Get PCMCIA 3COM 3C3FEM556C Ethernet / Modem card to work with IBM Thinkpad 600E

[AndrzejL]

Hi folks.

So I own this very old IBM Thinkpad 600E lappy:

CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) II processor 360 MHz
RAM: 440 MB
SWAP: 1 GB
GPU: Neomagic Corporation NM2200 [MagicGraph 256AV] (rev 12) (2 MB)
SND: Cirrus Logic CS 4610/11 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator] (rev 01)
WIFI: Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2501USB Wireless Adapter
LAN: None
SATA: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE
HDD: 40 GB
MSE: Silvercrest Lidl Purchased 8 button USB mouse

and it has 2 PCMCIA slots on the side that seem perfect for this 3COM 3C3FEM556C Ethernet / Modem card

When I was testing XP on this lappy the card worked but the driver was causing BSOD every now and then.

The card itself works and I know that for sure but for some wild reason when I am plugging it into the lappy the light (orange) is on but there is not ethernet card listed when trying to set it up via PCC.

I have tried few things in the past but I got to the point when plugging in the card was freezing lappy (that was in 2009) then in early 2010 I reinstalled with fresh 2010.x KDE4 Minime iso (removed most of KDE4 and installed LXDE on top of it) and was upgrading ever since.

I need help with diagnosing and getting this card to work.

Please ask for any details needed. I won't be providing them until You do as I don't want to confuse anyone with useless command outputs.

The laptop itself is connected to the network using wireless USB card now but since it only has one USB port I use the HUB and it is not very stable / fast. Lately I have decided to change all my networking from WLAN to LAN (planning on turning off wireless completely on the router) and this is why I would like to have this card working in this lappy as it's the only machine that has no ethernet card built in.

I am hoping to learn few things and have fun getting it to work in the same time.

Regards.

Andy

[AS]

The module that support your card *should be* 3c574_cs ... try to identify exactly your card, using lspci command and modinfo 3c574_cs

other useful commands:
pccardctl
pccardctl info

As far as I can remember the ETH should work, the modem should be unsupported ...

AS

[AndrzejL]

The module that support your card *should be* 3c574_cs ... try to identify exactly your card, using lspci command and modinfo 3c574_cs

other useful commands:
pccardctl
pccardctl info

As far as I can remember the ETH should work, the modem should be unsupported ...

AS

Here You go Bud .

[andrzejl@icsserver ~]$ ssh wishthinkpad
Last login: Fri Apr 27 15:01:56 2012
[andrzejl@wishthinkpad ~]$ su
Password:
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
00:02.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1251A
00:02.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1251A
00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: Cirrus Logic CS 4610/11 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator] (rev 01)
00:07.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Neomagic Corporation NM2200 [MagicGraph 256AV] (rev 12)
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# modinfo 3c574_cs
filename:       /lib/modules/2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs/kernel/drivers/net/pcmcia/3c574_cs.ko.gz
license:        GPL
description:    3Com 3c574 series PCMCIA ethernet driver
author:         David Hinds <dahinds at censored>
srcversion:     E39D7A7A50089A46F754FE9
alias:          pcmcia:m0101c0556f*fn00pfn*pa*pb*pc*pd*
alias:          pcmcia:m0101c0574f*fn*pfn*pa*pb*pc*pd*
depends:        pcmcia
vermagic:       2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs SMP preempt mod_unload modversions 686
parm:           max_interrupt_work:int
parm:           full_duplex:int
parm:           auto_polarity:int
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccarcctl
bash: pccarcctl: command not found
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl
pcmciautils 015
Copyright (C) 2004-2005 Dominik Brodowski, (C) 1999 David A. Hinds
Report errors and bugs to <linux-pcmcia @ censored >, please.
invalid or unknown argument
Usage: pccardctl COMMAND
Supported commands are:
        ls
        insert
        eject
        suspend
        resume
        reset
        info
        status
        config
        ident
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl info
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]#

I hope it tells You more then it tells me As .

Thanks for Your reply.

Andy

[AS]

check about module pcmcia ... should be loaded ... if not try to manually modprobe that module ...
once loaded, modprobe 3c574_cs, then try again pccardctl info ...

[AndrzejL]

check about module pcmcia ... should be loaded ... if not try to manually modprobe that module ...
once loaded, modprobe 3c574_cs, then try again pccardctl info ...

I think it will be a tricky thing to get to work but I am optimistic

[andrzejl@icsserver ~]$ ssh wishthinkpad
Last login: Fri Apr 27 15:50:00 2012 from icsserver.loc
[andrzejl@wishthinkpad ~]$ su
Password:
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# lsmod | grep pcmcia
pcmcia                 31690  0
pcmcia_rsrc             8880  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            10281  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,pcmcia_rsrc
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# modprobe pcmcia
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# lsmod | grep pcmcia
pcmcia                 31690  0
pcmcia_rsrc             8880  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            10281  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,pcmcia_rsrc
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# modprobe 3c574_cs
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# lsmod | grep 3c574_cs
3c574_cs                8570  0
pcmcia                 31690  1 3c574_cs
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl info
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]#

Thanks again for Your help. Appreciate it.

Andy

[AS]

Andy,

try:
man pccardctl  
also
pccardctl insert
pccardctl status
pccardctl -v ....

Right now I don't see your card recognized at all ...

[AndrzejL]

Andy,

try:
man pccardctl  
also
pccardctl insert
pccardctl status
pccardctl -v ....

Right now I don't see your card recognized at all ...

Told You it's gonna be weird ...

