Technical data
elx(7D) Devices SunOS 5.5
NAME elx − 3COM EtherLink III Ethernet device driver
SYNOPSIS #include <sys/stropts.h>
#include <sys/ethernet.h>
#include <sys/dlpi.h>
AVAILABILITY x86
DESCRIPTION The elx Ethernet driver is a multi-threaded, loadable, clonable, STREAMS hardware
driver supporting the connectionless Data Link Provider Interface, dlpi(7P), over 3COM
ETHERLINK III Ethernet controllers (3C509, 3C529 and 3C579). Multiple EtherLink III
controllers installed within the system are supported by the driver. The elx driver pro-
vides basic support for the EtherLink III hardware. Functions include chip initialization,
frame transmit and receive, multicast and “promiscuous” support, and error recovery
and reporting.
The cloning, character-special device /dev/elx is used to access all EtherLink III devices
installed within the system.
The elx driver is a “style 2” Data Link Service provider. All M_PROTO and M_PCPROTO
type messages are interpreted as DLPI primitives. An explicitDL_ATTACH_REQ mes-
sage by the user is required to associate the opened stream with a particular device (ppa).
The ppa ID is interpreted as an unsigned long integerand indicates the corresponding
device instance (unit) number. The unit numbers are assigned sequentially to each board
found. The search order is determined by the order defined in theelx.conf file. An error
( DL_ERROR_ACK ) is returned by the driver if the ppa field value does not correspond to
a valid device instance number for this system. The device is initialized on first attach
and de-initialized (stopped) on last detach.
The values returned by the driver in theDL_INFO_ACK primitive in response to the
DL_INFO_REQ from the user are as follows:
The maximum SDU is 1500 (ETHERMTU).
The minimum SDU is 0. The driver will pad to the mandatory 60-octet minimum
packet size.
The dlsap address length is 8.
The MAC type isDL_ETHER.
The sap length value is −2, meaning the physical address component is followed
immediately by a 2-byte sap component within the DLSAP address.
The service mode is DL_CLDLS.
No optional quality of service (QOS) support is included at present, so the QOS
fields are 0.
The provider style isDL_STYLE2.
The version isDL_VERSION_2.
The broadcast address value is Ethernet/IEEE broadcast address
7D-100 modified 15 Feb 1994