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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2011-01-06 12:30:19 -0800
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2011-01-06 12:30:19 -0800
commitabb359450f20c32ae03039d8736f12b1d561caf5 (patch)
tree6e8723885feb66a138f19f0ff31615dc13a8d859 /Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt
parentcb600d2f83c854ec3d6660063e4466431999489b (diff)
parent4e3dbdb1392a83bd21a6ff8f6bc785495058d37c (diff)
Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next-2.6
* git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next-2.6: (1436 commits) cassini: Use local-mac-address prom property for Cassini MAC address net: remove the duplicate #ifdef __KERNEL__ net: bridge: check the length of skb after nf_bridge_maybe_copy_header() netconsole: clarify stopping message netconsole: don't announce stopping if nothing happened cnic: Fix the type field in SPQ messages netfilter: fix export secctx error handling netfilter: fix the race when initializing nf_ct_expect_hash_rnd ipv4: IP defragmentation must be ECN aware net: r6040: Return proper error for r6040_init_one dcb: use after free in dcb_flushapp() dcb: unlock on error in dcbnl_ieee_get() net: ixp4xx_eth: Return proper error for eth_init_one include/linux/if_ether.h: Add #define ETH_P_LINK_CTL for HPNA and wlan local tunnel net: add POLLPRI to sock_def_readable() af_unix: Avoid socket->sk NULL OOPS in stream connect security hooks. net_sched: pfifo_head_drop problem mac80211: remove stray extern mac80211: implement off-channel TX using hw r-o-c offload mac80211: implement hardware offload for remain-on-channel ...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt52
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 24 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt b/Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt
index 6aa048badf3..97b5ba942eb 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt
+++ b/Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
Linux* Driver for Intel(R) Network Connection
-===============================================================
+=============================================
Intel Gigabit Linux driver.
Copyright(c) 1999 - 2010 Intel Corporation.
@@ -61,6 +61,12 @@ per second, even if more packets have come in. This reduces interrupt
load on the system and can lower CPU utilization under heavy load,
but will increase latency as packets are not processed as quickly.
+The default behaviour of the driver previously assumed a static
+InterruptThrottleRate value of 8000, providing a good fallback value for
+all traffic types, but lacking in small packet performance and latency.
+The hardware can handle many more small packets per second however, and
+for this reason an adaptive interrupt moderation algorithm was implemented.
+
The driver has two adaptive modes (setting 1 or 3) in which
it dynamically adjusts the InterruptThrottleRate value based on the traffic
that it receives. After determining the type of incoming traffic in the last
@@ -86,8 +92,8 @@ InterruptThrottleRate is set to mode 1. In this mode, which operates
the same as mode 3, the InterruptThrottleRate will be increased stepwise to
70000 for traffic in class "Lowest latency".
-In simplified mode the interrupt rate is based on the ratio of Tx and
-Rx traffic. If the bytes per second rate is approximately equal the
+In simplified mode the interrupt rate is based on the ratio of TX and
+RX traffic. If the bytes per second rate is approximately equal, the
interrupt rate will drop as low as 2000 interrupts per second. If the
traffic is mostly transmit or mostly receive, the interrupt rate could
be as high as 8000.
@@ -177,7 +183,7 @@ Copybreak
Valid Range: 0-xxxxxxx (0=off)
Default Value: 256
-Driver copies all packets below or equaling this size to a fresh Rx
+Driver copies all packets below or equaling this size to a fresh RX
buffer before handing it up the stack.
This parameter is different than other parameters, in that it is a
@@ -223,17 +229,17 @@ loading or enabling the driver, try disabling this feature.
WriteProtectNVM
---------------
-Valid Range: 0-1
-Default Value: 1 (enabled)
-
-Set the hardware to ignore all write/erase cycles to the GbE region in the
-ICHx NVM (non-volatile memory). This feature can be disabled by the
-WriteProtectNVM module parameter (enabled by default) only after a hardware
-reset, but the machine must be power cycled before trying to enable writes.
-
-Note: the kernel boot option iomem=relaxed may need to be set if the kernel
-config option CONFIG_STRICT_DEVMEM=y, if the root user wants to write the
-NVM from user space via ethtool.
+Valid Range: 0,1
+Default Value: 1
+
+If set to 1, configure the hardware to ignore all write/erase cycles to the
+GbE region in the ICHx NVM (in order to prevent accidental corruption of the
+NVM). This feature can be disabled by setting the parameter to 0 during initial
+driver load.
+NOTE: The machine must be power cycled (full off/on) when enabling NVM writes
+via setting the parameter to zero. Once the NVM has been locked (via the
+parameter at 1 when the driver loads) it cannot be unlocked except via power
+cycle.
Additional Configurations
=========================
@@ -259,32 +265,30 @@ Additional Configurations
- Some adapters limit Jumbo Frames sized packets to a maximum of
4096 bytes and some adapters do not support Jumbo Frames.
-
Ethtool
-------
The driver utilizes the ethtool interface for driver configuration and
diagnostics, as well as displaying statistical information. We
- strongly recommend downloading the latest version of Ethtool at:
+ strongly recommend downloading the latest version of ethtool at:
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/gkernel.
+ http://ftp.kernel.org/pub/software/network/ethtool/
Speed and Duplex
----------------
- Speed and Duplex are configured through the Ethtool* utility. For
- instructions, refer to the Ethtool man page.
+ Speed and Duplex are configured through the ethtool* utility. For
+ instructions, refer to the ethtool man page.
Enabling Wake on LAN* (WoL)
---------------------------
- WoL is configured through the Ethtool* utility. For instructions on
- enabling WoL with Ethtool, refer to the Ethtool man page.
+ WoL is configured through the ethtool* utility. For instructions on
+ enabling WoL with ethtool, refer to the ethtool man page.
WoL will be enabled on the system during the next shut down or reboot.
For this driver version, in order to enable WoL, the e1000e driver must be
loaded when shutting down or rebooting the system.
In most cases Wake On LAN is only supported on port A for multiple port
- adapters. To verify if a port supports Wake on LAN run ethtool eth<X>.
-
+ adapters. To verify if a port supports Wake on Lan run ethtool eth<X>.
Support
=======