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1. Introduction

Etherboot is a package for creating ROM images that can download code over the network to be executed on an x86 computer. Typically the computer is diskless and the code is Linux, but these are not the only possibilities. The code uses the bootp, tftp and NFS Internet Protocols.

1.1 What hardware is supported?

Etherboot supports the following network hardware (in no particular order): 3c503, 3c507, 3c509, 3c905b, NE1000, NE2000 (also the PCI cards, with the nepci driver), WD8003, WD8013, SMC8216/8416, Lance based cards such as the NE2100 and NI6510 (also the PCI Lance cards), Crystal CS89x0, Intel EtherExpress Pro, SMC 83c170 EPIC/100, SMC9000, Realtek 8139, NI5210, Schneider and Koch G16, and Tiara (Fujitsu Lancard). All Etherboot drivers are autoprobing, which means they attempt to detect the hardware addresses at which the card is installed. It's fairly easy to write a driver if you are familiar with Ethernet hardware interfacing. Please contact me for more information if you are interested in doing so or are interested in having a driver written.

1.2 Availability of this document

This document and related documents are also kept online at the Etherboot Home Page. This will in general have the latest distributions and documentation.

For a talk/tutorial type introduction to what Etherboot does and how to set it up, see my SLUG talk. You may wish to review this before reading further.

An older version of this README, which is now out of date, can be accessed via this link.

1.3 Getting help

There is a mailing list for all netbooting related issues. To subscribe follow the instructions on the Etherboot home page.

With the exception of the following section, the information on diskless booting is not specific to Etherboot but can be used for the Netboot package also.


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