[vortex-bug] Re: 3c59x 0.99H and 3c905B (Cyclone) problems

[Bogdan Costescu]

On Fri, 4 Aug 2000, Bob Ramstad wrote:

> which does show up at 100 mbps.  maybe this is a function of the
> driver -- perhaps it quietly gives up when the media is bad? -- or
> maybe it's just a function of the weirdo flaky cable i've got here, or
> the switch, or the combination of switch and card... but this is just

The driver has no way of knowing if you have a good or a bad cable. Bad
cables do not transmit properly some or all data which is sent through
them, so there might be permanent or intermitent problems caused by them.
The driver initialize the card according to the data it receives through
the cable which specify what the other end (the switch in this case) is
capable of; if this data is bad, the card is not initialized properly - is
not a case of giving up.

There have been another example of bad cable some weeks ago on this list;
maybe this will teach users to first check cables before deciding that
something is wrong with the card/driver or the switch (I personally
expect that this check is done before a bug report is submitted here)...

Sincerely,

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