---
name: "ste"
section: "4"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ste"
---

# ste(4)

Sundance Technologies ST201 10/100 Ethernet device

## NAME

**ste** – Sundance Technologies ST201 10/100 Ethernet device

## SYNOPSIS

**ste\* at pci?**

## DESCRIPTION

The **ste** driver provides support for PCI Ethernet adapters and embedded controllers based on the Sundance Technologies ST201 PCI Fast Ethernet controller chip. This includes:

- D-Link DFE-550TX

- D-Link DFE-580TX

- Encore ENL832-TX-ICNT 10/100 M PCI

The Sundance ST201 uses bus master DMA and is designed to be a 3Com EtherLink XL work-alike. It uses the same DMA descriptor structure and is very similar in operation, however its register layout is different. The ST201 has a 64-bit multicast hash filter and a single perfect filter entry for the station address. It supports both 10 and 100Mbps speeds in either full or half duplex using an MII transceiver.

The **ste** driver supports the following media types:

- autoselect

  Enable autoselection of the media type and options. The user can manually override the autoselected mode by adding media options to the [hostname.if(5)](/hostname.if/5.md) file.

- 10baseT

  Set 10Mbps operation. The *mediaopt* option can also be used to select either *full-duplex* or *half-duplex* modes.

- 100baseTX

  Set 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet) operation. The *mediaopt* option can also be used to select either *full-duplex* or *half-duplex* modes.

The **ste** driver supports the following media options:

- full-duplex

  Force full duplex operation.

- half-duplex

  Force half duplex operation.

For more information on configuring this device, see [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md).

## DIAGNOSTICS

- ste0: couldn't map ports/memory

  A fatal initialization error has occurred.

- ste0: couldn't map interrupt

  A fatal initialization error has occurred.

- ste0: watchdog timeout

  The device has stopped responding to the network, or there is a problem with the network connection (cable).

- ste0: no memory for rx list

  The driver failed to allocate an mbuf for the receiver ring.

- ste0: no memory for tx list

  The driver failed to allocate an mbuf for the transmitter ring when allocating a pad buffer or collapsing an mbuf chain into a cluster.

## SEE ALSO

[arp(4)](/arp/4.md), [ifmedia(4)](/ifmedia/4.md), [intro(4)](/intro/4.md), [netintro(4)](/netintro/4.md), [pci(4)](/pci/4.md), [hostname.if(5)](/hostname.if/5.md), [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md) *Sundance ST201 data sheet*.

## HISTORY

The **ste** device driver first appeared in FreeBSD 3.0. OpenBSD support was added in OpenBSD 2.7.

## AUTHORS

The **ste** driver was written by Bill Paul ⟨*wpaul@ee.columbia.edu*⟩ and ported to OpenBSD by Aaron Campbell ⟨*aaron@openbsd.org*⟩.