Problem with Compaq NC3131 dual eth card

Problem with Compaq NC3131 dual eth card

[Chris Adams]

I have a Compaq NC3131 dual 10/100 ethernet PCI (64/32 bit in a 32 bit
slot) card.  The e100 module doesn't work, and the eepro100 module can
be coerced to work but complains about it (this is with Fedora Core 1
and kernel-2.4.22-1.2135.nptl.athlon.rpm).

The e100 module prints:

************************************************************************
Intel(R) PRO/100 Network Driver - version 2.3.18-k1
Copyright (c) 2003 Intel Corporation

divert: allocating divert_blk for eth1
e100: selftest OK.
e100: Invalid Ethernet address
e100: Failed to initialize, instance #0
divert: freeing divert_blk for eth1
divert: allocating divert_blk for eth1
e100: selftest OK.
e100: Invalid Ethernet address
e100: Failed to initialize, instance #0
divert: freeing divert_blk for eth1
************************************************************************

and unloads itself immediately.  The eepro100 module prints:

************************************************************************
eepro100.c:v1.09j-t 9/29/99 Donald Becker http://www.scyld.com/network/eepro100.html
eepro100.c: $Revision: 1.36 $ 2000/11/17 Modified by Andrey V. Savochkin <saw@saw.sw.com.sg> and others
divert: allocating divert_blk for eth1
eth1: Invalid EEPROM checksum 0xffc0, check settings before activating this device!
eth1: OEM i82557/i82558 10/100 Ethernet, FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, IRQ 11.
  Board assembly ffffff-255, Physical connectors present: RJ45 BNC AUI MII
  Primary interface chip unknown-15 PHY #31.
    Secondary interface chip i82555.
  General self-test: passed.
  Serial sub-system self-test: passed.
  Internal registers self-test: passed.
  ROM checksum self-test: passed (0x24c9f043).
divert: allocating divert_blk for eth2
eth2: Invalid EEPROM checksum 0xffc0, check settings before activating this device!
eth2: OEM i82557/i82558 10/100 Ethernet, FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, IRQ 10.
  Board assembly ffffff-255, Physical connectors present: RJ45 BNC AUI MII
  Primary interface chip unknown-15 PHY #31.
    Secondary interface chip i82555.
  General self-test: passed.
  Serial sub-system self-test: passed.
  Internal registers self-test: passed.
  ROM checksum self-test: passed (0x24c9f043).
************************************************************************

It will load and let me configure the devices.  If I force it to a
different MAC address (reusing the MAC from eth0 and moving the wire to
avoid ARP problems), it seems to work, but I shouldn't have to do that.

Is my card defective or is this a compatibility problem?  Is there a way
to fix this?
-- 
Chris Adams <cmadams@hiwaay.net>
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.

Re: Problem with Compaq NC3131 dual eth card

[Meelis Roos]

CA> I have a Compaq NC3131 dual 10/100 ethernet PCI (64/32 bit in a 32 bit
CA> slot) card.  The e100 module doesn't work, and the eepro100 module can
CA> be coerced to work but complains about it (this is with Fedora Core 1
CA> and kernel-2.4.22-1.2135.nptl.athlon.rpm).

FWIW, I have a NC3134 (64/66 in 32/33 slot). Just tested it with
2.6.1-rc1 and 2.4.25-pre4, works fine and transfers fine. I tried only
e100 since it just worked.

-- 
Meelis Roos

Re: Problem with Compaq NC3131 dual eth card

[Chris Adams]

Once upon a time, Feldman, Scott <scott.feldman@intel.com> said:
> You're EEPROM image is invalid - looks like it's all 0xFFs - verify with
> ethtool -e ethX.  The first three words of the EEPROM should be the MAC
> address.  e100 errors out because it wants a valid MAC address.

Yep, all 1s.

> > Is my card defective or is this a compatibility problem?  Is 
> > there a way to fix this?
> 
> Get another nic or reprogram the EEPROM in this one.
<snip>

I looked at some other Intel NICs here and kind of winged it; I
reprogrammed both EEPROMs, made up a couple of MACs, and it is working
now.

Thanks.  Not bad for a $20 card picked up at a general surplus store
here.  It was still sealed in the box (Compaq labels on both box flaps,
sealed static bag, etc.), so it must have come that way from Compaq.
Maybe they had a bad batch and surplused them instead of fixing them?
Now I might have to go back and pick up some more! :-)
-- 
Chris Adams <cmadams@hiwaay.net>
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.

RE: Problem with Compaq NC3131 dual eth card

[Feldman, Scott]

> eth1: OEM i82557/i82558 10/100 Ethernet, FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, IRQ 11.

[snip]

> eth2: Invalid EEPROM checksum 0xffc0, check settings before 
> activating this device!

You're EEPROM image is invalid - looks like it's all 0xFFs - verify with
ethtool -e ethX.  The first three words of the EEPROM should be the MAC
address.  e100 errors out because it wants a valid MAC address.

> Is my card defective or is this a compatibility problem?  Is 
> there a way to fix this?

Get another nic or reprogram the EEPROM in this one.  Ok, so you want to
reprogram the eeprom?  This isn't going to be pretty: 1) get a good
image from a like-NC3131-nic using ethtool -e eth<x>; 2) modify e100 to
skip the check for valid MAC address and valid checksum so the driver
will load; 3) run ethtool -E eth<x> magic 4660 offset <y> value <z>,
where x is your interface, y is the byte offset, and z is byte value to
write.  You can do this by hand, or write a script to parse the output
from ethtool -e; 4) revert e100 back to original  Told you it wasn't
pretty.

Maybe someone could write a little script to 

# ethtool -e eth0 | up_eeprom eth1
 Enter unique MAC address: 00:A0:45:78:90:02

-scott