MikroTik RouterOS Device Driver Management
Document revision 31-Jan-2002
This document applies to the MikroTik RouterOS V2.5
Overview
Device drivers represent the software interface part of installed network devices.
For example, the MikroTik RouterOS includes device drivers
for NE2000 compatible Ethernet cards and other network devices.
Device drivers are included in the system software package
and in the additional feature packages.
The device drivers for PCI and PC cards are loaded automatically.
Other network interface cards (most ISA and ISDN PCI cards)
require the device drivers loaded manually
by using the /driver add command.
Users cannot add their own device drivers.
Only drivers included in the Mikrotik RouterOS software packages can be used.
If you need a device driver for a device, which is not supported by the MikroTik RouterOS,
please suggest it at our suggestion page on our web site.
Contents of the Manual
The following topics are covered in this manual:
Loading Device Drivers
The drivers for PCI and PCMCIA cards (except the ISDN cards) are loaded automatically
at the system startup. Use the
/driver print command to see the list of loaded drivers:
[MikroTik] driver> print
Flags: I - invalid, D - dynamic
# DRIVER IRQ IO MEMORY ISDN-PROTOCOL
0 D RealTek RTL8129/8139
[MikroTik] driver>
As we see, the driver for the Realtek PCI card has been loaded automatically.
If the driver required to be loaded, use the /driver add command.
The syntax of the command is:
[MikroTik] > driver add ?
Load driver name [irq IRQ] [io IO range start] [mem shared memory].
copy-from item number
io IO port base address
irq IRQ number
isdn-protocol ISDN line protocol
memory Shared Memory base address
name Driver name
[MikroTik] >
If hexadecimal values are used for the arguments, put 0x before the number.
To see the list of available drivers, enter the /driver add name ? command:
[MikroTik] driver> add name=?
Name of driver to load.
3c509 3com 3c509 ISA
ne2k-isa ISA NE2000
[MikroTik] driver> add name=ne2k-isa io 0x280
[MikroTik] driver> print
Flags: I - invalid, D - dynamic
# DRIVER IRQ IO MEMORY ISDN-PROTOCOL
0 D RealTek RTL8129/8139
1 ISA NE2000 280
[MikroTik] driver>
To see the system resources occupied by the devices, use the '/system resource io print'
and '/system resource irq print' commands:
[MikroTik] system resource> irq print
IRQ USED OWNER
1 yes keyboard
2 yes APIC
3 no
4 yes serial port
5 no
6 no
7 no
8 no
9 no
10 yes Public
11 yes Local
12 no
13 yes FPU
14 yes IDE 1
15 yes PCMCIA service
[MikroTik] system resource> io print
PORT-RANGE OWNER
20-3F APIC
40-5F timer
60-6F keyboard
80-8F DMA
A0-BF APIC
C0-DF DMA
F0-FF FPU
1F0-1F7 IDE 1
2F8-2FF serial port
3C0-3DF VGA
3E0-3E1 PCMCIA service
3F6-3F6 IDE 1
3F8-3FF serial port
4000-4007 IDE 1
4008-400F IDE 2
6300-631F Local
6700-67FF Public
[MikroTik] system resource>
Note, that the resource list shows only the interfaces, if they are enabled!
Removing Device Drivers
Use the '/driver remove' command to remove device drivers.
Unloading of device driver is useful when changing network devices -
this can be useful to save system resources in avoiding loading drivers
for devices, which have been removed from the system.
Device driver needs to be removed and loaded again, if some parameter
(memory range, i/o base address) has been changed for the adapter card.
The device drivers can be removed only if the appropriate interface has been disabled.
List of Drivers
The list of device drivers included in the system software package is given below:
ISA Drivers
Drivers for ISA cards should be loaded manually.
- ne2k-isa
Load the driver by specifying the I/O base address. IRQ is not required.
Driver is suitable for most of the NE2000 compatible ISA cards.
