doc/FAQ/hardware.sgml
Steve Price 7865fd2200 The driver for the Intel EtherExpress was folded into the ie(4)
driver some time ago by Justin T. Gibbs (gibbs@freebsd.org).

PR:		docs/4880
1997-11-04 03:49:22 +00:00

419 lines
16 KiB
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<!-- $Id: hardware.sgml,v 1.2 1997-11-04 03:49:22 steve Exp $ -->
<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
<sect>
<heading>Hardware compatibility <label id="hardware"></heading>
<sect1>
<heading>What kind of hard drives does FreeBSD support?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD supports EIDE and SCSI drives (with a compatible
controller; see the next section), and all drives using the
original "Western Digital" interface (MFM, RLL, ESDI, and
of course IDE). A few ESDI controllers that use proprietary
interfaces may not work: stick to WD1002/3/6/7 interfaces
and clones.
<sect1>
<heading>Which SCSI controllers are supported?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD supports the following SCSI controllers:
<descrip>
<tag/Adaptec/
AH-1505 &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
AH-152x Series &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
AH-154x Series &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
AH-174x Series &lt;EISA&gt; <newline>
Sound Blaster SCSI (AH-152x compat) &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
AH-2742/2842 Series &lt;ISA/EISA&gt; <newline>
AH-2820/2822/2825 Series (Narrow/Twin/Wide) &lt;VLB&gt; <newline>
AH-294x and aic7870 MB controllers (Narrow/Twin/Wide) &lt;PCI&gt;
<newline>
AH-394x (Narrow/Twin/Wide)
<tag/Buslogic/
BT-445 Series &lt;VLB&gt; (this is one of the cards referred to
in the section <ref id="bigram" name="on &gt;16 MB machines">)
<newline>
BT-545 Series &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
BT-742 Series &lt;EISA&gt;<newline>
BT-747 Series &lt;EISA&gt;<newline>
BT-946 Series &lt;PCI&gt; <newline>
BT-956 Series &lt;PCI&gt; <newline>
<tag/Future Domain/
TMC-950 Series &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
<tag/PCI Generic/
NCR 53C81x based controllers &lt;PCI&gt; <newline>
NCR 53C82x based controllers &lt;PCI&gt; <newline>
NCR 53C860/75 based controllers &lt;PCI&gt; <newline>
<tag/ProAudioSpectrum/
Zilog 5380 based controllers &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
Trantor 130 based controllers &lt;ISA&gt; <newline>
<tag/DTC/
DTC 3290 EISA SCSI in AHA-154x emulation.<newline>
<tag/Seagate/
ST-01/02 Series &lt;ISA&gt;<newline>
<tag/UltraStor/
UH-14f Series &lt;ISA&gt;<newline>
UH-24f Series &lt;EISA&gt; <newline>
UH-34f Series &lt;VLB&gt;<newline>
<tag/Western Digital/
WD7000 &lt;ISA&gt; &lt;No scatter/gather&gt;
</descrip>
<sect1>
<heading>Which CD-ROM drives are supported by FreeBSD?</heading>
<p>Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller is supported.
<p>The following proprietry CD-ROM interfaces are also supported:
<itemize>
<item>Mitsumi LU002 (8bit), LU005 (16bit) and FX001D (16bit 2x Speed).
<item>Sony CDU 31/33A<newline>
<item>Sound Blaster Non-SCSI CD-ROM<newline>
<item>Matsushita/Panasonic CD-ROM<newline>
<item>ATAPI compatible IDE CD-ROMs<newline>
</itemize>
<p>All non-SCSI cards are known to be extremely slow compared to
SCSI drives, and some ATAPI CDROMs may not work.
<p>As of 2.2 the FreeBSD CDROM from Walnut Creek supports booting
directly from the CD.
<sect1>
<heading>Does FreeBSD support ZIP drives?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD supports the SCSI ZIP drive out of the box, of course. The
ZIP drive can only be set to run at SCSI target IDs 5 or 6, but if
your SCSI host adapter's BIOS supports it you can even boot from
it. I don't know which host adapters let you boot from targets
other than 0 or 1... look at your docs (and let me know if it works
out for you).
<p>There is no built in support for the parallel ZIP drive, and if you
haven't bought your ZIP drive already I recommend you get the SCSI
one... the price is the same, and the performance is much better,
and you're unlikely to ever be able to boot from the parallel port.
<p>If you already have a parallel ZIP, there is a port of the Linux
driver available at
<url url="http://www.prism.uvsq.fr/~son/ppa3.html"
name="Nicolas Souchu's home page"> in France.
<p>Also check out <ref id="jaz" name="this note on removable drives">,
and <ref id="disklabel" name="this note on 'formatting'">.
<sect1>
<heading>
Does FreeBSD support JAZ, EZ and other removable drives?
