This section describes the Boot Agent driver for the Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter and contains the following information:
Overview
The Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter has PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) and RPL (Remote Program Load) support. Multi-Boot Agent (MBA) is a software module that allows your networked computer to boot with the images provided by remote servers across the network. The Broadcom MBA driver complies with the PXE-2.1 specification and is released with both monolithic and split binary images. This provides flexibility to users on different environments where the motherboard may or may not have built-in base-code.
MBA operates in a client/server environment. A network consists of one or more boot servers that provide boot images to multiple computers through the network. Broadcom MBA implementation has been tested successfully in the following environments:
-
Linux Red Hat PXE server. Broadcom PXE clients are able to remote-boot and utilize network resources (NFS mount, etc ) and to do Linux installation. In the case of a remote boot, the Linux universal driver binds seamlessly with the Broadcom UNDI (Universal Network Driver Interface) and provides a network interface in the Linux remote-booted client environment.
-
Microsoft Windows 2000. Remote Installation Services (RIS). Broadcom PXE clients are able to install Windows 2000 Professional from the network.
-
Intel APITEST. The Broadcom PXE driver passes all API compliance test suites.
-
DOS UNDI. Universal NDIS seamlessly binds with Broadcom UNDI to provide NDIS2 interface to the upper-layer protocol stack. This allows computers to connect to network resources in a DOS environment.
-
3Com® boot server.
-
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Remote Boot Sever.
Client Setup
Setting up MBA client for Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter involves the following steps:
- Select and program the proper MBA image.
- Enable/disable the MBA driver with the provided Broadcom DOS utility.
- Setup the BIOS for the boot order.
Select/Program Proper PXE/MBA Image
PXE/MBA is released with four different images. They are described as follows:
-
B57pxe.bin: This is a monolithic image that consists of both PXE base-code (BC) and UNDI code. This image should be used on the adapter where motherboard doesn't have built-in BC. However, an adapter programmed with this image is still operational in the motherboard's BIOS with built-in BC; the BC on the adapter will not be used.
-
B57undi.bin: This is an UNDI image that consists of UNDI code only (split implementation). This module should be programmed on the adapter where the motherboard's BIOS has built-in BC.
-
B57base.bin: This is a BC image that consists of BC code only (split implementation). This module should be programmed on the motherboard's BIOS.
- b57mba.nic: This is a monolithic image that consists of both base-code (BC)
and UNDI code. This image is intended for
NIC application. This image only supports PXE and RPL.
The PXE/MBA image can be programmed to the adapter's serial EEPROM or the motherboard's BIOS LAN On Motherboard (LOM). Broadcom provides a DOS utility (b57util) to program this image to the serial EEPROM. For the adapter, the PXE image is programmed into the EEPROM during the manufacturing process.
To program monolithic image to the adapter, perform the following: Boot up into DOS. Assume that the Broadcom software CD is in drive D.
d:\dos\utility
b57util -upgf [devnum|all] [boot|base|pxe|undi|rpl] [path]
where:
devnum= specific device(s) number (0,1,2,...) to be programmed
or
all= All device(s) found in the system to be programmed
path= Path of the image to be programmed
boot= Boot code portion of the eeprom. bin - eeprom.bin image
base= b57base.bin - Base driver image
pxe= b57pxe.bin - Monolithic driver image
undi= b57undi.bin - UNDI driver image
rpl=b57mba.nic - Monolithic driver image, this image supports PXE and RPL
Any combinations of
This process takes from 1 to 5 minutes depending on the
image you choose or type of NVRAM (serial EEPROM or flash).
If the Broadcom adapter is on the motherboard (LOM), the MBA needs to be installed as a part of a motherboard BIOS code upgrade. Contact the motherboard manufacturer to program (flash) MBA images to the motherboard's BIOS.
