XE(4)

💖 XE(4) — the Xircom PCMCIA Ethernet device driver 💖

okay bestie, so this is the manual page for xe, from the Kernel Interfaces Manual section 4. it's giving vintage PCMCIA realness and honestly? iconic. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

xe — Xircom PCMCIA Ethernet device driver

so basically, xe is the driver that talks to your Xircom PCMCIA Ethernet cards. that's the whole vibe. 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

want this driver baked right into your kernel? no prob. drop this line into your kernel configuration file:

device xe

or, if you'd rather load it as a module at boot time (so much more lowkey), put this into loader.conf(5):

if_xe_load="YES"

pick your fighter, both work 💅

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✨ DEPRECATION NOTICE ✨

🚨 okay listen up because this is IMPORTANT: the xe driver is not present in FreeBSD 13.0 and later. it's gone, bestie, it has left the chat. if you need the details, go read https://github.com/freebsd/fcp/blob/master/fcp-0101.md for more information. 😭

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so the xe driver supports PCMCIA Ethernet adapters based on Xircom CE2- and CE3-class hardware. that includes stuff made by Xircom itself plus a whole bunch of OEM manufacturers doing their own version. slay for variety. 🌈

🙈 but here's the thing — please note that xe only supports PCMCIA cards and their Ethernet functions. it does NOT support the on-board modem device that lives on some versions of those Ethernet/modem combo cards. and specifically? Xircom RealPort2 cards are not supported by this driver. not even a little bit. 💀

the xe driver supports these media types:

• autoselect — let it pick the media type and options for you, main character energy, it knows what it's doing.
• 10Base2/BNC — 10Mbps operation on a BNC coaxial connector.
• 10BaseT/UTP — 10Mbps operation on a RJ-45 connector.
• 100BaseTX — 100Mbps operation. zoom zoom. 🔥

and a lil note because details matter: 100BaseTX operation is not available on CE2-class cards, while the 10Base2/BNC mode is only available on CE2-class cards. also, full-duplex operation is currently not supported. sorry bestie, half-duplex only. 😔

want more on configuring network interface devices? go see ifconfig(8). 💖

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✨ HARDWARE ✨

here's the guest list — the xe driver supports these cards:

• Xircom CreditCard Ethernet (PS-CE2-10)
• Xircom CreditCard Ethernet + Modem 28 (PS-CEM-28)
• Xircom CreditCard Ethernet + Modem 33 (CEM33)
• Xircom CreditCard 10/100 (CE3, CE3B)
• Xircom CreditCard Ethernet 10/100 + Modem 56 (CEM56)
• Xircom RealPort Ethernet 10 (RE10)
• Xircom RealPort Ethernet 10/100 (RE100)
• Xircom RealPort Ethernet 10/100 + Modem 56 (REM56, REM56G)
• Accton Fast EtherCard-16 (EN2226)
• Compaq Microcom CPQ550 Ethernet/Modem PC Card
• Compaq Netelligent 10/100 PC Card (CPQ-10/100)
• Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 PC Card Mobile Adapter 16 (Pro/100 M16A)
• Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 LAN/Modem PC Card Adapter (Pro/100 M16B)

and other similar devices using the same hardware may also be supported — so if yours is a cousin of one of these, it might just work. 🦋

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✨ DIAGNOSTICS ✨

when things go sideways, here's what the driver might yell at you:

• xe%d: Cannot allocate ioport
• xe%d: Cannot allocate irq

— these mean a fatal initialization error happened while it was trying to allocate system resources for the card. 😭

• xe%d: Unable to fix your %s combo card

— a fatal initialization error occurred while attempting to attach an Ethernet/modem combo card.

• xe%d: watchdog timeout: resetting card

— the card failed to generate an interrupt acknowledging a transmitted packet. this may indicate a PCMCIA configuration problem. 👀

• xe%d: no carrier

— the card has lost all contact with the network. this usually indicates a cable problem. check your cable bestie, fr fr. 🔌

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✨ SEE ALSO ✨

• pccard(4)
• ifconfig(8)

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✨ HISTORY ✨

the xe driver first appeared in FreeBSD 3.3. a true OG. 👑

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✨ AUTHORS ✨

the xe device driver was written by Scott Mitchell <rsm@FreeBSD.org>. 💖

this manual page was written by Scott Mitchell <rsm@FreeBSD.org>, and Tom Rhodes <trhodes@FreeBSD.org>. iconic duo behavior. 🫶

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✨ BUGS ✨

• Supported devices will fail to attach on some machines using the NEWCARD PC Card framework. 💀
• Automatic media selection is usually unreliable. so maybe don't trust it with your whole heart. 🙈

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! no cap, you now know everything this manpage knows. ✨🌸

Debian · October 24 2018 — mwah, that's a wrap on XE(4) 💅🎀