D530 Broadcom netXtreme gigabit for hp + Linux ... A Solution

[Ted M Johnson_1]

I recently tried to get a pair of the newer D530 Ultra-slim desktops up and running a stock RedHat 8.0 distro. I was having trouble with the onboard 10/100/1000 port and finally found a way to get it working, so I thought I'd post the solution here for everyone to see (and search for in the future).


Basically, the linux driver HP provides on the website doesn't work. Neither does the standard Broadcom driver. They seem to assume a add-on PCI card instead of the onboard chipset. So, the memory addresses are incorrect in a few places in the driver.



Just go download the driver from the hp website (its a combo driver for win/lin/beos/etc) and grab the Linux/ folder. I copied mine to a 32MB usb keychain device and transfered it from my laptop to the D530.


Then, look in the Linux/src directory for the 5701rls.h file. You should see several addresses that begin with 0x0800...


Check your /proc/iomem directory for the correct address range for your Broadcom chipset. Mine was 0xf850. Replace the address ranges with the correct address.


Here's a diff for my install: diff 5701rls.h 5701rls.h.orig


18,19c18,19
< U32 t3FwStartAddr = 0xf8500000;
< U32 t3FwTextAddr = 0xf8500000;
---
> U32 t3FwStartAddr = 0x08000000;
> U32 t3FwTextAddr = 0x08000000;
21c21
< U32 t3FwRodataAddr = 0xf85009c0;
---
> U32 t3FwRodataAddr = 0x080009c0;
23c23
< U32 t3FwDataAddr = 0xf8500a40;
---
> U32 t3FwDataAddr = 0x08000a40;
25c25
< U32 t3FwSbssAddr = 0xf8500a60;
---
> U32 t3FwSbssAddr = 0x08000a60;
27c27
< U32 t3FwBssAddr = 0xf8500a70;
---
> U32 t3FwBssAddr = 0x08000a70;


Now, recompile the driver and insmod bcm5700.

Tada! Now all you need to do is follow the directions given in the release.txt file for patching the pci name database and you should be gtg.

-ted

[Paulo A G Fessel · Accepted solution]

Ted,

I've found that using the e1000 with these Broadcoms works ok. I found this while setting up a kickstart server for them.

Could you try this with your server and see whether it works or not?

TIA
Paulo Fessel

[Ted M Johnson_1]

Hi Paulo. Thanks for the info.

I tried just your basic insmod e1000, but it didnt seem to work. Since RH8 doesn't detect and configure the port AutoMagically during install, I"ll have to touch the box anyway to set up either the e1000 or the bcm5700 module, so I figure I might as well use the correct driver.

But that is good information. Maybe a different form factor D530 would use that driver? Who knows - but at least its out in the open now for people to find. :-)