[vortex] Test results with 3c90xcfg -- I'M CONFUSED!

[Bogdan Costescu]

On Tue, 19 Feb 2002, Bill Cattey wrote:

> Am I right in believing that I've produced sufficient test data that
> a revised 3c59x that works around this problem can be crafted?

Short answer: No 8-(

Long answer: Using the setup sequence present in 3c59x (which I think it's 
a good one according to the documentation that I have) the MII registers 
seem not to be accessible if EEPROM on your cards does not contain 
NWAY/Autonegotiate. The documentation doesn't say a word about this 
situation; it says that on Cyclone and later chips (yours included) the 
MII interface with NWAY capabilities is always present as it's integrated 
on the chip, as opposed to older designs where it was an external chip.
So, my guess is that either there is a magic sequence that can make the 
MII registers available (which we don't know) or that the media management 
in this case is not done through MII registers but through the older 
mechanism which involved writting to other registers in the chip; the 
third possibility - that I'm missing something - can also be taken into 
consideration... 8-)

-- 
Bogdan Costescu

IWR - Interdisziplinaeres Zentrum fuer Wissenschaftliches Rechnen
Universitaet Heidelberg, INF 368, D-69120 Heidelberg, GERMANY
Telephone: +49 6221 54 8869, Telefax: +49 6221 54 8868
E-mail: Bogdan.Costescu@IWR.Uni-Heidelberg.De