Re: [Xen-users] XenLinux: backport newer tg3 driver?

["Fajar A. Nugraha" <fajar@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Luca Lesinigo <luca@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'd like to switch to your Linux-2.6.18 kernel for Domain-0 on some HP
> DL160G5 systems, but the tg3 driver you're currently including lacks support
> for the onboard gigabit ethernets (Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5722).
>
> It was added later:
> http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.28.y.git;a=commit;h=126a336822a6594662f5898f1ddf33e6d048fcc7
>
> I wonder if it is possible to backport the driver and include it in some
> future versions of your support tarball? Gentoo folks included an updated
> driver in their 2.6.21-xen sources, but I don't know where the patch comes
> from.

Generally speaking, xen.org's 2.6.18 kernel is not as well-maintained
as vendor's kernel or latest kernel in terms of new drivers and
bugfix.

That being said, in the past (around the time of RHEL 5.0) I used to
download tg3 drivers from Broadcom
(http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/downloaddrivers.php),
compile them manually to test (the module can be compiled outside
kernel tree), and if it works I'd create a dkms RPM so it can be used
on any version of Redhat's 2.6.18 kernel-xen. I stopped doing that
sometime ago (around the time of RHEL 5.3) because Redhat also updates
their drivers, and they're doing it more frequent than I did :P

So here's what you can do :
- make sure you have kernel source/dev package installed (enough to
build a module), download drivers from broadcom, install it. OR
- download latest kernel-xen SRPM from Redhat/Centos, and use the
patches (at least tg3 drivers part) to update your kernel source.

-- 
Fajar

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