- 3c509
Load the driver by specifying the I/O base address. IRQ is not required.
Driver is suitable for 3COM 509 Series ISA cards.
PCI Drivers
Drivers for PCI cards are loaded automatically, if the relevant interface card is installed,
and it does not have hardware conflicts. The list of PCI drivers is below:
- ne2k-pci
Driver is suitable for the Ethernet cards with RealTek RTL-8029 chip:
RealTek RTL-8029
Winbond 89C940
Compex RL2000
KTI ET32P2
NetVin NV5000SC
Via 86C926
SureCom NE34
Winbond
Holtek HT80232
Holtek HT80229
- 3c95x
(3Com 3c590/3c900 series Vortex/Boomerang driver)
This device driver is designed for the 3Com FastEtherLink
and FastEtherLink XL, 3Com's PCI to 10/100baseT adapters.
It also works with the 10Mbs versions of the FastEtherLink cards.
The supported product IDs are:
3c590, 3c592, 3c595, 3c597, 3c900, 3c905
3c590 Vortex 10Mbps
3c595 Vortex 100baseTx
3c595 Vortex 100baseT4
3c595 Vortex 100base-MII
3Com Vortex
3c900 Boomerang 10baseT
3c900 Boomerang 10Mbps Combo
3c900 Cyclone 10Mbps Combo
3c900B-FL Cyclone 10base-FL
3c905 Boomerang 100baseTx
3c905 Boomerang 100baseT4
3c905B Cyclone 100baseTx
3c905B Cyclone 10/100/BNC
3c905B-FX Cyclone 100baseFx
3c905C Tornado
3c980 Cyclone
3cSOHO100-TX Hurricane
3c555 Laptop Hurricane
3c575 Boomerang CardBus
3CCFE575 Cyclone CardBus
3CCFE656 Cyclone CardBus
3c575 series CardBus (unknown version)
3Com Boomerang (unknown version)
- eepro100
(Intel i82557/i82558 PCI EtherExpressPro driver)
This device driver is designed for the Intel i82557 "Speedo3" chip,
Intel's single-chip fast Ethernet controller for PCI,
as used on the IntelEtherExpressPro 100 adapter.
- tulip
This device driver is designed for the DECchip "Tulip",
Digital's single-chip ethernet controllers for PCI.
Supported members of the family are the 21040, 21041, 21140, 21140A, 21142, and 21143.
Similar work-alike chips from Lite-On, Macronics, ASIX, Compex and other listed below are also supported:
Interfaces: Digital DC21040 Tulip
Digital DC21041 Tulip
Digital DS21140 Tulip
Digital DS21143 Tulip
D-Link DFE 570TX
Lite-On 82c168 PNIC
Macronix 98713 PMAC
Macronix 98715 PMAC
Macronix 98725 PMAC
ASIX AX88140
Lite-On LC82C115 PNIC-II
ADMtek AN981 Comet
Compex RL100-TX
Intel 21145 Tulip
Xircom Tulip clone
- rtl8139
This device driver is designed for the RealTek RTL8129,
the RealTek Fast Ethernet controllers for PCI. This chip is used on a few clone boards:
RealTek RTL8129 Fast Ethernet
RealTek RTL8139 Fast Ethernet
SMC1211TX EZCard 10/100 (RealTek RTL8139)
Accton MPX5030 (RealTek RTL8139)
- winbond-840
This driver is for the Winbond w89c840 chip:
Winbond W89c840
Compex RL100-ATX
For the list of drivers included in additional feature software packages,
please see the manual of the relevant software package.
Troubleshooting
- Driver for a PCI or PC card does not load automatically.
Check for a possible IRQ or IO conflict with other devices.
- The driver cannot be found on the system.
Upload the required software package containing the required drivers and reboot the router.
- I have loaded the driver, but the interface does not show up.
Obtain the required software license to enable the functionality of the interface.
© Copyright 1999-2002, MikroTik