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Linux* Base Driver for the Intel(R) PRO/1000 Family of Adapters
===============================================================

January 18, 2005

Contents
========

- In This Release
- Identifying Your Adapter
- Building and Installation
- Command Line Parameters
- Speed and Duplex Configuration
- Additional Configurations
- Known Issues
- Support

In This Release
===============

This file describes the Linux* Base Driver for the Intel(R) PRO/1000 Family 
of Adapters, version 5.7.x. This driver supports the 2.4.x and 2.6.x kernels.
This driver includes support for Itanium(TM)2 and EM64T systems.

This driver is only supported as a loadable module at this time. Intel is not 
supplying patches against the kernel source to allow for static linking of 
the driver. For questions related to hardware requirements, refer to the 
documentation supplied with your Intel PRO/1000 adapter. All hardware 
requirements listed apply to use with Linux.

Native VLANs are now available with supported kernels.

The driver information previously displayed in the /proc filesystem is not
supported in this release.  Alternatively, you can use ethtool (version 1.6
or later), lspci, and ifconfig to obtain the same information.  Instructions
on updating ethtool can be found in the section "Additional Configurations"
later in this document.

Identifying Your Adapter
========================

For more information on how to identify your adapter, go to the Adapter & 
Driver ID Guide at:

    http://support.intel.com/support/network/adapter/pro100/21397.htm

For the latest Intel network drivers for Linux, refer to the following 
website. In the search field, enter your adapter name or type, or use the 
networking link on the left to search for your adapter:

    http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/support_intel.asp      

Building and Installation
=========================

To build a binary RPM* package of this driver, run 'rpmbuild -tb 
<filename.tar.gz>'. Replace <filename.tar.gz> with the specific filename of 
the driver.

NOTE: For the build to work properly, the currently running kernel MUST match 
      the version and configuration of the installed kernel sources. If you 
      have just recompiled the kernel reboot the system now.

      RPM functionality has only been tested in Red Hat distributions.

1. Move the base driver tar file to the directory of your choice. For example,
   use /home/username/e1000 or /usr/local/src/e1000.

2. Untar/unzip archive:

     tar zxf e1000-x.x.x.tar.gz

3. Change to the driver src directory:

     cd e1000-x.x.x/src/

4. Compile the driver module:

     make install

   The binary will be installed as:

     /lib/modules/<KERNEL VERSION>/kernel/drivers/net/e1000/e1000.[k]o

   The install locations listed above are the default locations. They might 
   not be correct for certain Linux distributions. For more information, 
   see the ldistrib.txt file included in the driver tar.

5. Install the module:

     insmod e1000 <parameter>=<value>

6. Assign an IP address to the interface by entering the following, where
   x is the interface number:

     ifconfig ethx <IP_address>

7. Verify that the interface works. Enter the following, where <IP_address>
   is the IP address for another machine on the same subnet as the interface 
   that is being tested:

     ping  <IP_address>	

Command Line Parameters
=======================

If the driver is built as a module, the  following optional parameters are 
used by entering them on the command line with the modprobe or insmod command
using this syntax:

     modprobe e1000 [<option>=<VAL1>,<VAL2>,...]

     insmod e1000 [<option>=<VAL1>,<VAL2>,...] 

For example, with two PRO/1000 PCI adapters, entering:

     insmod e1000 TxDescriptors=80,128

loads the e1000 driver with 80 TX descriptors for the first adapter and 128 TX 
descriptors for the second adapter.

The default value for each parameter is generally the recommended setting,
unless otherwise noted.

    NOTES: For more information about the AutoNeg, Duplex, and Speed
           parameters, see the "Speed and Duplex Configuration" section in 
           this document.

           For more information about the InterruptThrottleRate, RxIntDelay, 
           TxIntDelay, RxAbsIntDelay, and TxAbsIntDelay parameters, see the 
           application note at:
           http://www.intel.com/design/network/applnots/ap450.htm

           A descriptor describes a data buffer and attributes related to the 
           data buffer. This information is accessed by the hardware.

AutoNeg (adapters using copper connections only)
Valid Range: 0x01-0x0F, 0x20-0x2F
Default Value: 0x2F
    This parameter is a bit mask that specifies which speed and duplex
    settings the board advertises. When this parameter is used, the Speed and
    Duplex parameters must not be specified.  
    NOTE: Refer to the Speed and Duplex section of this readme for more 
          information on the AutoNeg parameter.

Duplex (adapters using copper connections only)
Valid Range: 0-2 (0=auto-negotiate, 1=half, 2=full)
Default Value: 0
    Defines the direction in which data is allowed to flow. Can be either one 
    or two-directional. If both Duplex and the link partner are set to auto-
    negotiate, the board auto-detects the correct duplex. If the link partner
    is forced (either full or half), Duplex defaults to half-duplex.

FlowControl
Valid Range: 0-3 (0=none, 1=Rx only, 2=Tx only, 3=Rx&Tx)
Default: Read flow control settings from the EEPROM
    This parameter controls the automatic generation(Tx) and response(Rx) to 
    Ethernet PAUSE frames.

InterruptThrottleRate
Valid Range: 100-100000 (0=off, 1=dynamic)
Default Value: 8000
    This value represents the maximum number of interrupts per second the 
    controller generates. InterruptThrottleRate is another setting used in 
    interrupt moderation. Dynamic mode uses a heuristic algorithm to adjust 
    InterruptThrottleRate based on the current traffic load.
Un-supported Adapters: InterruptThrottleRate is NOT supported by 82542, 82543
    or 82544-based adapters.

