On Sun, 1 Oct 2000, Jay Strauss wrote:
> Why are some cards autodetected (i.e when performing "checking for new hardware"
> during boot) and some are not?
this is a window-ism, btw.
what you're asking is related to /etc/conf.modules and how a system tries
different modules till one 'works'.
most hardware has a 'call and send' pattern. you write at a particular
point in memory, and the card will say something back to you.
linux has no registry, so installing and taking out hardware is really no
big deal. it's all part of the bootup.
anyway, linux will try a bunch of NIC modules till one works. if your
particular NIC is not one of the ones which are tried at boot time, then
your card will not be autodetected.
also, see below.
> If you have 2 cards, each a different brand. Will only one be autodetected?
yes. there's a reason for this, but i don't remember what it is.
> How would I make a card be auto detected?
now if you have to make a card be auto detected, it wouldn't be auto
detected, now would it? ;)
i think you mean "how do i configure my card automatically on boot".
i usually build a kernel with the NIC module built in (ie- no module).
another way is to modify a start-up script like rc.boot and say something
like
modprobe -a mynic
which takes care of the module dependencies. the other way
insmod mynic
doesn't.
pete
