From e76be846e78bdd47c3d3f6a833cd5e21946a9921 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Frans Pop Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 03:55:23 +0000 Subject: Rewrite of NIC support, document wireless support (for selected arches) and explain issues surrounding drivers that require firmware --- en/hardware/network-cards.xml | 185 +++++++++++++++++++----------------------- 1 file changed, 85 insertions(+), 100 deletions(-) (limited to 'en') diff --git a/en/hardware/network-cards.xml b/en/hardware/network-cards.xml index bf77e7303..263248d51 100644 --- a/en/hardware/network-cards.xml +++ b/en/hardware/network-cards.xml @@ -3,131 +3,54 @@ Network Connectivity Hardware + - +Almost any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel +should also be supported by the installation system; modular drivers +should normally be loaded automatically. - +This includes most PCI and PCMCIA cards. +Many older ISA cards are supported as well. -Most PCI and many older ISA network cards are supported. -Some network interface cards are not supported by most Debian -installation disks, such as AX.25 cards and protocols; -NI16510 EtherBlaster cards; Schneider & Koch G16 cards; -and the Zenith Z-Note built-in network card. Microchannel (MCA) network -cards are not supported by the standard installation system, but see -Linux on MCA for some (old) -instructions. -FDDI networks are also not supported by the installation disks, both -cards and protocols. - - - - - -As for ISDN, the D-channel protocol for the (old) German 1TR6 is not -supported; Spellcaster BRI ISDN boards are also not supported by the -&d-i;. - - - - - -Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should -also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your -network driver as a module. Again, see - for complete details. - - +Again, see +for complete details. -The following network interface cards (NICs) are supported from the bootable -kernel directly: +This includes a lot of generic PCI cards (for systems that have PCI) and +the following NICs from Sun: - + Sun LANCE - - + Sun Happy Meal - - - - - -The following network interface cards are supported as modules. They -can be enabled once the drivers are installed during the setup. -However, due to the magic of OpenPROM, you still should be able to -boot from these devices: - - - + Sun BigMAC - - + Sun QuadEthernet - + MyriCOM Gigabit Ethernet - - -Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should -also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your -network driver as a module. - - - -Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should -also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your -network driver as a module. - - - -Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should -also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your -network driver as a module. - - - -Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should -also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your -network driver as a module. - - - -Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should -also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your -network driver as a module. - - - -Due to kernel limitations only the onboard network interfaces on -DECstations are supported, TurboChannel option network cards currently -do not work. - -Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel is -also be supported by the boot disks. All network drivers are compiled -as modules so you need to load one first during the initial network -setup. The list of supported network devices is: +The list of supported network devices is: @@ -157,14 +80,13 @@ OSA-Express in QDIO mode, HiperSockets and Guest-LANs The following network interface cards are supported directly by the -boot disks on Netwinder and CATS machines: +installation images for Netwinder and CATS machines: PCI-based NE2000 - @@ -176,7 +98,7 @@ boot disks on Netwinder and CATS machines: The following network interface cards are supported directly by the -boot disks on RiscPCs: +installation images for RiscPCs: @@ -204,11 +126,74 @@ disks. -Any other network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel -should also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your -network driver as a module; this means that you will have to install -the operating system kernel and modules using some other media. +Any other network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should +also be supported by the boot disks. You may need to load your network +driver as a module; this means that you will have to install the operating +system kernel and modules using some other media. + + + +As for ISDN, the D-channel protocol for the (old) German 1TR6 is not +supported; Spellcaster BRI ISDN boards are also not supported by the +&d-i;. Using ISDN during the installation is not supported. + + Drivers Requiring Firmware + + +The installation system currently does not support retrieving firmware. +This means that any network cards that use a driver that requires firmware +to be loaded, is not supported by default. + + + +If there is no other NIC you can use during the installation, it is still +possible to install &debian; using a full CD-ROM or DVD image. Select the +option to not configure a network and install using only the packages +available from the CD/DVD. You can then install the driver and firmware you +need after the installation is completed (after the reboot) and configure +your network manually. Note that the firmware may be packaged separately +from the driver and may not be available in the main section +of the &debian; archive. + + + +If the driver itself is supported, you may also be +able to use the NIC during installation by copying the firmware from some +medium to /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware. Don't forget to +also copy the firmware to that location for the installed system before +the reboot at the end of the installation. + + + + + + Wireless Network Cards + + +Wireless NICs are in general supported as well, with one big proviso. +A lot of wireless adapters require drivers that are either non-free or have +not been accepted into the official Linux kernel. These NICs can generally +be made to work under &debian;, but are not supported during the installation. + + + +If there is no other NIC you can use during the installation, it is still +possible to install &debian; using a full CD-ROM or DVD image. Use the same +procedure as described above for NICs that require firmware. + + + +In some cases the driver you need may not be available as a Debian package. +You will then have to look if there is source code available in the internet +and compile the driver yourself. How to do this is outside the scope of this +manual. +If no Linux driver is available, your last resort is to +use the ndiswrapper package, which allows you to use +a Windows driver. + + + -- cgit v1.2.3