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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
- Path: sparky!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!sgiblab!sgigate!sgi!rhyolite!vjs
- From: vjs@rhyolite.wpd.sgi.com (Vernon Schryver)
- Subject: Re: FAQ How to obtain my ethernet address?
- Message-ID: <s9gp934@rhyolite.wpd.sgi.com>
- Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Mountain View, CA
- References: <34037@adm.brl.mil> <1du9g1INNj2o@fnnews.fnal.gov>
- Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 20:34:25 GMT
- Lines: 42
-
- In article <1du9g1INNj2o@fnnews.fnal.gov>, shah@fnsony.fnal.gov (Hemant Shah) writes:
- > In article <34037@adm.brl.mil>, HACK@fcrfv2.ncifcrf.gov writes:
- > |> I know it's been recently asked but I can't find my notes . . .
- > |>
- > |> What is the command to obtain my Ethernet address?
- > |>
- > |> Thanks.
- > |>
- > |> Dallas C. Hack
- > |> hack@fcrfv1.ncifcrf.gov
- >
- > Here's a little shell script I use:
- > ---------------- 8< ------- Begin shell script ---------- 8< -------------
- > #!/bin/sh
- > # On SGI systems, sysinfo command gives 2 different outputs depending on
- > # the model. It display 4 rows of numbers. On some systems it give last 4
- > # bytes of the ethernet address and rest of the fields are "00", in that
- > # case prepend "08:00" which identifies this system as SGI.
- > # On other systems it displays 4 rows of numbers (not all are "00")
- > # in this case first alternate 6 set of numbers give full ethernet address
- > # of the system...
-
-
- Using sysinfo to get the ethernet address is a Bad Idea, at least with current
- versions of IRIX.
-
- If SGI ever gets its act together for system ID's after these last 6+
- years of trying, the already very tenuous connection between the sysid
- and the ethernet address will fade entirely.
-
- As I recall, the main thing that kept ASD platforms relating the
- system ID with the ethernet ID was downward compatibility. Future
- systems do not have that constraint.
-
-
- Instead, use `netstat -ina`. It is supposed to return the MAC address
- and does. With netsetat, you don't have to make fiddles about the
- relation, if any, between the system ID and any of the network MAC
- addresses.
-
-
- Vernon Schryver, vjs@sgi.com
-