1 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
3 # Parallel Line Internet Protocol (PLIP) network device configuration
7 tristate "PLIP (parallel port) support"
10 PLIP (Parallel Line Internet Protocol) is used to create a
11 reasonably fast mini network consisting of two (or, rarely, more)
12 local machines. A PLIP link from a Linux box is a popular means to
13 install a Linux distribution on a machine which doesn't have a
14 CD-ROM drive (a minimal system has to be transferred with floppies
15 first). The kernels on both machines need to have this PLIP option
16 enabled for this to work.
18 The PLIP driver has two modes, mode 0 and mode 1. The parallel
19 ports (the connectors at the computers with 25 holes) are connected
20 with "null printer" or "Turbo Laplink" cables which can transmit 4
21 bits at a time (mode 0) or with special PLIP cables, to be used on
22 bidirectional parallel ports only, which can transmit 8 bits at a
23 time (mode 1); you can find the wiring of these cables in
24 <file:Documentation/networking/PLIP.txt>. The cables can be up to
25 15m long. Mode 0 works also if one of the machines runs DOS/Windows
26 and has some PLIP software installed, e.g. the Crynwr PLIP packet
27 driver (<http://oak.oakland.edu/simtel.net/msdos/pktdrvr-pre.html>)
28 and winsock or NCSA's telnet.
30 If you want to use PLIP, say Y and read the PLIP mini-HOWTO as well
31 as the NET-3-HOWTO, both available from
32 <http://www.tldp.org/docs.html#howto>. Note that the PLIP
33 protocol has been changed and this PLIP driver won't work together
34 with the PLIP support in Linux versions 1.0.x. This option enlarges
35 your kernel by about 8 KB.
37 To compile this driver as a module, choose M here. The module
38 will be called plip. If unsure, say Y or M, in case you buy