[rescue] question about sparc10 ethernet controller

[Per Sandstrom]

Better late than never.

Arthur Wouk wrote:
> one of my 'good' ss10s fails the 'test net' test on boot. error code -1,
> no attached cable or network. the same network connection plugged into any
> other sun machines work just fine (same cable). i conclude that the ethernet
> controller is shot. anyone have any other ideas?

Yes, in fact I do. It doesn't need to be the ethernet controller. Early 
SS10s sometimes had problems auto-detecting which ethernet port (AUI or 
TPE) is connected to the network. I do have one of those myself, and I 
remember having read a bug report relating to this matter.

When Solaris is loaded on such a machine, it will complain like this:

le0: No carrier - cable disconnected or hub link test disabled?
Skipping interface le0

Don't take any notice - the network will be available anyway.

The auto-selection can disabled from inside Solaris by adding one line 
to the /kernel/drv/options.conf file. This line should be the last in 
the file.

zinaida# cd /kernel/drv
zinaida# vi options.conf
          ..
          cable-selection="tpe";

Hope this helps.

Per