SK(4)

📦
version 15.1 · 3 versions
, in freebsd 14.5, freebsd 15.1, nixpkgs unstable

✨ SK(4) ✨

okay so this is the manual page for sk — the SysKonnect SK-984x and SK-982x PCI Gigabit Ethernet adapter driver — and honestly? it's a whole vibe. let's get into it bestie 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

sk — the driver for SysKonnect SK-984x and SK-982x PCI Gigabit Ethernet adapters. iconic. no notes. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

so if you wanna compile this driver into the kernel (main character energy), you drop these lines into your kernel configuration file:

device miibus
device sk

or, alternatively, if you'd rather load it as a module at boot time (lowkey easier), you put this line in loader.conf(5):

if_sk_load="YES"

slay. that's it. 🫶

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so the sk driver provides support for the SysKonnect SK-984x and SK-982x series PCI Gigabit Ethernet adapters. periodt.

the SysKonnect adapters consist of two main components, and yes we're gonna name them because they're both iconic in their own way:

  • the XaQti Corp. XMAC II gigabit MAC
  • the SysKonnect GEnesis controller ASIC

so the XMAC provides the gigabit MAC and PHY support, while the GEnesis provides an interface to the PCI bus, DMA support, packet buffering, and arbitration. the GEnesis can control up to two XMACs simultaneously, which is literally how dual-port NIC configurations happen. two ports, one controller, main character behavior. ✨

and the SK-982x 1000baseT adapters also include a Broadcom BCM5400 1000baseTX PHY which is used in place of the XMAC's internal PHY. the Broadcom PHY is connected to the XMAC via its GMII port. cute little handshake situation. 🦋

the sk driver configures dual port SysKonnect adapters such that each XMAC is treated as a separate logical network interface. both ports can operate independently of each other and can be connected to separate networks. and get this — the SysKonnect driver software currently only uses the second port on dual port adapters for failover purposes: if the link on the primary port fails, the SysKonnect driver will automatically switch traffic onto the second port. backup bestie energy fr fr. 💜

also supported is the Marvell Semiconductor 88E100* gigabit PHY. we love a broad compatibility moment. 🌈

the XaQti XMAC II supports full and half duplex operation with autonegotiation. the XMAC also supports unlimited frame sizes, which is huge (literally). support for jumbo frames is provided via the interface MTU setting. selecting an MTU larger than 1500 bytes with the ifconfig(8) utility configures the adapter to receive and transmit jumbo frames. using jumbo frames can greatly improve performance for certain tasks, such as file transfers and data streaming. it's giving optimized. 🔥

💅 media types the sk driver supports

  • autoselect — enable autoselection of the media type and options. the user can manually override the autoselected mode by adding media options to the /etc/rc.conf file.
  • 1000baseTX — set 1000baseTX operation over twisted pair. this is only available for SK-982x series adapters with 1000baseT ports. both full-duplex and half-duplex modes are supported.
  • 1000baseSX — set 1000Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet) operation. both full-duplex and half-duplex modes are supported.

🎀 media options the sk driver supports

  • full-duplex — force full duplex operation.
  • half-duplex — force half duplex operation.

for more information on configuring this device, see ifconfig(8). iykyk. 🫶

👑 HARDWARE 👑

adapters supported by the sk driver include, and yes we're listing all of them because every single one deserves their moment:

  • 3Com 3C940 single port, 1000baseT adapter
  • 3Com 3C2000-T single port, 1000baseT adapter
  • Belkin F5D5005 single port, 1000baseT adapter
  • D-Link DGE-530T single port, 1000baseT adapter
  • Linksys (revision 2) single port, 1000baseT adapter
  • SK-9521 SK-NET GE-T single port, 1000baseT adapter
  • SK-9821 SK-NET GE-T single port, 1000baseT adapter
  • SK-9822 SK-NET GE-T dual port, 1000baseT adapter
  • SK-9841 SK-NET GE-LX single port, single mode fiber adapter
  • SK-9842 SK-NET GE-LX dual port, single mode fiber adapter
  • SK-9843 SK-NET GE-SX single port, multimode fiber adapter
  • SK-9844 SK-NET GE-SX dual port, multimode fiber adapter
  • SMC 9452TX single port, 1000baseT adapter

a whole lineup. 💀✨

🦋 LOADER TUNABLES 🦋

tunables can be set at the loader(8) prompt before booting the kernel or stored in loader.conf(5). your choice bestie.

  • hw.skc.jumbo_disable — disable jumbo frame support. systems with less memory can set it to a non-zero value to save memory. the default value is 0.

⭐ SYSCTL VARIABLES ⭐

the following variable is available as both a sysctl(8) variable and a loader(8) tunable:

  • dev.skc.%d.int_mod — this variable controls interrupt moderation. the accepted range is 10 to 10000. the default value is 100 microseconds. and heads up 🫶 — the interface has to be brought down and up again before a change takes effect. no cap.

💀 DIAGNOSTICS 💀

these are the messages you might see, and what they mean. don't panic (okay maybe panic a little for the fatal ones):

  • sk%d: couldn't map memory — a fatal initialization error has occurred.
  • sk%d: couldn't map ports — a fatal initialization error has occurred.
  • sk%d: couldn't map interrupt — a fatal initialization error has occurred.
  • sk%d: no memory for softc struct! — the driver failed to allocate memory for per-device instance information during initialization.
  • sk%d: failed to enable memory mapping! — the driver failed to initialize PCI shared memory mapping. this might happen if the card is not in a bus-master slot.
  • sk%d: no memory for jumbo buffers! — the driver failed to allocate memory for jumbo frames during initialization.
  • sk%d: watchdog timeout — the device has stopped responding to the network, or there is a problem with the network connection (cable). check ur cable bestie 😭

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

altq(4), arp(4), miibus(4), netintro(4), ng_ether(4), vlan(4), ifconfig(8)

also these absolute icons of documentation:

🧚 HISTORY 🧚

the sk device driver first appeared in FreeBSD 3.0. vintage. a classic. we stan a legacy icon. 👑

🍓 AUTHORS 🍓

the sk driver was written by Bill Paul <wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu>. thank u king 🫶✨

and that's the whole page bestie — sourced from the Debian manual, dated August 29, 2012 (yes, a 2012 baby, still serving 💅). go forth and configure ur gigabit ethernet responsibly. mwah. 🎀💖
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