How do MAC addresses get burned into devices during manufacturing?Shorthand MAC addressesWhat is this...
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How do MAC addresses get burned into devices during manufacturing?
Shorthand MAC addressesWhat is this device?Devices with user re-writable MAC addressesWhy are not all MAC addresses randomly assigned?Why are Ethernet/MAC addresses needed?How is uniqueness of MAC addresses enforced?Finding MAC addresses of devices previously plugged into a computerMultiple Devices, One Ethernet Jack, MAC FilteringWorking around IP Conflicts with ARP meddling or custom TCP/IP stackEthernet connection - device does not exist
I'm interested in the steps necessary to manufacture an IP-capable device - say an Ethernet card. Manufacturing the hardware is pretty straight forward since all of the devices are exactly the same and there are well-established ways to do this. Next you load up any firmware the device needs - again pretty straight forward as all of the devices can be treated identically.
But now you have an issue: each card needs to have its unique MAC address burned into it. I'm interested in whether the cost of doing this custom process relative to the other things (such as simply loading in firmware) is higher because it's "custom"? I'd imagine that you could simply do this by having a "burner" simply burn the next number in the sequence (for that vendor's unique prefix) to the card.
Are things as simple as that and am I just overthinking things here? Is assigning a MAC address a very very low cost process? Are there any other customizations that your typical device will need done to it?
ethernet burning mac-address
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
add a comment |
I'm interested in the steps necessary to manufacture an IP-capable device - say an Ethernet card. Manufacturing the hardware is pretty straight forward since all of the devices are exactly the same and there are well-established ways to do this. Next you load up any firmware the device needs - again pretty straight forward as all of the devices can be treated identically.
But now you have an issue: each card needs to have its unique MAC address burned into it. I'm interested in whether the cost of doing this custom process relative to the other things (such as simply loading in firmware) is higher because it's "custom"? I'd imagine that you could simply do this by having a "burner" simply burn the next number in the sequence (for that vendor's unique prefix) to the card.
Are things as simple as that and am I just overthinking things here? Is assigning a MAC address a very very low cost process? Are there any other customizations that your typical device will need done to it?
ethernet burning mac-address
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
There's no "burn" operation. That's a chemical reaction induced by lasers on writable optical media. One common method I'm aware of is storing board specifc data such as MAC address and serial number in a serial EEPROM, which are low-pin count, low-capacity (<128 Kbits), low-cost storage devices. These chips are often programmed in bulk (using a chip "progammer" device) and then installed on the boards.
– sawdust
Oct 18 '14 at 5:15
Yeah, I understand that there's a difference between writing optical media and burning a PROM. So I guess that means that large numbers of chips can be programmed at low cost and then simply placed on a board as just another component. 128 Kbits seems like an awful lot of space for a MAC address and serial number. Is anything else typically written to these devices?
– Sander Smith
Oct 18 '14 at 23:19
The less than 128 Kbit number was just a number for typical serial EEPROM size. This semi-custom chip has 1.5Kbit capacity.
– sawdust
Oct 20 '14 at 1:03
I did notice the "less than", but even so, 1.5K is wayyyyyy more space than really necessary. Is there anything else typically written to these chips, or do they end up empty except for a 48 (or sometimes 64) bit address?
– Sander Smith
Oct 20 '14 at 14:04
I had a client whose board had a 1 Kbit serial EEPROM for storing the MAC address. That's all that they wanted stored there. Not even a CRC32 or checksum to validate the data. Another client's board stored the MAC address in the U-Boot environment in NAND Flash.
– sawdust
Oct 22 '14 at 0:36
add a comment |
I'm interested in the steps necessary to manufacture an IP-capable device - say an Ethernet card. Manufacturing the hardware is pretty straight forward since all of the devices are exactly the same and there are well-established ways to do this. Next you load up any firmware the device needs - again pretty straight forward as all of the devices can be treated identically.
But now you have an issue: each card needs to have its unique MAC address burned into it. I'm interested in whether the cost of doing this custom process relative to the other things (such as simply loading in firmware) is higher because it's "custom"? I'd imagine that you could simply do this by having a "burner" simply burn the next number in the sequence (for that vendor's unique prefix) to the card.
Are things as simple as that and am I just overthinking things here? Is assigning a MAC address a very very low cost process? Are there any other customizations that your typical device will need done to it?
ethernet burning mac-address
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
I'm interested in the steps necessary to manufacture an IP-capable device - say an Ethernet card. Manufacturing the hardware is pretty straight forward since all of the devices are exactly the same and there are well-established ways to do this. Next you load up any firmware the device needs - again pretty straight forward as all of the devices can be treated identically.