Enable/Disable
MBA is disabled by default. To enable MBA, boot up into DOS. This is assuming that the Broadcom software CD is in drive D.
d:\DOS\utility
b57util -pxee [devnum|all]
or
b57util -mbae [devnum|all]
where:
devnum= specific device(s) number (0,1,2,...) to be programmed
or
all= All device(s) found in the system to be programmed
To disable MBA, perform the following:
d:\DOS\utility
b57util -pxed [devnum|all]
or
b57util -mbad [devnum|all]
where:
devnum= specific device(s) number (0,1,2,...) to be programmed
or
all= All device(s) found in the system to be programmed
To enable boot agent with optionally selected boot agent, perform the following:
d:\DOS\utility
b57util -mbae devnum[pxe|rpl]
where:
devnum= specific device(s) number (0,1,2,...) to be programmed
or
all= All device(s) found in the system to be programmed
Boot Method
By default, MBA will detect if the BIOS supports BBS (BIOS Boot Specification). If the BIOS supports BBS, then MBA will use BBS as the boot method. If it does not support BBS, then it will use Int18h instead. However, for some legacy machines equipped with an old BIOS, this may not work. In this case, users must force MBA to use Int18h, Int19h, or BBS as the boot method.
To specify the boot method, press the following keys when you see the Broadcom startup banner:
________________________________
Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet Boot Agent 1.06
Copyright (c) 2000 Broadcom Corporation
All rights reserved
____________________________________
- For Int18h : Ctrl + F8
- For Int19h : Ctrl + F9
- For BBS : Ctrl + F10
MBA Speed
By default, MBA is set to auto-negotiate. However, MBA can be forced to a specific speed. To do this, place the Broadcom software CD in the CD drive (i.e., drive D) and boot up into DOS.
d:\DOS\utility
b57util -pxes devnum [auto | 10h | 10f | 100h | 100f]
or
b57util -mbas devnum [auto | 10h | 10f | 100h | 100f]
where:
devnum= specific device(s) number (0,1,2,...) to be programmed
or
all= All device(s) found in the system to be programmed
Setup BIOS
To boot from the network with MBA, make MBA the first bootable
device under BIOS. This procedure depends on server BIOS implementation. Please
refer to the server's user manual.
Server Setup
Windows 2000
The current version of Windows 2000 does not include a network driver for the Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. To do remote installation with PXE, include a network driver for the Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter as a part of the client's installation image on the server. Please refer to Microsoft Article ID Q246184 - "How to Add Third-Party OEM Network Adapters to RIS Installations."
DOS UNDI/APITEST
To boot in DOS and connect to a network for the DOS environment, download the Intel® PXE PDK from the Intel Web site. This PXE PDK comes with a TFTP/ProxyDHCP/Boot server. The PXE PDK can be downloaded from Intel at http://developer.intel.com/ial/WfM/tools/pxe/index.htm.
Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux 6.2 (or higher) distribution has PXE server support. It allows users to do a complete Linux installation over the network. Distribution also comes with boot images - boot kernel (vmlinuz) and initial ram disk (initrd). These two images can be found on the CD disk#1:
/misc/src/trees/boot/vmlinux
/misc/src/trees/initrd-network.img
Please refer to Red Hat documentation for how to install PXE server on Linux.
Initrd.img distributed with Red Hat 6.2 does not have a Linux network driver for the Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. Similarly, Red Hat 7.0 is also distributed with boot images. They can be found in CD disk#1:
/images/pxeboot/vmlinux
/images/pxeboot/initrd.img
In this version, it prompts you to insert a driver disk for drivers that are not part of the standard distribution. You can create a driver disk for the Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter from the image distributed with the Broadcom Software CD.
Intel has also created patches to the Linux PXE server code to allow clients to do a remote boot. You can download these patches from: http://developer.intel.com/ial/WfM/tools/pxesdk20linux/index.htm.
A remote boot does not require a standard Linux network driver for the Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. After the PXE client downloads the Linux kernel and initial ram disk, the Linux universal driver that came with the Linux distribution will bind with the UNDI code of the PXE to form a Linux network driver.
Windows NT 4.0 Remoteboot Server
For instructions on setting up the Windows NT 4.0 Remoteboot Server, refer to Remoteboot (Chapter 15) from the Microsoft TechNet website.