Installing and Configuring 10/100Base-TX/9000

What Happens During Card Initialization Sequence?What Happens During Card Initialization Sequence?

Following is an overview of the initialization sequence for the HPPB 10/100Base-TX card:

Initialization of an HP-PB 10/100Base-TX card happens during system bootup only, and it is driven by the btlan1 driver for the card. The card consists of two boards: the motherboard and the daughterboard.

Initialization is divided into two phases: initialization of the motherboard and initialization of the daughterboard. The initialization of each of these boards is further divided into the initialization of each of the major programmable components on the boards. Initialization consists of the following sequential tasks: identification of a component, resetting a component, if applicable, and configuration.

Two LEDs on the card are related to the proper installation and functioning of the card: the Power and Test LEDs. None of the components on either of the boards is identifiable if the power does not reach the card, in which case the Power LED on the card does not light. The card might not be seated properly in this case. Even if the Power LED is lit, some of the components could still fail to identify correctly if the card is not properly seated or if the card is defective. In such a case the initialization of that component fails to complete and the Test LED on the card is lit. In one case, the component on the motherboard which is responsible to drive the Test LED may be defective or may not be reached due to the improper seating of the card in which case the initialization aborts without lighting the Test LED. However, whenever initialization fails, it prints a message on the console identifying the failure. You can later retrieve initialization messages after the system is fully booted up by using the dmesg command.

Finally, the driver tries to establish a good data link between the card and the hub or switch. If there is no cable connection, or if the cable connection is bad, or if the hub or switch is not compatible, that is, not 10Base-T or 100Base-TX capable, the Link LED will not be lit and either 10Base-T LED or 100Base-TX LED will be lit at random. In this situation, the Test LED will not be lit. Also, a message indicating the detection of a bad cable connection is printed on the console as well as logged in NETTL logs.

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Chapter 1