Need a clue with kernel modules

[Sabniveesu Shashank]

On Fri, Jul 18, 2014 at 10:41 AM, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:

> At Fri, 18 Jul 2014 08:27:39 -0400 "Ubuntu user technical support,  not
> for general discussions" <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I found from nm-tool output that my system is using Driver:  r8169.
> >
> > lspci showed this text:  "*RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet
> > controller*"
> >
> > I searched over the Internet "r8169" and found that the above text
> > occurring in http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/R8169.html. but saying
> > "device: 8136"
> >
> > Q) How can an "8169" work well for "8136"? If it does and if I'm to
> compile
> > for any other chipset, how would I know if the exact device/driver no.
> > isn't going to appear?
>
>
> Many NICs (from various makers) have 'common' parts or the things that vary
> are minor or on the 'far side' of the interface or something (not
> 'visible' to
> the software). In which case one software driver can manage with whole
> families of NIC board/chipsets. The RealTek 8100 series NIC is a case of
> this.
> There are several variations, from motherboard based versions to plain PCI
> and
> PCI Express, boards etc. The basic set of device registers are all much the
> same, with maybe minor variations.

When you mention the registers(the low-level part), I see that I'm getting
the point

In many cases the core NIC controler 'chip'
> might be the same in several different boards and the boards only vary in
> things like form factor or type of bus interface.

I now think of this as "Though the bus interfaces vary, it is the duty of
the controller
to take care of; in any case, the driver has to deal only with the
controller and
hence 'one driver is for one controller but not the board' "

Are my conclusions valid?


> In other cases, different
> board level makers have bought chips from a common chip maker and had the
> vendor/product ids changed, but the chips are otherwise exactly the same,
> and
> so are completely interchangable from an software driver POV. RealTek makes
> the chips, but generally does not make the boards.
>
> >
> > Q) Also, there are many "device: <other numbers>" in the quote below.
> Does
> > it mean that all these devices work well with the driver I'm using?
>
> Yes.  See above.
>
Thank you very much for responding. I would be better if you could check my
conclusions drawn above


>
> >
> > > Help text
> > >
> > > Say Y here if you have a Realtek 8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet adapter.
> > >
> > > To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the module will be
> > > called r8169. This is recommended.
> > > Hardware PCI
> > >
> > > Numeric ID (from LKDDb) and names (from pci.ids) of recognized devices:
> > >
> > >    - vendor: 0001, device: 8168
> > >    - vendor: 10ec ("*Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.*"), device: 8129
> ("
> > >    *RTL-8129*")
> > >    - vendor: 10ec ("*Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.*"), device: 8136
> ("*RTL8101E/RTL8102E
> > >    PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller*")
> > >    - vendor: 10ec ("*Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.*"), device: 8167
> ("*RTL-8110SC/8169SC
> > >    Gigabit Ethernet*")
> > >    - vendor: 10ec ("*Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.*"), device: 8168
> ("*RTL8111/8168/8411
> > >    PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller*")
> > >    - vendor: 10ec ("*Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.*"), device: 8169
> ("*RTL8169
> > >    PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller*")
> > >    - vendor: 1186 ("*D-Link System Inc*"), device: 4300 ("*DGE-528T
> > >    Gigabit Ethernet Adapter*")
> > >    - vendor: 1259 ("*Allied Telesis*"), device: c107
> > >    - vendor: 16ec ("*U.S. Robotics*"), device: 0116 ("*USR997902
> > >    10/100/1000 Mbps PCI Network Card*")
> > >    - vendor: 1737 ("*Linksys*"), device: 1032 ("*Gigabit Network
> Adapter*
> > >    ")
> > >
> > > Please ask for more details if necessary.
> >
> >  <http://about.me/shashank.computers>
> >
> >
> >
> > S.V.R.S.N. Shashank
> > about.me/shashank.computers
> >     <http://about.me/shashank.computers>
> >
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>
> --
> Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933 / heller at deepsoft.com
> Deepwoods Software        -- http://www.deepsoft.com/
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