PCMCIA(5)
NAME
/etc/pcmcia/config - PCMCIA card configuration database
DESCRIPTION
The PCMCIA card configuration file is read by cardmgr(8)
at startup time. It defines what resources are available
for use by Card Services, describes how to load and ini-
tialize device drivers, and describes specific PCMCIA
cards.
Resource descriptions
There are three kinds of resource entries: include,
exclude, and reserve. Including a resource enables Card
Services to allocate that resource for client drivers.
Part of a resource that is under Card Services control can
be excluded if a specific device in the system uses that
resource. And, a resource can be reserved, so that it
will only be assigned to a client if that client specifi-
cally asks for that resource, or no other suitable
resources are available.
There are three resource types: port, memory, and irq. By
default, Card Services assumes that it can use any inter-
rupt that is not bound by another device driver. However,
it makes no assumptions about IO port and address ranges,
because some Linux drivers do not register their resource
usage. So, port and memory ranges must be explicitly made
available for use by PCMCIA devices.
So, here is a portion of a config file:
include port 0x300-0x3ff, memory 0xd0000-0xdffff
reserve irq 3
exclude irq 4, port 0x3f8-0x3ff
This says that Card Services can reserve ports in the
range 0x300 to 0x3ff, and memory in the range 0xd0000 to
0xdffff. It should not use irq 4 or ports 0x3f8-0x3ff
(even if they seem to be available). And irq 3 should
only be allocated if a client specifically asks for it.
Card Services will never reserve resources actually
reserved by another device driver. The
include/exclude/reserve mechanism just provides a way of
controlling what resources it will try to use, to accomo-
date devices that are not registered with the Linux
resource manager.
Device driver descriptions
All Card Services client drivers are identified by a
16-character tag. Device entries in the config file
describe client drivers. The only required field is the
device tag. Additional fields can specify kernel modules
that need to be loaded to make the device available, and a
script to be executed to enable and disable instances of a
device. When an instance of a driver is assigned to a
socket, it gives cardmgr a device name by which this
device will be known by the system (for example, eth0 for
a net device, or cua1 for a modem). This name will be
passed to the configuration script. For example:
device "pcnet_cs"
class "network"
module "net/8390" opts "ei_debug=4", "pcnet_cs"
This says that the pcnet_cs device requires two loadable
modules. The first one is located in the net module sub-
directory and will be loaded with a specific parameter
setting. The second module should be in the pcmcia module
subdirectory. The device is in the network class, so the
network script in the configuration directory will be used
to start or stop the device.
Configuration scripts are used to stop and start devices.
They are also used to determine if a device is currently
busy, to prepare a device for a system suspend, and to
wake up a device after a resume. Cardmgr invokes a config
script with several arguments: the action to be performed,
the device name, and the major and minor device numbers,
if applicable.
Card descriptions
Card declarations map PCMCIA cards to their client
drivers. A card declaration consists of a descriptive
name, a method for identifying the card when it is
inserted, and driver bindings. There are five identifica-
tion methods: the version method matches a card using its
VERSION_1 id strings, the manfid method matches a card
using its MANFID tuple codes, the tuple method matches a
card using any string embedded in any arbitrary CIS tuple,
the function method matches a card using its function ID,
and the anonymous method matches any card that does not
have a CIS. This last method is only intended to be used
for old-style Type I memory cards. For example:
card "Linksys Ethernet Card"
tuple 0x40, 0x0009, "E-CARD PC Ethernet Card"
bind "pcnet_cs"
This card is identified by a string at offset 0x0009 in
tuple 0x40, and will be bound to the pcnet_cs driver
(which must be already declared in a driver declaration).
card "Connectware LANdingGear Adapter"
manfid 0x0057, 0x1004
bind "pcnet_cs"
This card is identified by its MANFID tuple contents.
card "D-Link DE-650 Ethernet Card"
version "D-Link", "DE-650"
bind "pcnet_cs"
This card will be identified using its VERSION_1 tuple,
and will also be bound to the pcnet_cs driver.
card "Serial port device"
function serial_port
bind "serial_cs"
This binds the serial_cs driver to any card with a CIS
function ID of 0x02, which corresponds to a serial port
card. The function ID can either be a number, or one of
the following predefined functions: memory_card,
serial_port, parallel_port, fixed_disk, video_adapter,
network_adapter, and aims_card.
Memory region definitions
Memory region definitions are used to associate a particu-
lar type of memory device with a Memory Technology Driver,
or "MTD". An MTD is used to service memory accesses in a
device-independent fashion. When a card is identified,
Card Services will attempt to load MTD's for all its mem-
ory regions.
A memory region definition begins with the region keyword
and a descriptive string. This is followed by an identi-
fication method: either default to identify an MTD to be
used for any otherwise unclassified region, or jedec to
identify a region based on its JEDEC identification codes.
Thus, for example,
region "Intel Series 2 Flash"
jedec 0x89 0xa2
mtd "iflash2_mtd"
specifies that the iflash2_mtd driver will be loaded based
on a JEDEC match.
BUGS
The reserve keyword has not actually been implemented in a
useful way for this version of Card Services.
AUTHOR
David Hinds - dhinds@allegro.stanford.edu
SEE ALSO
cardmgr(8).