But now you have an issue: each card needs to have its unique MAC address burned into it. I'm interested in whether the cost of doing this custom process relative to the other things (such as simply loading in firmware) is higher because it's "custom"? I'd imagine that you could simply do this by having a "burner" simply burn the next number in the sequence (for that vendor's unique prefix) to the card.
Are things as simple as that and am I just overthinking things here? Is assigning a MAC address a very very low cost process? Are there any other customizations that your typical device will need done to it?
ethernet burning mac-address
ethernet burning mac-address
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
asked Oct 18 '14 at 2:46
Sander SmithSander Smith
1163
1163
There's no "burn" operation. That's a chemical reaction induced by lasers on writable optical media. One common method I'm aware of is storing board specifc data such as MAC address and serial number in a serial EEPROM, which are low-pin count, low-capacity (<128 Kbits), low-cost storage devices. These chips are often programmed in bulk (using a chip "progammer" device) and then installed on the boards.
– sawdust
Oct 18 '14 at 5:15
Yeah, I understand that there's a difference between writing optical media and burning a PROM. So I guess that means that large numbers of chips can be programmed at low cost and then simply placed on a board as just another component. 128 Kbits seems like an awful lot of space for a MAC address and serial number. Is anything else typically written to these devices?
– Sander Smith
Oct 18 '14 at 23:19
The less than 128 Kbit number was just a number for typical serial EEPROM size. This semi-custom chip has 1.5Kbit capacity.
– sawdust
Oct 20 '14 at 1:03
I did notice the "less than", but even so, 1.5K is wayyyyyy more space than really necessary. Is there anything else typically written to these chips, or do they end up empty except for a 48 (or sometimes 64) bit address?
– Sander Smith
Oct 20 '14 at 14:04
I had a client whose board had a 1 Kbit serial EEPROM for storing the MAC address. That's all that they wanted stored there. Not even a CRC32 or checksum to validate the data. Another client's board stored the MAC address in the U-Boot environment in NAND Flash.
– sawdust
Oct 22 '14 at 0:36
add a comment |
There's no "burn" operation. That's a chemical reaction induced by lasers on writable optical media. One common method I'm aware of is storing board specifc data such as MAC address and serial number in a serial EEPROM, which are low-pin count, low-capacity (<128 Kbits), low-cost storage devices. These chips are often programmed in bulk (using a chip "progammer" device) and then installed on the boards.
– sawdust
Oct 18 '14 at 5:15
Yeah, I understand that there's a difference between writing optical media and burning a PROM. So I guess that means that large numbers of chips can be programmed at low cost and then simply placed on a board as just another component. 128 Kbits seems like an awful lot of space for a MAC address and serial number. Is anything else typically written to these devices?
– Sander Smith
Oct 18 '14 at 23:19
The less than 128 Kbit number was just a number for typical serial EEPROM size. This semi-custom chip has 1.5Kbit capacity.
– sawdust
Oct 20 '14 at 1:03
I did notice the "less than", but even so, 1.5K is wayyyyyy more space than really necessary. Is there anything else typically written to these chips, or do they end up empty except for a 48 (or sometimes 64) bit address?
– Sander Smith
Oct 20 '14 at 14:04
I had a client whose board had a 1 Kbit serial EEPROM for storing the MAC address. That's all that they wanted stored there. Not even a CRC32 or checksum to validate the data. Another client's board stored the MAC address in the U-Boot environment in NAND Flash.
– sawdust
Oct 22 '14 at 0:36
There's no "burn" operation. That's a chemical reaction induced by lasers on writable optical media. One common method I'm aware of is storing board specifc data such as MAC address and serial number in a serial EEPROM, which are low-pin count, low-capacity (<128 Kbits), low-cost storage devices. These chips are often programmed in bulk (using a chip "progammer" device) and then installed on the boards.
– sawdust
Oct 18 '14 at 5:15
There's no "burn" operation. That's a chemical reaction induced by lasers on writable optical media. One common method I'm aware of is storing board specifc data such as MAC address and serial number in a serial EEPROM, which are low-pin count, low-capacity (<128 Kbits), low-cost storage devices. These chips are often programmed in bulk (using a chip "progammer" device) and then installed on the boards.
– sawdust
Oct 18 '14 at 5:15
Yeah, I understand that there's a difference between writing optical media and burning a PROM. So I guess that means that large numbers of chips can be programmed at low cost and then simply placed on a board as just another component. 128 Kbits seems like an awful lot of space for a MAC address and serial number. Is anything else typically written to these devices?