</heading>
<p>Apart from the IDE version of the EZ drive, these are all SCSI
devices, so the should all look like SCSI disks to FreeBSD, and
the IDE EZ should look like an IDE drive.
<p><label id="jaz">I'm not sure how well FreeBSD supports changing
the media out while running. You will of course need to dismount the
drive before swapping media, and make sure that any external units are
powered on when you boot the system so FreeBSD can see them.
<p>See <ref id="disklabel" name="this note on 'formatting'">.
<sect1>
<heading>Which multi-port serial cards are supported by FreeBSD?</heading>
<p>There is a list of these in the <htmlurl
url="../handbook/install:misc.html" name="Miscellaneous devices">
section of the handbook.
<p>Some unnamed clone cards have also been known to work, especially
those that claim to be AST compatible.
<p>Check the <htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?sio"
name="sio"> man page to get more information on configuring such cards.
<sect1>
<heading>I have an unusual bus mouse. How do I set it up?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD supports the Logitech and ATI Inport bus mice. You need
to add the following line to the kernel config file and recompile
for the Logitech and ATI mice:
<verb>
device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c tty irq5 vector mseintr
</verb>
<sect1>
<heading>
How do I use my PS/2 (``keyboard'') mouse?
<label id="ps2mouse">
</heading>
<p>If you're running a relatively recent version of FreeBSD then you
can simply enable it in the kernel configuration menu
at installation time, otherwise later with -c at the boot:
prompt. It is disabled by default, so you will need to enable
it explicitly.
<p>If you're running an older version of FreeBSD then you'll have to
add the following lines to your kernel configuration file and compile
a new kernel:
<verb>
device psm0 at isa? port "IO_KBD" conflicts tty irq 12 vector psmintr
# Options for psm:
options PSM_CHECKSYNC #checks the header byte for sync.
</verb>
<p>See the <url url="../handbook/kernelconfig.html"
name="Handbook entry on configuring the kernel"> if you've no
experience with building kernels.
<p>Once you have a kernel detecting psm0 correctly at boot time,
make sure that an entry for psm0 exists in /dev. You can do this
by typing:
<verb>
cd /dev; sh MAKEDEV psm0
</verb>
<p>when logged in as root.
<sect1>
<heading>
How do I use the mouse/trackball/touchpad on my laptop?
</heading>
<p>Please refer to <ref id="ps2mouse" name="the answer to the previous
question">. And check out <ref id="pao" name="this note"> on the Mobile
Computing page.
<sect1>
<heading>What types of tape drives are supported?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD supports SCSI, QIC-36 (with a QIC-02 interface) and
QIC-40/80 (Floppy based) tape drives. This includes 8-mm (aka Exabyte)
and DAT drives. The QIC-40/80 drives are known to be slow.
<p>Some of the early 8-mm drives are not quite compatible with SCSI-2,
and may not work well with FreeBSD.
<sect1>
<heading>Does FreeBSD support tape changers?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD 2.2 supports SCSI changers using the <htmlurl
url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?ch(4)" name="ch"> device and
the <htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?chio" name="chio">
command. The details of how you actually control the changer can be
found in the <htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?chio"
name="chio"> man page.
<p>If you're not using <htmlurl
url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/ports.cgi?amanda" name="AMANDA"> or
some other product that already understands changers, remember that
they're only know how to move a tape from one point to another, so
you need to keep track of which slot a tape is in, and which slot the
tape currently in the drive needs to go back to.
<sect1>
<heading>Which sound cards are supported by FreeBSD?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD supports the SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro, SoundBlaster
16, Pro Audio Spectrum 16, AdLib and Gravis UltraSound sound cards.
There is also limited support for MPU-401 and compatible MIDI cards.
The SoundBlaster 16 ASP cards are not yet supported. The Microsoft
Sound System is also supported.
<p><bf/NOTE/ This is only for sound! This driver does not support
CD-ROMs, SCSI or joysticks on these cards, except for the
SoundBlaster. The SoundBlaster SCSI interface and some non-SCSI
CDROMS are supported, but you can't boot off this device.
<sect1>
<heading>Which network cards does FreeBSD support?</heading>
<p>See the <htmlurl url="../handbook/install:nics.html"
name="Ethernet cards"> section of the handbook for a more
complete list. Since it doesn't list the drivers
you need to use for each of the cards, this incomplete
list will have to do.
