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Re: dmfe/tulip kernel module poll


brian m. carlson wrote:

On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 08:21:56PM -0500, Brian Thompson wrote:

I'd like to get some feedback as to whether anyone is actually using
the dmfe Davicom kernel module on sparc for 10/100 ethernet.


I do not at the immediate moment, but I have in the past.  As the
onboard NIC on my Ultra 5 has a poor connection with the Ethernet cable,
I would actually be quite likely to install a dmfe NIC into it.


Since the PCI ID of the UltraAX-i2's onboard ethernet
(1282:9102 - Davicom 9102) matches up with both the dmfe
module and the tulip module, both modules attempt to load and
end up causing the network interface to malfunction.

My question is - is anyone actually using the dmfe kernel module
on sparc and/or would it be ok to set the default to not build the
dmfe kernel module on sparc?


I would object to removing the dmfe module.  If you need to change dmfe
so that it doesn't register for that PCI ID, then I have no problem with
that.



In my opinion that would also be a satisfactory solution. I believe it
would complicate things though for those who need to use the dmfe
module along with that particular PCI ID (possibly DEC alpha users?).
It would be better if we can figure out a way to disable the dmfe
module for that PCI ID on sparc without affecting other architectures.


I presume that the only scenario where anyone would actually be
using the dmfe kernel module on sparc would be if they've installed
a PCI NIC originally intended for x86 machines into their sparc
machine.


Well, PCI isn't "intended" for any particular architecture.  If the
architecture supports PCI, then a PCI NIC is "intended" for that
architecture.

I have a large number of PCI NICs, and I'm pretty sure that I've used
the dmfe module on my Ultra 5 with a third-party NIC.  As long as sparc
supports PCI (which it likely will for the indefinite future), I'd be
opposed to removing the dmfe module.


That's true from an technical electrical perspective but there's also
"supported" NICS and then there are NICS who's support on sparc
was an afterthought. The issue mainly comes into play when trying to
do a "boot net" from OBP, etc...

I'm all for adding and keeping support for as many different NICs
as possible but not when it causes a problem for native on-board
ethernet.

Maybe the solution is somewhere in the middle... Seems the ideal
situation would be for the dmfe kernel module to be built and installed
on sparc by default but not enabled/mapped. That way someone
who does want to use it would only have to make some minor text
file changes instead of having to actually compile the module, but
again, I'm not sure if there's a way to do that without affecting other
architectures.

-Brian
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