
linux-2.3.99-pre6-fore200e-0.2f.tar
-----------------------------------

This package updates the support of the FORE Systems 200E-series ATM
adapters by the Linux operating system. Note that the driver itself is
now distributed with the regular Linux kernel distribution.

It is based on the earlier PCA-200E driver written by Uwe Dannowski.

This device driver simultaneously supports PCA-200E and SBA-200E adapters on
i386, alpha (untested), powerpc, sparc and sparc64 hosts.

The intent is to enable the use of different models of FORE adapters at the
same time, by servers that have several bus interfaces (such as PCI+SBUS,
PCI+MCA or PCI+EISA).
Only PCI and SBUS devices are currently supported by the driver, but support
for other bus interfaces such as EISA should not be too hard to add (this may
be more tricky for the MCA bus, though, as FORE made some MCA-specific
modifications to the adapter's AALI interface).

The driver is shipped with firmware data being uploaded to the ATM adapters
at system boot time or at module loading time. The supplied firmware images
should work with all adapters.

However, if you encounter problems (the firmware doesn't start or the driver
is unable to read the PROM data), you may consider trying another firmware
version. Alternative binary firmware images can be found somewhere on the
ForeThough CD-ROM supplied with your adapter by FORE Systems.

You can also get the latest firmware images from FORE Systems at
http://www.fore.com. Register TACTics Online and go to
the 'software updates' pages. The firmware binaries are part of
the various ForeThough software distributions.

Notice that different versions of the PCA-200E firmware exist, depending
on the endianess of the host architecture. The driver is shipped with
both little and big endian PCA firmware images.

Name and location of the new firmware images can be set at kernel
configuration time. See the INSTALL file for details.

Also note that the firmware binaries are the intellectual property
of FORE Systems, Inc. Please read the fore200e_firmware_copyright file.



Driver features summary
-----------------------

    - simultaneously supports PCA-200E and SBA-200E adapters;
    - works on i386, powerpc, SBUS-based sparc and 
      SBUS or PCI-based sparc64 architectures;
    - now targeted to 2.3.99-pre6 kernels;
    - uses new DVMA PCI and SBUS interfaces;
    - useable as a removable module;
    - supports FORE pseudo-CBR rate control;
    - the reserved CBR rate can be changed after VC setup;
    - supports AAL0, AAL3/4 and AAL5;
    - supports S/UNI hardware loopback modes;
    - internal design focuses on portability and extensibility.


Restrictions / Known bugs
-------------------------

    - 'insmod' coredumps when attempting to load the driver on Ultrasparc
      hosts (at least using the 1.1.9 Ultrapenguin distribution).
    - some memory resources cannot be freed on sparc, sparc64 and powerpc,
      because the required support is still missing in 2.2 and 2.3 kernels.
      You shouldn't try to unload the module driver on these platforms.


Feedback
--------

Feedback is welcome. Please send success stories/bug reports/
patches/improvement/comments/flames to <lizzi@cnam.fr>.