<descrip>
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?de(4)"
name="de"> driver/
DEC DC21x40 and compatible PCI controllers<newline>
(including 21140 100bT cards) <newline>
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?ed(4)"
name="ed"> driver/ NE2000 and 1000<newline>
WD/SMC 8003, 8013 and Elite Ultra (8216)<newline>
3Com 3c503 <newline>
HP 27247B and 27252A <newline>
And clones of the above <newline>
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?le(4)"
name="le"> driver/
DEC EtherWORKS II and EtherWORKS III controllers. <newline>
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?ie(4)"
name="ie"> driver/
AT&amp;T EN100/StarLAN 10 <newline>
3COM 3c507 Etherlink 16/TP<newline>
NI5210 <newline>
Intel EtherExpress <newline>
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?is(4)"
name="is"> driver/
Isolan AT 4141-0 <newline>
Isolink 4110 <newline>
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?el(4)"
name="el"> driver/
3com 3c501 (does not support Multicast or DMA)
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?eg(4)"
name="eg"> driver/
3com 3c505 Etherlink/+
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?ze(4)"
name="ze"> driver/
IBM PCMCIA credit card adapter
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?lnc(4)"
name="lnc"> drive/
Lance/PCnet cards (Isolan, Novell NE2100, NE32-VL)(*)
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?ep(4)"
name="ep"> driver/
3com 3c509 (Must disable PNP support on card)
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?cx(4)"
name="cx"> driver/
Cronyx/Sigma multiport Sync/Async (Cisco and PPP framing)
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?zp(4)"
name="zp"> driver/
3Com PCMCIA Etherlink III (aka 3c589)(A-C only)
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?fea(4)"
name="fea"> driver/
DEC DEFEA EISA FDDI controller
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?fpa(4)"
name="fpa"> driver/
DEC DEFPA PCI FDDI controller
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?fe(4)"
name="fe"> driver/
Fujitsu MB86960A/MB86965A Ethernet cards
</descrip>
<p><bf/NOTE/ Drivers marked with (*) are known to have problems.
<p><bf/NOTE/ 3C598D is NOT supported yet.
<p><bf/NOTE/ We also support TCP/IP over parallel lines. At this point
we are incompatible with other versions, but we hope to correct
this in the near future. Refer to the description in the lp(4)
man page.
<p><bf/NOTE/ Some of these cards require a DOS partition on your hard
drive to run the configuration software. Software configured cards
may also need to be hard-reset after running another operating
system that uses manufacturer-supplied drivers. This may even
require a full power cycle.
<sect1>
<heading>I don't have a math co-processor - is that bad?</heading>
<p><tt /Note/ This will only affect 386/486SX/486SLC owners - other
machines will have one built into the CPU.
<p>In general this will not cause any problems, but there are
circumstances where you will take a hit, either in performance or
accuracy of the math emulation code (see the section <ref id="emul"
name="on FP emulation">). In particular, drawing arcs in X will be
VERY slow. It is highly recommended that you buy a math
co-processor; it's well worth it.
<p><bf/NOTE/ Some math co-processors are better than others. It pains
us to say it, but nobody ever got fired for buying Intel. Unless
you're sure it works with FreeBSD, beware of clones.
<sect1>
<heading>What other devices does 2.X support?</heading>
<p>Here is a listing of drivers which do not fit into any of the
earlier categories.
<descrip>
<tag><tt/b004.c/</tag>
Driver for B004 compatible Transputer boards <newline>
<tag>``ctx'' driver</tag>
Driver for CORTEX-I Frame grabber <newline>
<tag>``gp'' driver</tag>
Driver for National Instruments AT-GPIB and<newline>
AT-GPIB/TNT boards
<tag>``pca'' driver</tag>
Driver for PC speakers to allow the playing of audio files
<tag>``spigot'' driver</tag>
Driver for the Creative Labs Video Spigot
<tag><htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?gsc(4)"
name="gsc"> driver</tag>
Driver for the Genuis GS-4500 Hand scanner
<tag><htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?joy(4)"
name="joy"> driver</tag>
Driver for a joystick
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?labpc(4)"
name="labpc"> driver/
Driver for National Instrument's Lab-PC and Lab-PC+
<tag/``uart'' driver/
Stand-alone 6850 UART for MIDI
<tag/<htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?psm(4)"
name="psm"> driver/ PS/2 mouse port
<tag><tt/tw.c/</tag>
Driver for the X-10 POWERHOUSE <newline>
</descrip>
<!--
<sect1>
<heading>I am about to buy a new machine. What do you recommend?</heading>
<p>See the <url url="../handbook/hw.html" name="hardware section">
of the handbook for general tips if you're going to build it
yourself, otherwise see the
FreeBSD <url url="http://www.freebsd.org/commercial/hardware.html"
name="Hardware vendors"> page for various companies who offer
FreeBSD compatible systems.
-->
<sect1>
<heading>Does FreeBSD support power management on my laptop?</heading>
<p>FreeBSD supports APM on certain machines. Please look in the
<tt/LINT/ kernel config file, searching for the <htmlurl
url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?apm" name="APM"> keyword.
</sect>