LinuxQuestions.org
Visit Jeremy's Blog.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Linux Answers > LinuxQuestions.org
User Name
Password

Notices


By finegan at 2003-11-11 16:34
When adding an entry to the HCL, there are two important things
that we want everyone to keep in mind:

- The entry must serve as a guide to a Linux user out there who is
searching for a compatible piece of hardware.

and

- The entry should help someone who has a random piece of hardware figure
out whether or not the device is compatible.

Towards this, there are some things which entries should contain that
don't lend themselves well to "required fields", yet are really important
to be in the entry in order for it to be approved:

1. The /sbin/lspci entry. Any PCI or AGP device and any Cardbus pcmcia
card will appear under the lspci listing. Shortly these will start to seed
throughout google and therefore will lead people to the HCL. Unlike the
following, this is a requirement for approval if it applies.

(Editor's note: 2-5-04, It has finally come to my attention that Mandrake has actually modified the lspci binary and re-named it, under any edition of Mandrake from I think, 9.1 onward, the command is not lspci, but instead lspcidrake. The output is much the same, actually a little better then lspci alone.)

2. The module the device works under, if applicable. If its a Linksys
LNE100, mention the tulip.o module. If its an Adaptec AIC-7896U2, mention
aic7xxx.o, even if you've built it into the kernel.

3. When in doubt, put in chunks of "dmesg". For instance for a Promise
PDC202067:

Code:
PDC20267: IDE controller at PCI slot 00:0b.0
PDC20267: chipset revision 2
PDC20267: not 100% native mode: will probe irqs later
PDC20267: (U)DMA Burst Bit ENABLED Primary PCI Mode Secondary PCI Mode.
    ide2: BM-DMA at 0x2800-0x2807, BIOS settings: hde:DMA, hdf:pio
    ide3: BM-DMA at 0x2808-0x280f, BIOS settings: hdg:DMA, hdh:pio
4. Third party drivers. If you are using non-kernel drivers, post a link
to them, the ATI page, Nvidia, the linux-wlan.net group for prism2
wireless chipsets, even the hp drivers at sourceforge for printers.

5. The complete product name. Remember, if someone is thinking of buying a
Diamond Viper 550 off of their college campus newsgroup, it would help
them to know that its just another old Nvidia TNT2 card and is supported
with both the XFree stock drivers and the ones from the Nvidia site.


6. For pcmcia cards, a helpful bit of information is the output of:
/sbin/cardctl ident, for instance:

Code:
root@morphy:/home/bob# /sbin/cardctl ident
Socket 0:
  product info: "Lucent Technologies", "WaveLAN/IEEE", "Version 01.01", ""
  manfid: 0x0156, 0x0002
  function: 6 (network)
Cardbus cards appear as part of the PCI subsystem. They usually have
"cardbus" printed on them somewhere rather obvious, and they will produce
ident entries like the above, although they'll be misleading or blank. For
instance, here's a LanReady WB-2000, the tail end of "dmesg" shows a
cardbus lock:

Code:
cs: cb_alloc(bus 2): vendor 0x10ec, device 0x8180
PCI: Enabling device 02:00.0 (0000 -> 0003)
The /sbin/cardctl ident information is useless, and most importantly,
cardmgr, which usually uses this information to decide which module to
bind to the card, ignores it.

Code:
root@morphy:/home/bob# /sbin/cardctl ident
Socket 0:
  no product info available
Meanwhile the /sbin/lspci line is useful, more or less:

Code:
02:00.0 Network controller: Linksys: Unknown device 8201 (rev 11)
Although this is actually inaccurate, it is the only unique identifier for
the card, and the easiest way to find out that its an ADMtek 8211 chipset
card.

7. ISA cards are a bit of a culture shock to most Linux users when they
first deal with them, especially if they're trying to get one to work for
the first time in this 6xPCI slot day and age. So, if you're listing a
Vibra 16 soundblaster clone, the arguments to the modprobe line are
important, for instance:

modprobe sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=3 dma16=5 mpu_io=0x300

Or, for instance, even an easier one, an old 3com 509:
Or, for instance, even an easier one, an old 3com 509:

modprobe 3c509 irq=7

8. For Video cards, XFree86 info is important, which version, which
drivers, information for dual-headed cards, how you got them to work, etc.


If we feel that in a submission there's more needed, we'll usually mail
you directly through the forum's mailer and either request a reply with
more information that we can edit into the entry or we'll delete the entry
and ask you recreate it. This is cumbersome and time consuming, both for
the member that created the entry, and for those of us who review them.
Please try to make every entry as complete as possible.

Cheers,

Finegan

by Emmanuel_uk on Wed, 2005-05-04 01:41
Hi,

Lspci and lspcidrake are not that equivalent, maybe.
Just to let you know that I had some problems using scanModem
scripts because my default install in mandrake 10.CE did not install lspci
but only lspcidrake.
That is how I came about comparing outputs.
Anyhow having read this guide, as a newbee, I assumed lspci and lspcidrake
were "exactly the same thing" and interchangeable. Well, not in fact.

Anyhow, mandrake comes with the pciutils package that one can install anytime
so to have lspci. I wonder if this should not be pointed out in the guide.
It all depends what outputs are best for the HCL.

Example of output difference:

Lspci followed by lspcidrake (one line each)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801AA AC'97 Modem (rev 02)
slamr : Intel Corp.|82801AA 810 Chipset AC'97 PCI Modem [COMMUNICATION_MODEM]

Lspci -v followed by lspcidrake -v
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801AA AC'97 Modem (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
Subsystem: Intel Corp. 82801AA AC'97 Modem
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
I/O ports at d800 [size=128]
slamr : Intel Corp.|82801AA 810 Chipset AC'97 PCI Modem [COMMUNICATION_MODEM] (vendor:8086 device:2416)

lspci -nv
00:1f.6 Class 0703: 8086:2416 (rev 02)
Subsystem: 8086:2416
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
I/O ports at d800 [size=128]

lspcidrake -nv not really suported:
slamr : Intel Corp.|82801AA 810 Chipset AC'97 PCI Modem [COMMUNICATION_MODEM]

Lspci -vv followed by lspcidrake -vv (which is not supported)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801AA AC'97 Modem (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
Subsystem: Intel Corp. 82801AA AC'97 Modem
Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
Latency: 0
Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
Region 1: I/O ports at d800 [size=128]
slamr : Intel Corp.|82801AA 810 Chipset AC'97 PCI Modem [COMMUNICATION_MODEM]

# lspcidrake --help
usage: lspcidrake [-v|-u]
-p <file>: pci devices source [/proc/bus/pci/devices by default]
-u <file>: usb devices source [/proc/bus/usb/devices by default]
-v : verbose mode [print ids and sub-ids], implies full probe

I hope this helps
Regards

by Emmanuel_uk on Tue, 2005-09-20 06:43
The guide could also mention that the command lsub
could / should be posted for usb devices

This gives
idVendor
idProduct

and some other info


  



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:06 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration