In most cases, if the configuration is done by software,
and stored in an EEPROM, you will usually have to boot
DOS, and use the supplied DOS program to set the cards
IRQ, I/O, mem_addr and whatnot. Besides, hopefully it is
something you will only be setting once. For those that
don't have the DOS utility available, note that a fair
number of NIC setup/driver disks (e.g. 3Com, SMC/WD and
Allied Telesis NIC's) are available from dorm.rutgers.edu
in the directory /pub/novell/nic_drvs/
However, there are some cards for which Linux versions of
the config utils exist, and they are listed here.
Also, Donald has written a few small card diagnostic
programs that run under Linux. Most of these are a result
of debugging tools that he has created while writing the
various drivers. Don't expect
fancy menu-driven interfaces. You will have to read the
source code to use most of these. Even if your particular
card doesn't have a corresponding diagnostic, you can
still get lots of information just by typing
cat /proc/net/dev -- assuming that your card
was at least detected at boot.
In either case, you will have to run most of these programs
as root (to allow I/O to the ports) and you probably want
to shut down the ethercard before doing so by typing
ifconfig eth0 down (Note: replace eth0 with
atp0 or whatever when appropriate.)
For people with wd80x3 cards, there is the program wdsetup
which can be found in wdsetup-0.6a.tar.gz on Linux ftp sites.
I am not sure if it is being actively maintained or not, as it has
not been updated for quite a while. If it works fine for you
then great, if not, use the DOS version that you should have got
with your card. If you don't have the DOS version, you will be
glad to know that the SMC setup/driver disks are available
at the dorm.rutgers.edu site mentioned above.
Of course, you have to have an EEPROM card to use this utility.
Old, old wd8003 cards, and some wd8013 clones use jumpers
to set up the card instead.
The Digital EtherWorks 3 card can be configured in a similar
fashion to the DOS program NICSETUP.EXE. David C. Davies
wrote this and other tools for the EtherWorks 3 in conjunction
with the driver. Look on sunsite.unc.edu in the directory
/pub/linux/system/Network/management for the file
that is named ewrk3tools-X.XX.tar.gz.
Some Nat Semi DP83905 implementations (such as the AT/LANTIC
and the NE2000+) are software configurable. (Note that this
card can also emulate a wd8013!) You can get the file
/pub/linux/setup/atlantic.c from Donald's ftp
server, cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov to configure this card.
Be careful when configuring NE2000+ cards, as you can give
them bad setting values which will require you to open the
case and switch a jumper to force it back to sane settings.
The 3Com Etherlink III family of cards (i.e. 3c5x9) can
be configured by using another config utility from Donald.
You can get the file /pub/linux/setup/3c5x9setup.c
from Donald's ftp server, cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov to
configure these cards. (Note that the DOS 3c5x9B config
utility may have more options pertaining to the new ``B''
series of the Etherlink III family.)
Any of the diagnostic programs that Donald has written can be obtained from this URL.
Allied Telesis AT1700 -- look for the file
/pub/linux/diag/at1700.c on cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov.
Cabletron E21XX -- look for the file
/pub/linux/diag/e21.c on cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov.
HP PCLAN+ -- look for the file
/pub/linux/diag/hp+.c on cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov.
Intel EtherExpress -- look for the file
/pub/linux/diag/eexpress.c on cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov.
NE2000 cards -- look for the file
/pub/linux/diag/ne2k.c on cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov.
RealTek (ATP) Pocket adaptor -- look for the file
/pub/linux/diag/atp-diag.c on cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov.
All Other Cards -- try typing cat /proc/net/dev and
see what useful info the kernel has on the card in question.