[SCore-users] help with gm-1.6.3 port to Score 5.2.0

[Bogdan Costescu]

On Tue, 26 Nov 2002, Emile CARCAMO wrote:

>       But then if I
> 	try to "./configure && make" under the gm-1.6.3 directo-
> 	ry (this stuff is for Myrinet-2k network driver) I get
> 	an error, too bad !!!

Well, I first thought that there was an error in your message title. What 
exactly are you trying to achieve by putting GM and PM together ?
For what I know, only one of them can have control over the Myrinet card, 
meaning that if you have GM running, the whole SCore environment (which 
depends on PM) is gone; this would only be useful probably if you want to 
compare the two...

> 	BTW, I've seen in EIT that Myrinet-2k can be selected as
> 	an additional network but what does it install exactly ?

You mean: modules vs. in-kernel drivers ?

>       How to check that Myrinet boards are avai-
> 	lable via ifconfig or whatever other command ?

First of all, a device present in the system is identified through its PCI 
id, so 'lspci' should help; the PCI utilities depend on a database for 
literal (= human friendly) identification of the device; if the device was 
not yet entered into the database, you get some "unknown device" along 
with the PCI id. Each manufacturer has its own Manufacturer id(s) and 
theoretically each device (even different versions of the same device) 
should have a different Product id.
The identification based on PCI ids does not depend on any software (like 
a driver) being present; as soon as the device is out of sleep (as in low 
power mode) it should be visible on the PCI bus.

In order for other (higher level) software to be able to identify a 
device, maybe along with some functional parameters, a driver should be 
running. The driver first checks that the device is on its own "supported"
list, then sometimes asks the hardware for other parameters then finaly 
initializes the hardware. This part is of course device-specific and after 
the initialization is finished, other software using some API can query 
the driver for information. Another possibility (not used in SCore) is for 
the program to directly access the hardware which is first mapped into 
user-space by the driver.

So, to come back to your question: you can find if the card is physically 
installed using 'lspci', but this won't tell you f.e. if the cable is 
connected - this info can only be obtained from a driver.
'ifconfig' and all other "normal" networking programs should be first 
taught about the API of the Myrinet driver; or the Myrinet driver should 
be made conform to the Linux network driver API.

> 	I would be glad to get any hints from any ML subscribers
> 	( and readers ;-) TIA, and best regards.

OK, you got it :-)

-- 
Bogdan Costescu

IWR - Interdisziplinaeres Zentrum fuer Wissenschaftliches Rechnen
Universitaet Heidelberg, INF 368, D-69120 Heidelberg, GERMANY
Telephone: +49 6221 54 8869, Telefax: +49 6221 54 8868
E-mail: Bogdan.Costescu at IWR.Uni-Heidelberg.De