[ltp] hw configuration issues_¡PS2.EXE,_adiós!

[Thomas Hood]

I have just tried this out.  I had to recompile my kernel
without integral PCMCIA support and then compile the latest
pcmcia-cs sources and install these.  The lspnp and setpnp
programs are in the "debug-tools" subdirectory.

These tools are a very welcome addition to our toolkit.

I think that tpctl, because it talks directly to hardware
registers, should always tell you the true actual hardware
configuration.  lspnp presumably reports what the BIOS
*thinks* the hw configuration is.  If tpctl is used to
change the hw configuration then the PNP BIOS may fail
to notice this and report back an untruth.

--- Till.Straumann@TU-Berlin.de wrote: 
> E.g., if you serial port is disabled in the bios
> (PS2 SERA DISABLE), although it is possible to do
> 
>   setpnp xx ioport 0x3f8 irq 4
> 
> this wont really enable the port.

> However, it _is_ possible to do
> 
>   setpnp -b xx ioport 0x3f8 irq 4
> 
> and reboot.

Judging from tpctl, it appears that with the "-b" flag
the changes are immediate and do not require a reboot.
(As I said, tpctl ought to be giving reliable reports
of the hardware configuration.)

> --- It was easy to separate the pnp-bios stuff from the
> rest of the pcmcia modules, i.e. move it to a separate
> module [in case there is any interest: contact me].

You should suggest this to David Hinds.  

Can you explain the difference between the pcmcia-cs
PNP BIOS interface and the "isa-pnp" module?
 
> --- Pnp-bios must be enabled in the "Easy-Setup" [I never
> understood that stupid name for this reduced-feature setup].
> This means, that the so called "Quick-boot" [another
> braindamaged name] feature under "Config" must be enabled.

So "Quick-boot" mean "enable PNP BIOS"?  I would not have
guessed.

> --- Another goodie: PS2.EXE wouldn't let you use the same
> interrupt for IR and the serial port. However, as long as
> you use the serial driver for both of them (using SIR,
> "irattach" and the irtty line discipline), LINUX would
> be / is capable of sharing one IRQ for serial/IR. "setpnp"
> enables you to configure the hardware as needed :-)

Have you actually tried interrupt sharing?

I just used setpnp to disable the parallel port irq (#7)
and when I rebooted I noticed that cardmgr gave irq 7 to
my Xircom PCMCIA network card!  When I treid to give irq 7
to MIDI, the machine hung.  At one point, xirc2ps_cs was
given irq 11 along with the PCI interface.  I don't know
how it worked but it did.  This needs more investigation.

Thomas

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