Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 11:05:50 -0700
From: Stephen Hemminger <shemminger@osdl.org>
To: Josip Loncaric <josip@lanl.gov>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-net@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: PROBLEM: sk98lin misbehaves with D-Link DGE-530T which doesn't
 have readable VPD
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On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 11:49:45 -0600
Josip Loncaric <josip@lanl.gov> wrote:

> Driver sk98lin makes repeated attempts to read VPD even after the first 
> VpdInit() fails.  This is wrong.
> 
> Lots of people seem to be getting repeated "Vpd: Cannot read VPD keys" 
> errors.  When nifd is active, this can happen every second, causing 
> kernel stalls that disrupt time-critical operations (e.g. DVD use).

The sk98lin driver is wrapped around VPD for it's silly proprietary
network management interface.  


> Inexpensive cards like D-Link DGE-530T may lack a readable VPD, so there 
> is no point in trying to access this missing feature and causing brief 
> system stalls (see 
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=136158).
> 
> Can sk98lin be enhanced to give up on VPD after the first VpdInit() 
> fails?  The NIC appears to operate stably even without a readable VPD.
> 
> I haven't tested the experimental driver skge, but the same comment may 
> apply.  Obviously it makes no sense to repeatedly look for VPD keys when 
> the VPD is missing or incorrect.

Skge doesn't use VPD for anything, it works fine on my D-Link card.
The same data is available for applications that have a need
(like linux-diag lsvpd) via the standard pci interface in sysfs.

Now that skge is in 2.6.13, perhaps the proper thing to do is to take
DGE-530T out of the PCI table for sk98lin?
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