Sun Microsystems Sun Quad manual Configuring the Quad FastEthernet Device Driver Parameters

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Configuring the Quad FastEthernet Device Driver Parameters

The qfe device driver controls the Sun Quad FastEthernet PCI adapter’s SUNW,qfe Ethernet devices. You can manually configure the qfe device driver parameters to customize each SUNW,qfe device in your system. This appendix provides an overview of the internal transceiver used in the adapter, lists the available qfe device driver parameters, and describes how you can configure these parameters.

Internal Transceiver

The four SUNW,qfe channels provide 10BASE-TX or 100BASE-T networking interfaces using the PCI Fast Ethernet and Expansion (PFEX) ASIC and an internal transceiver. The driver automatically sets the link speed to 10 or 100 Mbps and conforms to the 100BASE-T IEEE 802.3u Ethernet standard. The PFEX ASIC provides the PCI interface and Media Access Control (MAC) functions. The internal transceiver, which connects to an RJ-45 connector, provides the physical layer functions.

The internal transceiver is capable of all the operating speeds and modes listed in the section, “Auto-Negotiation” on page 17. The internal transceiver performs auto- negotiation with the remote end of the link (link partner) to select a common mode of operation.

The internal transceiver also supports a forced mode of operation. You can select the speed and mode using the ndd utility, by editing the /etc/system file, or creating a qfe.conf file.

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