    NOTE: InterruptThrottleRate takes precedence over the TxAbsIntDelay and 
          RxAbsIntDelay parameters. In other words, minimizing the receive 
          and/or transmit absolute delays does not force the controller to 
          generate more interrupts than what the Interrupt Throttle Rate 
          allows.
    CAUTION: If you are using the Intel PRO/1000 CT Network Connection 
             (controller 82547), setting InterruptThrottleRate to a value 
             greater than 75,000, may hang (stop transmitting) adapters under 
             certain network conditions. If this occurs a NETDEV WATCHDOG 
             message is logged in the system event log. In addition, the 
             controller is automatically reset, restoring the network 
             connection. To eliminate the potential for the hang, ensure 
             that InterruptThrottleRate is set no greater than 75,000 and is 
             not set to 0.
    NOTE: When e1000 is loaded with default settings and multiple adapters are 
          in use simultaneously, the CPU utilization may increase non-linearly. 
          In order to limit the CPU utilization without impacting the overall 
          throughput, we recommend that you load the driver as follows:

              insmod e1000.o InterruptThrottleRate=3000,3000,3000

          This sets the InterruptThrottleRate to 3000 interrupts/sec for the 
          first, second, and third instances of the driver. The range of 2000 to 
          3000 interrupts per second works on a majority of systems and is a 
          good starting point, but the optimal value will be platform-specific. 
          If CPU utilization is not a concern, use RX_POLLING (NAPI) and default 
          driver settings.

RxDescriptors
Valid Range: 80-256 for 82542 and 82543-based adapters
             80-4096 for all other supported adapters
Default Value: 256
    This value is the number of receive descriptors allocated by the driver. 
    Increasing this value allows the driver to buffer more incoming packets. 
    Each descriptor is 16 bytes.  A receive buffer is also allocated for each
    descriptor and can be either 2048, 4096, 8192, or 16384 bytes, depending 
    on the MTU setting. The maximum MTU size is 16110.

    NOTE: MTU designates the frame size. It only needs to be set for Jumbo 
          Frames.
    NOTE: Depending on the available system resources, the request for a
    higher number of receive descriptors may be denied.  In this case,
    use a lower number.

RxIntDelay
Valid Range: 0-65535 (0=off)
Default Value: 0
    This value delays the generation of receive interrupts in units of 1.024 
    microseconds.  Receive interrupt reduction can improve CPU efficiency if 
    properly tuned for specific network traffic. Increasing this value adds 
    extra latency to frame reception and can end up decreasing the throughput 
    of TCP traffic. If the system is reporting dropped receives, this value 
    may be set too high, causing the driver to run out of available receive 
    descriptors.

    CAUTION: When setting RxIntDelay to a value other than 0, adapters may 
             hang (stop transmitting) under certain network conditions. If 
             this occurs a NETDEV WATCHDOG message is logged in the system
             event log. In addition, the controller is automatically reset, 
             restoring the network connection. To eliminate the potential for
             the hang ensure that RxIntDelay is set to 0.

RxAbsIntDelay (82540, 82545 and later adapters only)
Valid Range: 0-65535 (0=off)
Default Value: 128
    This value, in units of 1.024 microseconds, limits the delay in which a 
    receive interrupt is generated. Useful only if RxIntDelay is non-zero, 
    this value ensures that an interrupt is generated after the initial 
    packet is received within the set amount of time.  Proper tuning,
    along with RxIntDelay, may improve traffic throughput in specific network
    conditions.

Speed (adapters using copper connections only)
Valid Settings: 0, 10, 100, 1000
Default Value: 0 (auto-negotiate at all supported speeds)
    Speed forces the line speed to the specified value in megabits per second
    (Mbps). If this parameter is not specified or is set to 0 and the link 
    partner is set to auto-negotiate, the board will auto-detect the correct 
    speed. Duplex should also be set when Speed is set to either 10 or 100.

TxDescriptors
Valid Range: 80-256 for 82542 and 82543-based adapters
             80-4096 for all other supported adapters
Default Value: 256
    This value is the number of transmit descriptors allocated by the driver.
    Increasing this value allows the driver to queue more transmits. Each 
    descriptor is 16 bytes.

    NOTE: Depending on the available system resources, the request for a
    higher number of transmit descriptors may be denied.  In this case,
    use a lower number.

TxIntDelay
Valid Range: 0-65535 (0=off)
Default Value: 64
    This value delays the generation of transmit interrupts in units of 
    1.024 microseconds. Transmit interrupt reduction can improve CPU
    efficiency if properly tuned for specific network traffic. If the
    system is reporting dropped transmits, this value may be set too high
    causing the driver to run out of available transmit descriptors.

TxAbsIntDelay (82540, 82545 and later adapters only)
Valid Range: 0-65535 (0=off)
Default Value: 64
    This value, in units of 1.024 microseconds, limits the delay in which a 
    transmit interrupt is generated. Useful only if TxIntDelay is non-zero, 
    this value ensures that an interrupt is generated after the initial 
    packet is sent on the wire within the set amount of time.  Proper tuning,
    along with TxIntDelay, may improve traffic throughput in specific 
    network conditions.

XsumRX (not available on the 82542-based adapter)
Valid Range: 0-1
Default Value: 1
    A value of '1' indicates that the driver should enable IP checksum
    offload for received packets (both UDP and TCP) to the adapter hardware.

Speed and Duplex Configuration
==============================