– Sander Smith
Oct 18 '14 at 23:19
Yeah, I understand that there's a difference between writing optical media and burning a PROM. So I guess that means that large numbers of chips can be programmed at low cost and then simply placed on a board as just another component. 128 Kbits seems like an awful lot of space for a MAC address and serial number. Is anything else typically written to these devices?
– Sander Smith
Oct 18 '14 at 23:19
The less than 128 Kbit number was just a number for typical serial EEPROM size. This semi-custom chip has 1.5Kbit capacity.
– sawdust
Oct 20 '14 at 1:03
The less than 128 Kbit number was just a number for typical serial EEPROM size. This semi-custom chip has 1.5Kbit capacity.
– sawdust
Oct 20 '14 at 1:03
I did notice the "less than", but even so, 1.5K is wayyyyyy more space than really necessary. Is there anything else typically written to these chips, or do they end up empty except for a 48 (or sometimes 64) bit address?
– Sander Smith
Oct 20 '14 at 14:04
I did notice the "less than", but even so, 1.5K is wayyyyyy more space than really necessary. Is there anything else typically written to these chips, or do they end up empty except for a 48 (or sometimes 64) bit address?
– Sander Smith
Oct 20 '14 at 14:04
I had a client whose board had a 1 Kbit serial EEPROM for storing the MAC address. That's all that they wanted stored there. Not even a CRC32 or checksum to validate the data. Another client's board stored the MAC address in the U-Boot environment in NAND Flash.
– sawdust
Oct 22 '14 at 0:36
I had a client whose board had a 1 Kbit serial EEPROM for storing the MAC address. That's all that they wanted stored there. Not even a CRC32 or checksum to validate the data. Another client's board stored the MAC address in the U-Boot environment in NAND Flash.
– sawdust
Oct 22 '14 at 0:36
add a comment |
1 Answer
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There are these useful but flawed usb to rj45 dongles that have the same MAC addresses and if you need more then one for your, say Rapsberry pi Cluster, you are in trouble. These are USB devices, there must be a way to reflash the EEPROM memory to issue new MAC addresses?
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
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Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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There are these useful but flawed usb to rj45 dongles that have the same MAC addresses and if you need more then one for your, say Rapsberry pi Cluster, you are in trouble. These are USB devices, there must be a way to reflash the EEPROM memory to issue new MAC addresses?
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
New contributor
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
There are these useful but flawed usb to rj45 dongles that have the same MAC addresses and if you need more then one for your, say Rapsberry pi Cluster, you are in trouble. These are USB devices, there must be a way to reflash the EEPROM memory to issue new MAC addresses?
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
New contributor
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
There are these useful but flawed usb to rj45 dongles that have the same MAC addresses and if you need more then one for your, say Rapsberry pi Cluster, you are in trouble. These are USB devices, there must be a way to reflash the EEPROM memory to issue new MAC addresses?
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
New contributor
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
There are these useful but flawed usb to rj45 dongles that have the same MAC addresses and if you need more then one for your, say Rapsberry pi Cluster, you are in trouble. These are USB devices, there must be a way to reflash the EEPROM memory to issue new MAC addresses?
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
New contributor
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
New contributor
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
answered 13 mins ago
Denis KayDenis Kay
1
1
New contributor
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Denis Kay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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There's no "burn" operation. That's a chemical reaction induced by lasers on writable optical media. One common method I'm aware of is storing board specifc data such as MAC address and serial number in a serial EEPROM, which are low-pin count, low-capacity (<128 Kbits), low-cost storage devices. These chips are often programmed in bulk (using a chip "progammer" device) and then installed on the boards.
– sawdust
Oct 18 '14 at 5:15
Yeah, I understand that there's a difference between writing optical media and burning a PROM. So I guess that means that large numbers of chips can be programmed at low cost and then simply placed on a board as just another component. 128 Kbits seems like an awful lot of space for a MAC address and serial number. Is anything else typically written to these devices?
– Sander Smith
Oct 18 '14 at 23:19
The less than 128 Kbit number was just a number for typical serial EEPROM size. This semi-custom chip has 1.5Kbit capacity.
– sawdust
Oct 20 '14 at 1:03
I did notice the "less than", but even so, 1.5K is wayyyyyy more space than really necessary. Is there anything else typically written to these chips, or do they end up empty except for a 48 (or sometimes 64) bit address?
– Sander Smith
Oct 20 '14 at 14:04
I had a client whose board had a 1 Kbit serial EEPROM for storing the MAC address. That's all that they wanted stored there. Not even a CRC32 or checksum to validate the data. Another client's board stored the MAC address in the U-Boot environment in NAND Flash.
– sawdust
Oct 22 '14 at 0:36