On Tue, 2003-02-25 at 07:48, Michael G. Schabert wrote:
> >I'm running all the NICs in 100baseTX-FDX mode. The alpha is an
> >AlphaStation 500/266 and it runs a 1.6K kernel from mid-December.
> >The machines are connected to each other via a D-Link DES1008D
> >switch. There are no other machines currently connected to the
> >network.
> 
> My guess is that there is a duplex mismatch between your Alpha and 
> your switch. You should never lock down the switch or the NIC to a 

OK, I guess this is correct. Setting the NIC to 100base-TX mode made
it go fast, and with no error messages. Both receiving and sending
data is OK.

What does this "duplex mismatch" exactly mean? Does it mean that there's
something "wrong" between the switch and the NIC, that they can't do
full duplex?

The i386 boxes automatically pick full duplex mode, and seem to be
very happy with it.

> particular duplex setting, but should let them autonegotiate. Locking 
> down speed is acceptable, but locking duplex at the switch violates 
> the spec. On Apple/Macintosh hardware, if connected to a switch that

How can I make the tlp card autonegotiate, or do I have to switch
the machine off/on if I have told the card manually to use certain
duplex?

I had left the 100baseTX-FDX media option to my ifconfig file, so
it picked that up when I first booted. I removed the option, and
rebooted. It still wanted to use 100baseTX-FDX. Just to test, I
manually set 10baseT, rebooted, and then it defaulted on that.

I'll leave the mediaopts out and see what I get when I next do a
complete reboot.