@(#)README 1.7 02/05/01 GED Garrett's Fast Ethernet Drivers README ====================================== WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING ------------------------------- This driver is in a prerelease (beta) state. I've verified basic functionality on my system, but there is still stuff to do. THIS IS A BETA-RELEASE QUALITY DRIVER ONLY, AND YOU ARE TAKING RISKS WITH THE HEALTH OF YOUR SYSTEM BY USING IT. THIS IS KERNEL SOFTWARE, AND PROBABLY CONTAINS BUGS AS YET UNFOUND. SUCH BUGS MAY CRASH YOUR SYSTEM OR RENDER IT UNUSABLE. DO NOT USE THIS DRIVER UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED FOR SUCH RISK -- MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BACKUPS OF ANY CRITICAL DATA AND ALTERNATE BOOT MEDIA AVAILABLE. YOU SHOULD **NOT** INSTALL THIS DRIVER UNLESS YOU POSSESS SYSTEM RECOVERY SKILLS, OR ARE WILLING TO REINSTALL YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM!!! WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING ------------------------------- IF YOU DID NOT READ THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH, DO SO NOW!! IT IS VITAL THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE INFORMATION IT CONTAINS! Change Alert! ------------- If you have any versions of either afe or mxfe prior to 0.9.21 installed, you must *remove* the old versions, and reboot before installing these new packages. If you don't do this, then I cannot guarantee the results. General Info ------------ These drivers supports several different chips: * ADMtek AN983 (Centaur-P) * ADMtek ADM9511 (Centaur-II, software modem) * ADMtek ADM9513 (Centaur-II, hardware modem) * ADMtek AL981 (Comet, untested) * Accton EN5251 (Centaur-P) * Lite-On PNIC-II * Macronix 98715 family * Macronix 98725 For the multifunction chips (Centaur-II), only ethernet functionality is supported. I've done various amounts of testing with the Centaur chips. ADMtek has done some testing with the Centaur-II's and Accton has also done some testing with the EN5251. For more up-to-date information, please see http://garrett.damore.org/software/ethernet/support.shtml Note, only Solaris 8 is tested at this point. Solaris 8 or better is REQUIRED for use with SPARC. You may need to apply patch 109202-01 or newer. This patch can be found at http://sunsolve.sun.com/ On Intel, Solaris 7 will likely work without incident (it has been tested by others with some success.) This driver will *not* work on Solaris 2.6, as it uses kernel APIs introduced in Solaris 7. If you need a port for Solaris 2.6, please contact me. (It would not be difficult to make a port, but I won't bother with it unless somone needs it.) This driver is still a work in progress, so YMMV! Note that this driver does not support network booting (as a client, you can still use this driver for boot servers). The reason for this is that for Intel platforms a special real-mode driver must be developed, and for SPARC platforms you have to have special fcode (Forth programs) on your adapter's ROM. While I may eventually be able to figure out how to provide a real-mode driver for Intel platforms, there is no way for me to provide fcode for the adapters. If you need to boot client machines, you'd be better off paying some extra $$ and get an Intel or 3COM card (for Intel platforms) or use the built-in hme, le, or eri interface (for SPARC platforms). -- Garrett D'Amore <garrett@damore.org>Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.