freebsd-dev/release/texts
wpaul c38c22251d This commit adds driver support for PCI fast ethernet cards based on the
ADMtek AL981 "Comet" chipset. The AL981 is yet another DEC tulip clone,
except with simpler receive filter options. The AL981 has a built-in
transceiver, power management support, wake on LAN and flow control.
This chip performs extremely well; it's on par with the ASIX chipset
in terms of speed, which is pretty good (it can do 11.5MB/sec with TCP
easily).

I would have committed this driver sooner, except I ran into one problem
with the AL981 that required a workaround. When the chip is transmitting
at full speed, it will sometimes wedge if you queue a series of packets
that wrap from the end of the transmit descriptor list back to the
beginning. I can't explain why this happens, and none of the other tulip
clones behave this way. The workaround this is to just watch for the end
of the transmit ring and make sure that al_start() breaks out of its
packet queuing loop and waiting until the current batch of transmissions
completes before wrapping back to the start of the ring. Fortunately, this
does not significantly impact transmit performance.

This is one of those things that takes weeks of analysis just to come
up with two or three lines of code changes.
1999-05-21 04:37:48 +00:00
..
alpha A special installation guide for the Alpha. Thanks, Doug! This is good! 1999-05-12 08:17:03 +00:00
i386 Hmm. Could have sworn I committed this before. Mention the jail() stuff 1999-05-11 10:29:45 +00:00
ABOUT.TXT Add compat22 and compat3x. 1999-04-20 11:48:01 +00:00
ERRATA.TXT State the need to read errata more, um, strongly. 1999-04-08 06:00:01 +00:00
FLOPPIES.TXT Adjust notes to describe new boot floppy scheme. 1999-01-31 12:55:08 +00:00
HARDWARE.TXT This commit adds driver support for PCI fast ethernet cards based on the 1999-05-21 04:37:48 +00:00
LAYOUT.TXT Add compat22 and compat3x. 1999-04-20 11:48:01 +00:00
README.TXT State the need to read errata more, um, strongly. 1999-04-08 06:00:01 +00:00
RELNOTES.TXT This commit adds driver support for PCI fast ethernet cards based on the 1999-05-21 04:37:48 +00:00
TROUBLE.TXT This apparently works now, excise it from TROUBLE.TXT 1999-03-18 06:43:01 +00:00
UPGRADE.TXT Stage 1: Move a bunch of docs out from under sysinstall and other 1998-11-03 03:21:09 +00:00
XFREE86.TXT Stage 1: Move a bunch of docs out from under sysinstall and other 1998-11-03 03:21:09 +00:00

   -----------------------------------------
       FreeBSD 4.0  ---  SNAPSHOT Version              ,        ,
   -----------------------------------------          /(        )`
                                                      \ \___   / |
This is a binary snapshot of 4.0-current, the         /- _  `-/  '
(HEAD) branch which is currently moving towards      (/\/ \ \   /\
the follow-on release to 4.0.                        / /   | `    \
                                                     O O   ) /    |
                                                     `-^--'`<     '
                                                    (_.)  _  )   /
                                                     `.___/`    /
                                                       `-----' /
Feedback or offers to help with anything  <----.     __ / __   \
you see in this release are most welcome  <----|====O)))==) \) /====
and should be sent to one of the approp-  <----'    `--' `.__,' \
riate mailing lists - please see the                   |        |
ABOUT.TXT file for more information.                    \       /       /\
                                                   ______( (_  / \______/
                                                 ,'  ,-----'   |
                                                 `--{__________)

TARGET AUDIENCE:
----------------
This release is aimed primarily at early-adopters and the various
other folks who want to get involved with the ongoing development
of FreeBSD and are willing to deal with a few bumps in the road.
We do our best to ensure that each snapshot works as advertised,
but tracking -current is a process which frequently has its off
days.

If you're both technically proficient and know exactly what you're
getting into here (e.g. you've been following -current) then this
snapshot is probably for you.  If you're more interested in doing
business with FreeBSD than in playing with the cutting edge of
technology, however, then 3.x is almost certainly your best bet.


ROAD MAP:
            Most files here are also in the Documentation
                    Menu of the boot floppy

  ERRATA.TXT    Please read this file!  It will tell you where to look
                for the latest information on problems which have been
                found and fixed in this release.

  README.TXT    This file

  ABOUT.TXT     All about FreeBSD, including contact information

  RELNOTES.TXT  Release Notes - what's new & different in this
                release

  LAYOUT.TXT    Information about the layout of the release
                directory. If you are installing from floppies,
                it is especially important that you
                *read this section!*


  HARDWARE.TXT  Information about the configuration of the
                GENERIC kernel and supported hardware

  INSTALL.TXT   How to make a new installation of FreeBSD
                on your PC using the data you see here

  UPGRADE.TXT   How to upgrade an existing FreeBSD
                installation

  TROUBLE.TXT   Troubleshooting information


o For new installation instructions, see the INSTALL.TXT
  and HARDWARE.TXT files.

o If you are upgrading from a previous FreeBSD version,
  please take a look at UPGRADE.TXT.

o It is also important to check the ERRATA.TXT file for any
  late-breaking issues with this release. This file contains
  the latest information on upgrade, security or other problems
  which an administrator should be aware of.

For the most up-to-date software along the RELENG_3 branch
(also known as 3.1-stable) which is now proceeding onwards toward
the release of FreeBSD 3.2, please install from:

        ftp://releng3.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/

Or for the latest 4.0-Current (HEAD branch) snapshot releases,
please install from:

        ftp://current.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD

If you plan to run either -Stable or -Current you MUST be
subscribed to the appropriate mailing list, either
freebsd-stable or freebsd-current. For information on
subscribing to either list (or both), send an e-mail to
majordomo@freebsd.org with the following in the body, not
the subject of the letter as appropriate:

subscribe freebsd-stable
subscribe freebsd-current
end

We hope you enjoy using FreeBSD as much as we enjoyed
creating it!