> Most of the embedded applications with on-board ethernet use the RTL8139. If > they're such a cpu hog, how come they work fine with 8 bit micros > ?????????????????????????? > > Amanda >
If I remember correctly there is a DMA buffer alignment issue under linux that gives them their bad wrap. Something about each skbuff needs to be copied to re- align the payload rings a bell but I'm sure others would have a better idea of the issue. AFAIK they perform better under windows than they do under linux because of this - hence the bad wrap. Personally Ive had greater than 35Mbit sustained under W2k (700PIII) which I think is damn good value for a $25 10/100 card. We have deployed in excess of 300 of the little buggers without a hickup. 8139too seems to be the driver of choice under 2.4.x, I cant recall what we're using under 2.0.x. So far we have used about three different brands (mostly alloy and compex) usually with the 8139C but some 8139D. A good card for linux untill you need higher throughput with lower CPU requirements. YMMV my 2c Cheers RodT -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
