1MII-TOOL(8) Linux System Administrator's Manual MII-TOOL(8)
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6 mii-tool - view, manipulate media-independent interface status
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10 mii-tool [-v, --verbose] [-V, --version] [-R, --reset] [-r, --restart]
11 [-w, --watch] [-l, --log] [-A, --advertise=media,...] [-F,
12 --force=media] [-p, --phy=addr] interface ...
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16 This program is obsolete. For replacement check ethtool.
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20 This utility checks or sets the status of a network interface's Media
21 Independent Interface (MII) unit. Most fast ethernet adapters use an
22 MII to autonegotiate link speed and duplex setting.
23 Most intelligent network devices use an autonegotiation protocol to
25 communicate what media technologies they support, and then select the
26 fastest mutually supported media technology. The -A or --advertise
27 options can be used to tell the MII to only advertise a subset of its
28 capabilities. Some passive devices, such as single-speed hubs, are
29 unable to autonegotiate. To handle such devices, the MII protocol also
30 allows for establishing a link by simply detecting either a 10baseT or
31 100baseT link beat. The -F or --force options can be used to force the
32 MII to operate in one mode, instead of autonegotiating. The -A and -F
33 options are mutually exclusive.
34 The default short output reports the negotiated link speed and link
36 status for each interface.
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39 -v, --verbose
40 Display more detailed MII status information. If used twice,
41 also display raw MII register contents.
42 Alert: If used three times, will force reading all MII regis‐
43 ters, including non standard ones. It's not guaranteed any valid
44 answer from PHY while PHY communication can even hang. With
45 driver e1000e will fail while reading register 0x07.
46 -V, --version
48 Display program version information.
49 -R, --reset
51 Reset the MII to its default configuration.
52 -r, --restart
54 Restart autonegotiation.
55 -w, --watch
57 Watch interface(s) and report changes in link status. The MII
58 interfaces are polled at one second intervals.
59 -l, --log
61 Used with -w, records link status changes in the system log
62 instead of printing on standard output.
63 -F media, --force=media
65 Disable autonegotiation, and force the MII to either 100baseTx-
66 FD, 100baseTx-HD, 10baseT-FD, or 10baseT-HD operation.
67 -A media,..., --advertise=media,...
69 Enable and restart autonegotiation, and advertise only the spec‐
70 ified media technologies. Multiple technologies should be sepa‐
71 rated by commas. Valid media are 100baseT4, 100baseTx-FD,
72 100baseTx-HD, 10baseT-FD, and 10baseT-HD.
73 -p addr, --phy=addr
75 Override the MII address provided by kernel with value addr.
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79 SIOCGMIIPHY on 'eth?' failed: Invalid argument
80 If the interface is not running (up), kernel will refuse to
81 report its link state.
82 SIOCGMIIPHY on 'eth?' failed: Operation not permitted
84 Most kernels restrict access to root.
85 SIOCGMIIPHY on 'eth?' failed: No such device
87 This error is shown, if the kernel does not know about the named
88 device.
89 SIOCGMIIPHY on 'eth?' failed: Operation not supported
91 The interface in question does not support MII queries. Most
92 likely, it does not have MII transceivers, at all.
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96 ethtool(8)
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100 David Hinds - dhinds@pcmcia.sourceforge.org
101 Donald Becker - becker@scyld.com
102 Bernd Eckenfels - net-tools@lina.inka.de
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106 http://net-tools.sourceforge.net - Homepage of the net-tools project
107net-tools 2013-02-15 MII-TOOL(8)