PCMCIA: PC Card with AX88190 Chipsatz is no longer supported.

Support knowledgebase (pcmcia_ax88190)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: Versions 7.0 to 7.2
This article refers to an older version of SuSE Linux. Therefore some of the informations given in this article may be outdated or the article may contain stale links.

PCMCIA: Version 3.1.15-3.1.26

Symptom

You want to use PCMCIA network card with AX88190 chip set. In /etc/var/log/messages you can find something like this:

May 25 13:07:12 linux kernel: pcnet_cs: sorry, the AX88190 chipset is not supported.
May 25 13:07:12 linux kernel: pcnet_cs: unable to read hardware net address for io base 0x300

This applies to e.g. the 'Linksys EtherFast 10/100'.

This also concerns with the 'D-Link DRP-16TX' version; there is another version of this D-Link card that is certified for SuSE Linux. That version is based on the supported chipset 'DL10019'.

Cause

The chipset AX88190 doesn't work reliably with the 'pcnet-cs' driver. The author of the PCMCIA package, David Hinds, has therefore dropped support since PCMCIA 3.1.15 http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ftp/CHANGES:

...
[16-May-00] Version 3.1.15
...
-- Updated pcnet_cs driver to reject AX88190 chipsets for now.
...

The relevant comment can be found on http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ftp/BUGS:

...
o NE2000 compatible cards based on the Asix AX88190 are unsupported
...
o A number of "NE2000 compatible" cards use the Asix AX88190 chipset,
  which has several serious bugs and incompatibilities that render the
  regular pcnet_cs driver unusable.  The pcnet_cs driver will identify
  and refuse to deal with these cards.

  Prognosis: a Linux driver is available from the Asix web site at
  http://www.asix.com.tw/driver2.htm and I'm investigating how to best
  deal with the issue in the regular pcnet_cs driver.  It is a tricky
  issue and I'm not sure when a better fix will be available.

Solution

The AX88190 chipset will be supported from PCMICA 3.1.27 onwards. Update of the PCMCIA package:

ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/people/zoz/pcmcia/7.2-i386/

pcmcia-3.1.28-0.i386.rpm

pcmcia-modules-3.1.28_2.4.4-0.i386.rpm

Install it with the command:

  rpm -Uhv --force --nodeps ...

In /etc/rc.config set:

PCMCIA_SYSTEMS=""


Keywords: PCMCIA, AX88190, DRP-16TX, D-LINK, LINKSYS

Categories: Hardware , Frequently asked Questions

Feedback welcome: Send Mail to cdb@suse.de (Please give the following subject: SDB-pcmcia_ax88190)
SDB-pcmcia_ax88190, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 20. Aug 2001
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 18. Sep 2001 by hmeyer (sdb_gen 1.40.0)