[eepro100] Intel 82562ET vs Realtek 8100 LAN

[Donald Becker]

On Wed, 3 Oct 2001, Stephen S M Wong wrote:

> I'm upgrading my PC and it seems i845 with P4-1.5G is a good deal.  In
> order to save PCI slots, on-board LAN seems to be a good option, so, I
> narrowed down to 2 motherboard choices:
> 
> 1. Intel D845WNL
> (http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/wn/index.htm)
>    w/ Intel 82562ET LAN chip
> 
> 2. Gigabyte GA-8IDXH (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/products/8idxh.htm)
>    w/ Realtek RTL8100L LAN chip
> 
> Can you help on:
> 
> 1. Does Linux (say RH7.1 w/2.4.x kernel) support Intel 82562ET?

Yes.  Unresolved issues:
   One report of a system where the '562 EEPROM configuration info could
   not be read.

> 2. Does Linux (say RH7.1 w/2.4.x kernel) support Realtek RTL8100L?

Yes.  It's the same as a rtl8139C chip.

> 3. If both chips are supported, am I correct that Intel 82562ET is a
> much more advanced (put in your favoriate terms, scatter/gather, address
> hash, DMA, customizeable RX/TX buffers, etc.) LAN chip?

Correct.  The very new 8139C+ has very interesting performance features,
but the existing 8139C is significantly less efficient than the eepro100.

For both chips we ship my drivers, with the Intel's e100 driver listed as
an acceptable alternative for the eepro100.

Donald Becker				becker@scyld.com
Scyld Computing Corporation		http://www.scyld.com
410 Severn Ave. Suite 210		Second Generation Beowulf Clusters
Annapolis MD 21403			410-990-9993