Question for ethtool experts

[Daniel Lemus]

How does ethtool configure pause frames? Documentation shows that -A
is used to change the pause frames as in "ethtool -A eth0 rx on".
However, turning autonegotiation on or off is also an option when
using -A. As far as I know, autonegotiation has little to do with
pause frames. (Also, it appears to be a requirement to turn
autonegotiate off to even be able to turn RX and TX off.)

One other doubt I have about this being the way to turn pause frames
on or off is the lack of options such as the pause time requested when
using pause frames.

So my question is, does using "ethtool -A eth0 rx on" really turn
pause frames on?

Also, is there a way to configure pause frames programmatically, i.e.,
in C code?

[Rick Jones]

Daniel Lemus <dale...@gmail.com> wrote:
> How does ethtool configure pause frames? Documentation shows that -A
> is used to change the pause frames as in "ethtool -A eth0 rx on".
> However, turning autonegotiation on or off is also an option when
> using -A. As far as I know, autonegotiation has little to do with
> pause frames. (Also, it appears to be a requirement to turn
> autonegotiate off to even be able to turn RX and TX off.)

Perhaps that autonegotiate is not the one you are thinking of?
Particularly since there is another "autoneg" with the -s option?

> One other doubt I have about this being the way to turn pause frames
> on or off is the lack of options such as the pause time requested when
> using pause frames.

> So my question is, does using "ethtool -A eth0 rx on" really turn
> pause frames on?

> Also, is there a way to configure pause frames programmatically, i.e.,
> in C code?

Well, you could issue the same calls into the kernel/stack as ethtool
:)

rick jones
--
It is not a question of half full or empty - the glass has a leak.
The real question is "Can it be patched?"
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway... :)
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...