[ILUG] Topic: Configuration of: Linux, PCMCIA, Gnome, Gnome-pilot

[kevin lyda]

---->background:

redHat 6.1 + errata + linux 2.2.14 + pcmcia-cs-3.0.14 on a compaq
presario 305 laptop.

---->problem:

my linksys 10/100 ethernet card (pcmcia) would work at boot time, but
then stop working when i ran x.  but if i ran /etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia
restart as root, it would work again.  i had recently made changes to my
system - i had upgraded sawmill (and related libs) and installed the
gnome-pilot stuff.  how could that affect the pcmcia system though?

---->solution:

i emailed alan cox and he replied rather quickly: "did you check the
driver settings before and after running x?"  uh....  should have
thought of that.  as it turns out pcnet_cs used interrupt 3 prior to x
running, and interrupt 9 after i'd bounced pcmcia.

first order of business: convince pcnet_cs to use interrupt 9, or to not
use interrupt 3.  as it turns out the latter is easiest: uncomment the
line

#exclude irq 3

in the file /etc/pcmcia/config.opts.  the comment above indicates that
irq 3 is usually used for the second serial line.  i know there's a
winmodem in the box taking one serial line, i guess the onboard com port
takes the other and gets it due to the fact that the gnome-pilot stuff
snags /dev/ttyS0.

actually, i'm not all that certain since /var/log/messages offers this
info:

Jan 20 10:08:59 localhost kernel: ttyS00 at 0x03f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A 
Jan 20 10:08:59 localhost kernel: ttyS02 at 0x03e8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A 

and /proc/interrupts doesn't show anything using irq 3.  i think it is
something to do with serial ports, but since it now works i'll just
leave it alone.

anyway, if someone has similar problems in the future i hope this is of
use.  also, a quick public thank you to alan.

kevin
-- 
kevin at suberic.net                              Nutrition Facts
fork()'ed on 37058400		       Puns: 100% RDA  (% good puns: 0)