3com 3c990 nic

[Jens Ruehmkorf]

Hi All!

>     > Hello I'm about to install a 20 nodes cluster, I want to use FAI
>     > but the NICs we have (3c990) have his own driver supplied by
>     > 3com as a module. Is it possible to mount a remote root
>     > filesystem with a modular driver?  Or I will have to use another
>     > card for installation and then change it?
>
> You have to use another card. The boot kernel must have the network
> driver compiled inside. This one of the few things it can't load as a
> module. But maybe it's possible to compile this driver and include it
> in the kernel.

According to 3com's support site [0], unfortunately there are no
kernel-patches for that.  You could send a support request to 3Com [1],
the programmers who wrote the driver maybe already have a Makefile to
include the driver within your kernel. Or you do the changes yourself
(have a look at 3c90x-1.0.0i.tar.gz) and ask at linux-kernel or at vortex
for help if you get stuck (3c990.c is GPL, right?).

But I would think twice before using a 2nd card, unless you have 20
standard NICs lying somewhere around or want to change cards whenever
installing your cluster again.

Kind regards,
Jens

[0] http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/nic/linux/linuxdownloads.htm
[1] http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/nic/linuxrequest.htm