Hot-Plug: initialize NIC during boot process

[dr-erc@t-online.de (Dieter Rohlfing)]

I've choosen the hotplug package (instead of pcmcia-cs) to manage my
Xircom Cardbus NIC, kernel is 2.4.24 from kernel.org (plain, without any
patches).

Inserts and removals of the card are properly recognized and ifup resp.
ifdown are called.

But: if the card is in the slot, when I boot the system, it is
recognized by the kernel, but it is not initialized (loading driver
module and calling ifup) by the hotplug system.

In the directory /etc/hotplug is a file usb.rc, which is called by
/etc/init.d/hotplug and does something like initializing USB components.
I guess, there should be a pci.rc, which does the same with PCI
components. But there isn't.

So my question: how can I initialize my Xircom card during the boot
process, when the card is already in the slot?

TIA for any hints and tips.

Dieter Rohlfing