[plug] PCMCIA ethernet

[Matt Kemner]

On Thu, 14 Mar 2002, craig at postnewspapers.com.au wrote:

> Doesn't _have_ to be CardBus, nor does it have to be 10/100... so
> long as it works with a vanilla kernel on Debian (read: no binary
> drivers please, Its _so_ annoying)

I have yet to find one that doesn't - even the ones that I've used that 
come with binary modules usually just work with the standard pcnet_cs
module.

The trick is, that the PCMCIA system needs to be able to identify the card 
and match it with a driver.  You can't just insert the module and expect 
it to autodetect.

Most cards will work without any reconfiguration, because someone's 
already put it in the PCMCIA database for you, but if it doesn't (ie you 
insert the card and no modules are loaded) what you need to do is:

run "cardctl ident"
This will tell you what your PCMCIA cards identify themselves as
eg:

Socket 0:
  product info: "Danpex Corp.", "EN-6200P2", "Ethernet", "Rev. F "
  manfid: 0xc740, 0x0062
  function: 6 (network)

Next, edit /etc/pcmcia/config and add a stanza like:

card "Danpex EN-6200P2 Ethernet"
  version "Danpex Corp.", "EN-6200P2"
  bind "pcnet_cs"

This tells the PCMCIA system that any card identified as above is serviced 
by the pcnet_cs module.  restart PCMCIA services (/etc/init.d/pcmcia 
restart) and eject/reinsert the card, and it should load the pcnet_cs 
module.  If that doesn't work, the card may be based on a different 
chipset in which case you need to experiment with it some more.

Also, some drivers (eg most of the wireless networking ones) provide their 
own config file (eg /etc/pcmcia/hermes.conf) which you will need to edit 
instead.

 - Matt