Saturday Mar 01, 2008
Saturday Mar 01, 2008
After a some struggle, I was able to get my newly build system with Solaris 10 U4 to connect with outside world.
I am building a Solaris 10 x86 box with Gigabyte M790X-DS4 motherboard. When loading Solaris 10 x86 U4 (8/07), the network driver was not getting loaded. The motherboard specifications said that I had a Realtek 8111B chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) onboard LAN with 1 GB speed.
My googling showed that some solaris drivers may be available at Masayuki Murayama's site
I downloaded the driver file gani-2.4.4.tar.gz for Realtek rtl8169 rtl8110 rtl8168 rtl8101 PCI/PCI-Express GbE chipset. I then built the drivers from scratch using gcc. I used option GLD version 2 to build the network drivers.
The Readme instructions were very good. After building, testing, sys-unconfig operations and reboot, I was connected to my router. Thanks to Masayuki Murayama.
You may check /var/adm/messages file to see if the device is getting loaded properly. If loaded, it will show up as RTL8168/811B in the messages file.
You can check this just after you boot. You may also use ifconfig -a command to see if the NIC was getting plumbed. During Solaris 10 install, network configurations options will not show up, if network device is not getting loaded.
To my horror, I was also facing system freeze and desktop freezes. I increased the chasis fan speed using its stepper switch to make it go away. It must be the CPU / system board temperature. I may have to install an additional fan.
I just put together this blog, after I made it to work. Otherwise it will all disappear down my memory lane. When I get time, I will write about my adventures in building this box. BTW it has AMD Phenom.
Hi.. can you pls let me know how to install the gnani driver for my network card... i have downloaded the driver xip file but couldnt manage to install it.. so pls help me how to install the driver...
Advanced Thanks.. PRABHU
Posted by Prabhu on March 18, 2008 at 07:03 PM CDT #
When you unzip the driver file, you should see a readme.txt file. It contains the instructions on how to install the driver.
I am reproducing some part of the doc here.
(4) Make links to correct binary directory and Makefile according to your configuration. i386 and gcc are default.
% cd /.../gani-x.x.x
% rm obj Makefile
% ln -s Makefile.${KARCH}_${COMPILER} Makefile
% ln -s ${KARCH} obj
where ${KARCH} is the result of `isainfo -n`, and ${COMPILER} is
"gcc" or "suncc" which you want to use to make the driver.
(5) Making binaries (only for sparc platform) Gani driver is ready for 64bit and 32bit solaris8 10/00 sparc or
later.
% /usr/ccs/bin/make
(6) Driver works with Solaris 10 U4 GLD version 2.
% rm Makefile.config
% ln -s Makefile.config_gld3 Makefile.config
% /usr/ccs/bin/make
4. Testing
# cd /.../gani-x.x.x
# /usr/ccs/bin/make install
# ./adddrv.sh
( this is not a command )
# /usr/ccs/bin/make uninstall
# modload obj/gani
# devfsadm -i gani (for solaris7, use drvconfig and reboot with -r )
# ifconfig ganiN plumb ( where N is an instance number, typcally 0 for first card - like gani0
# ifconfig -a ( you will see an entry for ganiN)
# ifconfig ganiN YOUR-HOST-NAME
# ifconfig ganiN ( ensure IP address is correct)
# ifconfig ganiN up ( and then you can test with ping, telnet, ftp ...)
5. Installation
After you ensure that the gani driver is fully functional, install it.
(1) install the gani driver into the kernel directory
# cd /.../gani-x.x.x
# /usr/ccs/bin/make install
If you do not test the gani driver yet, execute the following commands:
# ./adddrv.sh
# devfsadm -i gani (for solaris7, use drvconfig and reboot with -r)
(2) Configure the network interface. Create and/or modify the following file:
/etc/hostname.ganiN
(3) Reboot the system.
# init 6
Posted by Abraham Panicker on March 18, 2008 at 08:15 PM CDT #