Technical data

el(7D) Devices SunOS 5.5
NAME el − 3COM 3C503 Ethernet device driver
SYNOPSIS #include <sys/stropts.h>
#include <sys/ethernet.h>
#include <sys/dlpi.h>
AVAILABILITY x86
DESCRIPTION The el Ethernet driver is a multi-threaded, loadable, clonable, STREAMS hardware driver
supporting the connectionlessData Link Provider Interface, dlpi(7P), over 3COM 3C503
EtherLink II and EtherLinkII/16 Ethernet controllers. Multiple EtherLink II controllers
installed within the system are supported by the driver. The el driver provides basic
support for the EtherLink II hardware. Functions include chip initialization,frame
transmit and receive, multicast and “promiscuous” support, and error recovery and
reporting.
The cloning, character-special device /dev/el is used to access all EtherLink II devices
installed within the system.
The el 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 theel.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-94 modified 16 Oct 1993