Re: Etherboot support for newer NICs

Yes, the 3 options are correct but the first is not possible as we do not have the capability in house.  As an alternative we are looking at what the motherboard manufacturer can offer.  We are currently evaluating several motherboards for this project, so the list of NICs are:

Realtek RTL8111C
Intel 82567LM
Intel 82574L
Intel 8254EPI

So if the motherboard manufacturer cannot come though then we most likely will skip to option 3 and contact the resources you provided.  Thanks for the feedback.


Mark Chapman
Sr. Engineer

UTC RETAIL
Phone:  (585) 742-5282
Fax:  (585) 924-1434
Toll Free:  1-800-349-0546
[email protected]
www.utcretail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas Miletich [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 5:39 AM
To: Chapman, Mark
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Etherboot-discuss] Etherboot support for newer NICs

On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 9:30 PM, Chapman, Mark <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> We are looking into developing new product with off-the-shelf motherboards but newer motherboards are all coming with PCIe bus NICs.
>
>
>
> Does anyone know of any support for at a minimum the newer Realtek or Intel NICs?
>

gPXE has drivers for Realtek 8139 and compatibles, and Realtek 8169
and compatible cards. The Intel GBit cards that are supported should
be equal to the linux e1000 driver, with additional support for some
e1000e cards, and one card supported by igb. You will have to be more
specific if you want more information(i.e. provide PCI IDs of the
cards).

If the cards are not supported, you have several options:
- write a driver yourself in-house
- wait for the community to create one. This is a gamble, as it could
happen any day, or not at all
- fund the development of a driver

As far as I know, both Michael Brown, gPXE Lead Programmer(
[email protected] ) and Marty Connor, gPXE Project Leader(
[email protected] ) develop device drivers for funding. Contact them
if you're interested.

Thomas

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