CTAU(4)

📦 version 12.2, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ CTAU(4) — the Cronyx Tau WAN adapter tea ✨

okay bestie sit DOWN because we're talking about ctau, the driver for synchronous Cronyx Tau WAN adapters 💖 — and yeah it's from the i386 Kernel Interfaces Manual, vintage vibes, we love her, we're gonna get into it. 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

ctau — the driver that runs your synchronous Cronyx Tau WAN adapters. that's her whole job and she does it. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

device ctau

additional options you can sprinkle in like glitter ✨:

device sppp
options NETGRAPH
options NETGRAPH_CRONYX

and then over in /boot/device.hints:

hint.ctau.0.at="isa"
hint.ctau.0.port="0x240"
hint.ctau.0.irq="15"
hint.ctau.0.drq="7"

🚨 DEPRECATION NOTICE 🚨

okay so this is the part where I have to be the bearer of bad news 😭 — the ctau driver is not present in FreeBSD 13.0 and later. she's gone girl. she said goodbye. if you're on 13.0+ she is simply not in the building, no cap. 💀

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so the ctau driver needs either sppp(4) or netgraph(4) — she does not fly solo, she needs a friend. 🧚 which one she picks is entirely decided by the NETGRAPH_CRONYX option:

  • if NETGRAPH_CRONYX is in your kernel config file, ctau gets compiled with netgraph(4) support. 🦋
  • otherwise? she gets compiled with sppp(4) support. periodt.

now, the base I/O port address you put in /boot/device.hints has to match the port address set by the jumpers on the board — like, this is not a suggestion, it's a matching-set situation, they have to agree. 👑 meanwhile the DMA I/O channel and interrupt request numbers get configured by software at adapter initialization (software handles those, you don't, she's got it).

the legal values, memorized, no skipping 🎀:

Port: 0x200, 0x220, 0x240, 0x260, 0x280, 0x2a0, 0x2c0, 0x2e0, 0x300, 0x320, 0x340, 0x360, 0x380, 0x3a0, 0x3c0, 0x3e0

IRQ: 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15

DMA: 5, 6, 7

and yes she supports autodetection ✨ but — and I need you to hear me on this — as for all non-PNP hardware, using autodetection could lead to some potential problems with other devices during the hardware detection process. it's giving chaos at the group hangout. it is always better to specify hardware resources manually. always. trust. 🙈

for the whole story on configuring your ctau adapter, go read sconfig(8). she's the one with the details. 💖

🔥 HARDWARE 🔥

the ctau driver supports these cards, and they all ate:

  • Cronyx Tau (RS-232/V.35)
  • Cronyx Tau/R (RS-530/RS-449)
  • Cronyx Tau/E1 (fractional E1)
  • Cronyx Tau/G703 (unframed E1)

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

cp(4), cx(4), sppp(4), ifconfig(8), sconfig(8), spppcontrol(8)

📜 HISTORY 📜

the ctau driver was added in FreeBSD 5.3 and FreeBSD 4.10 — a dual-era debut, main character energy fr fr. 💅 and if you want the ctau driver for previous versions of FreeBSD, she's available from http://www.cronyx.ru/. go get her. 🌈

reminder bestie: ctau is not in FreeBSD 13.0 and later. if you're on an old box and vibing with this driver, live your truth, but know she's a legacy icon. 👑

and that's the whole page, my love 💖 this one came out of the Debian crew and it's dated March 2, 2020 — yes, a whole Debian situation, that's where this doc's source and version come from, and honestly? iconic of them to keep her documented. 🎀 bye bye now, go match your jumpers. 🦋

📦 where this page comes from