Patch-ID# 100768-02 Keywords: collisions repeaters PC le.o Synopsis: SunOS 4.1.1,4.1.2,4.1.3: fixes to ethernet driver (le.o) Date: Oct/18/93 Solaris Release: 1.0 1.0.1 1.1 SunOS Release: 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.3C Unbundled Product: Unbundled Release: Topic: Extremely high collision rate when using SS2 servers and repeaters, 4.1.3C does not support X453A ethernet option in Classic BugId's fixed with this patch: 1075049 1141618 Changes incorporated in this version: 1141618 Relevant Architectures: sun4c sun4m Patches accumulated and obsoleted by this patch: 101251-01 Patches which conflict with this patch: 100300 Patches required with this patch: Obsoleted by: 4.1.3_U1 Files included with this patch: if_le.o Problem Description: Bugid 1141618 Solaris 1.1C(SunOS 4.1.3c) will not support 2nd ethernet option 453A in an LX/Classic .Support for the X453A is indicated in "Systems Option Document for Solaris 1.1C." The Kernel does identify the device, but ifconfig fails with the following message: "le1: not used - unsupported SBus card for this machine!" (From 100768-01) Bugid 1075049 In a multi-vendor network (with PC's,etc),collision-rate was going sky high when the first SparcSation-2's were installed as servers. Collision rate was around 1-3% and goes to 30-50% when connecting SS-2's on the net. Patch Installation Instructions: -------------------------------- 1) mv /sys/sun{4c,4m}/OBJ/if_le.o /sys/sun{4c,4m}/OBJ/if_le.o.fcs cp sun{4c,4m}/4.1.{1,2,3,3c}/if_le.o /sys/sun{4c,4m}/OBJ 2) In case of sun4m and 4.1.2 also: cp sun4m/4.1.2/atom.h /sys/os Please Refer to the System and Networking Administration Manual section on building and installing a custom kernel. CAVEATS : 1) The patch should be installed on ALL Sparcstations on the network for obtaining lowered collision rate. 2) When the network utilization is high for ex > 30%, this patch will NOT be effective - since the load is high and high collision rate is inevitable. This patch is NOT a cure-all and should be used as a last resort 3) There is a possible performance hit with this patch installed- though this was found to be nominal even at high CPU utilisation. 4) This patch is more effective in a Multi-vendor environment as against a Sun Workstation only network because the original problem was that the slower machines ,such as the PC's, could not get on the network and used to time out. OTHER NOTES: The patch for the "le" driver is designed such that "le" interface switches from "back-to-back packet" mode to "packet-at-a-time" mode at a collision rate of 10 % by default (lecollhi = 100 Decimal). When the collision rate drops below 5% by default (lecolllo = 50 Decimal), the "le" interface switches back to "back-to-back packet" mode. Special Install Instructions: ----------------------------- None.