each other. It looks to be correct to specify the ringspeed in each of the system's /etc/modules.conf file.

Hardware Notes:

We tested with a Compaq TR Card, using Cat-5, going into a MAU (looks like a big hub). We then used the instructions above to get the driver loaded, set the ring speed, and assign an ip address.

Software Notes:

We tested with Caldera 2.3.1, Caldera 3.1, Red Hat 7.0, and Red Hat 7.1.

Notes about Olympic driver in Red Hat:

/etc/modules.conf -or- /etc/conf.modules
alias tr0 olympic
options olympic ringspeed=4

rmmod olympic
insmod olympic
ifup tr0
ping 10.1.1.1
Note: If you have problems pinging, try moving /etc/resolv.conf out of the way and then retry your ping. See procedures/networktrouble.html for more information on troubleshooting network problems.

Note: I tested with 2 Compaq TR NICs (135449-001) and had put "options olympic ringspeed=4" in both of their /etc/modules.conf files. Both systems worked ok with each other. It looks to be correct to specify the ringspeed in each of the system's /etc/modules.conf file.

Resources:

cat /usr/src/linux/drivers/net/olympic.c | grep MODULE_PARM

MODULE_PARM(ringspeed, "1-" __MODULE_STRING(OLYMPIC_MAX_ADAPTERS) "i");
MODULE_PARM(pkt_buf_sz, "1-" __MODULE_STRING(OLYMPIC_MAX_ADAPTERS) "i") ; 
MODULE_PARM(message_level, "1-" __MODULE_STRING(OLYMPIC_MAX_ADAPTERS) "i") ; 
MODULE_PARM(network_monitor, "1-" __MODULE_STRING(OLYMPIC_MAX_ADAPTERS) "i");


less /usr/src/linux/drivers/net/olympic.c:
...<SNIP>...
/* Module paramters */

/* Ring Speed 0,4,16,100 
 * 0 = Autosense         
 * 4,16 = Selected speed only, no autosense
 * This allows the card to be the first on the ring
 * and become the active monitor.
 * 100 = Nothing at present, 100mbps is autodetected
 * if FDX is turned on. May be implemented in the future to 
 * fail if 100mpbs is not detected.
 *
 * WARNING: Some hubs will allow you to insert
 * at the wrong speed
 */
...<SNIP>...



Homepage: http://www.cpqlinux.com












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