[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl insert
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl status
Socket 0:
  no card
Socket 1:
  5.0V 16-bit PC Card
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl -v
pcmciautils 015
Copyright (C) 2004-2005 Dominik Brodowski, (C) 1999 David A. Hinds
Report errors and bugs to <linux-pcmcia at censored>, please.
invalid or unknown argument
Usage: pccardctl COMMAND
Supported commands are:
        ls
        insert
        eject
        suspend
        resume
        reset
        info
        status
        config
        ident
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]#

http://pastebin.com/Rd7C2QyK dmesg before taking out and reinserting the card

http://pastebin.com/w1wrMPsr dmesg after taking out and reinserting the card

pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: card ejected from slot 1
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: unable to apply power.
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 1

Think we have a partial clue about why card is not being recognized ...

Must go my peoples need me . Be back in few hours.

Thanks for helping me As.

Regards.

Andy

[AS]

from your dmesg:

thinkpad_acpi: ThinkPad ACPI Extras v0.24
thinkpad_acpi: http://ibm-acpi.sf.net/
thinkpad_acpi: ThinkPad BIOS INET24WW, EC unknown
thinkpad_acpi: WARNING: Outdated ThinkPad BIOS/EC firmware
thinkpad_acpi: WARNING: This firmware may be missing critical bug fixes and/or important features
thinkpad_acpi: detected a 8-level brightness capable ThinkPad
Registered led device: tpacpi::power
Registered led device: tpacpi::standby
thinkpad_acpi: Console audio control enabled, mode: monitor (read only)

take a look at possible BIOS fixes ...

Performance Events:
no APIC, boot with the "lapic" boot parameter to force-enable it.

self explained ...

PCI: Ignoring host bridge windows from ACPI; if necessary, use "pci=use_crs" and report a bug
ACPI: PCI Root Bridge [PCI0] (domain 0000 [bus 00-ff])
pci_root PNP0A03:00: host bridge window [io  0x0000-0x0cf7] (ignored)
pci_root PNP0A03:00: host bridge window [io  0x0d00-0xffff] (ignored)
pci_root PNP0A03:00: host bridge window [mem 0x000a0000-0x000bffff] (ignored)
pci_root PNP0A03:00: host bridge window [mem 0x000cc000-0x000effff] (ignored)
pci_root PNP0A03:00: host bridge window [mem 0x1a000000-0xffdfffff] (ignored)

you already know the above ...

ACPI: Fatal opcode executed
ACPI: Deprecated procfs I/F for battery is loaded, please retry with CONFIG_ACPI_PROCFS_POWER cleared
ACPI: Battery Slot [BAT0] (battery present)
ACPI: Deprecated procfs I/F for battery is loaded, please retry with CONFIG_ACPI_PROCFS_POWER cleared
ACPI: Battery Slot [BAT1] (battery absent)

try a new kernel, CONFIG_ACPI_PROCFS_POWER is cleared on new kernels.

pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: card ejected from slot 1
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: unable to apply power.
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 1

Your issue is around the above ... try a new kernel before anything else...

AS

[AndrzejL]

I am not willing to upgrade bios on this machine. It's antic and it's changes hating... This machine hates kernel changes and yes I would be willing to try newer kernel but when kernel 3.2.x goes into the stable repo coz I would not be willing to test new kernel on it each time. It was causing a white hair on my head in the past. Boot errors, sound problems... Lots of headaches...

I have added pci=use_crs and rebooting. Lapic was already in menu.lst.

Regards.

Andy

[AndrzejL]

Dmesg with the pci=use_crs http://pastebin.com/i9m2XVV1

Dmesg addition after the card was reinserted:

pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: card ejected from slot 1
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: time out after reset.
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 1

[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl info
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl status
Socket 0:
  no card
Socket 1:
  5.0V 16-bit PC Card
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# modprobe 3c574_cs
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl info
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl status
Socket 0:
  no card
Socket 1:
  5.0V 16-bit PC Card
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]#

Like I said... This is going to be a tough nut to crack but even if we fail - at least I am gonna learn something...

Cheers.

Andy

[AndrzejL]

Ah why the heck not... Upgrading kernel...

Andy

[AS]

Ah why the heck not... Upgrading kernel...

Andy

exactly .... why not ?

[AndrzejL]

Ah why the heck not... Upgrading kernel...

Andy

exactly .... why not ?

Multiple problems but I like to say "no guts no glory" so doing it ... It takes a lot of time as the machine is old but it should finish within next 20 minutes or so and I will see what nightmares does it has in store for me this time.

So far I had (with previous kernels) problems with sound, initrd file, stage2 file after running pcc > boot > setup boot system and so on and so forth.

This machine is ancient and really problematic.

Will let You know when kernel is upgraded fully and provide You with dmesg then .

Thanks again .

Andy

[AndrzejL]

Ok here it is dmesg with the 3.2.16-pclos1.bfs http://pastebin.com/Qb7AfwX4

And here is the addition after ejecting / reinserting the 3COM card.

cs423x-pnpbios 00:07: activated
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: card ejected from slot 1
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 1

[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl status
Socket 0:
  no card
Socket 1:
  5.0V 16-bit PC Card
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl info
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# modprobe 3c574_cs
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl info
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
PRODID_1=""
PRODID_2=""
PRODID_3=""
PRODID_4=""
MANFID=0000,0000
FUNCID=255
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]# pccardctl status
Socket 0:
  no card
Socket 1:
  5.0V 16-bit PC Card
[root@wishthinkpad andrzejl]#

Does it makes any more sense? Any light in the tunnel?

Thanks again.

Andy

[Hootiegibbon]

try

pcmcia-socket-startup as root

Jase