Need a clue with kernel modules

Sat Jul 19 20:49:27 UTC 2014

On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 3:51 PM, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:

> At Sat, 19 Jul 2014 12:34:46 -0400 Sabniveesu Shashank <shashank at linux.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > 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 essence, yes. In some cases there are different controllers, but they
> all
> present the same software interface -- the differences are 'invisible' to
> the
> software driver -- usually the differences are things like power supply
> voltages or signaling methods or something. In which case you have a
> 'family'
> of controller chips that all have the same driver API, but may be
> different at
> other levels (say a twisted pair NIC vs. a Coax NIC, like some old 3COM
> NICs,
> which came in versions with either a thin coax connector, or a RJ45, or a
> 15-pin tranceiver [thick coax] connector, but otherwise were all the same
> otherwise). In the case of the aic7xxx driver, it is for a whole slew of
> Adaptec SCSI controllers, with three different bus interfaces (EISA, VLB,
> and
> PCI, both as add in boards and built onto the motherboard), with different
> SCSI-bus configurations (narrow (8bit), wide (16bit), SE, differencial,
> low-voltage differencial (LVD), standard speed, fast speed, ultra [fast]
> speed) and different types of connectors (internal, external, etc.) -- each
> flavor had its own model number and product id, but the same driver works
> for
> all of them.
>
> >
> >
> > > 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>
> > > >
> > > > We’ve created the greatest collection of shared knowledge in history.
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> > > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933 / heller at deepsoft.com
> > > Deepwoods Software        -- http://www.deepsoft.com/
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> > >
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>
> --
> Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933 / heller at deepsoft.com
> Deepwoods Software        -- http://www.deepsoft.com/
> ()  ascii ribbon campaign -- against html e-mail
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>
>
> Thank you very much Mr. Robert Heller!
>
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