[realtek] Confusion: rtl8139.o versus 8139too.o (Linux 2.4.9)

John Donath john@jura47.org
Fri, 21 Sep 2001 17:47:05 +0200


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Hi there,

I try to figure out which approach to use  implementing a Linux router with 3 RealTek 8139 chipset based NIC's. There seems to be quite a lot confusion going on regarding 8139.o versus the concurring 8139too.o. I had some bad and frustrating experiences with the 8139too driver on a RH7.1 i386 system running kernel 2.4.9. I actually met problems with using multiple of these cards at one box ...

I noticed Linux 2.4.x ships the 8139too driver but there seem to be lots of people using Donald Beckers original rtl8139 driver. This leaves me with a couple of questions:

1)    Which of the two drivers mentioned above is the preferred (and most stable) one on a Intel Linux 2.4.9 platform ??

2)    Suppose Donald Beckers driver is the preferred one, which obstacles will I encounter trying to get things compiled and running on an i386 box using kernel 2.4.9 ??

3)    Summarizing, which direction should I follow ??

Thanks a lot,
John Donath
 
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