[elrepo] r8101/r8168/r8169 suggestion

[Manuel Wolfshant]

On October 26, 2017 5:41:25 PM GMT+03:00, Nick Howitt <nick at howitts.co.uk> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Can I suggest a change to the packaging of the above three drivers? I'd
>
>like to suggest the three drivers are all made dependants of each other
>
>and that the file \usr\lib\modprobe.d\blacklist-r8169.conf is removed 
>from the r8101 and r8168 drivers? My reasoning is as follows:
>
>The stock driver covers the following PCI ID's:
>pci:v00000001d00008168sv*sd00002410bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001737d00001032sv*sd00000024bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000016ECd00000116sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001259d0000C107sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001186d00004302sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001186d00004300sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001186d00004300sv00001186sd00004B10bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008169sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008168sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008167sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008136sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008129sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>
>
>The kmod-r8101 covers:
>pci:v000010ECd00008136sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>
>
>The kmod-r8168 covers:
>pci:v00001186d00004300sv00001186sd00004B10bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008161sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008168sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>
>
>And the kmod-r8169 covers:
>pci:v00001186d00004302sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001186d00004300sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001186d00004300sv00001186sd00004C00bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001186d00004302sv00001186sd00004302bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001186d00004300sv00001186sd00004300bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008169sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008167sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>
>
>This leaves the following unknown in the ElRepo database:
>pci:v000016ECd00000116sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v00001259d0000C107sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>pci:v000010ECd00008129sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>
>
>And the following known and not supplied (sk98lin) by ElRepo:
>pci:v00001737d00001032sv*sd00000024bc*sc*i*
>
>
>The current situation is that if you install either the kmod-r8101 or 
>kmod-r8168 then you can no longer use any NIC covered by the original 
>r8169 or the kmod-r8168 drivers, because the r8169 is blacklisted. If 
>the blacklist were removed and the dependencies added as I suggest (or 
>the drivers were packaged as one) then the 
>kmod-r8101/kmod-r8168/kmod-r8169 combo becomes a proper drop-in 
>replacement for the stock r8169 and it becomes possible, for example,
>to 
>run r8168 and r8169 cards at the same time with the ElRepo drivers. (I 
>know as I do it, but had to resort to modprobing the r8169 until I 
>discovered it was blacklisted).
>

The 3 drivers are independent of each other so I do not think that they should depend on each other.
I'd rathet see documented that the blacklisting of stock r8169 can be removed if one really insists on combining stock and elrepo drivers.

But frankly you are the first person that I know of who needs that. Everybody else I know of either uses Intel/BRCM /Cavium cards/chipsets or relies on more or less identical Realtek ones.