[LARTC] Frustrating problem with natsemi (DP83815) ethernet devices

[Damjan]

[Sorry if this is off-topic for this list, please advise me if there's a
better place to ask this]

I have an embeded motherboard with 4 natsemi (DP8315) ethernet chips.
I'm running a 2.6.9 kernel (I've tried 2.6.11 too) and a very minimal
Slackware distribution.

Now about the problem: 
The network interfaces seem to NOT transmit anything when the interface
is autonegotiated at 100Mbit-FD. I've forced the interfaces to
half-duplex with mii-tool still nothing. 

I see, with tcpdump, that packets are comming in (broadcasts and multicasts)
and I see the packets that are supposed to go out of the interface. But
nothing is recevied on the other side. I've tried to put the interfaces
in a switch and with a cross-over cable to another PC.

I've also tried to mannually fix the MAC <-> IP address with "arp -s",
thinking that maybe ARP is not working, still nothing - I see icmp
requests enter the interface I see icmp replies go out of the interface,
but nothing gets to the other side (PC).

I've tried all of the interfaces, I've tried enabling and disabling
ACPI. The only modules I'have loaded are uhci-hcd and usbhid (since the
computer doesn't have ps2 ports). 3 of the 4 interfaces don't share an
IRQ with anything (cat /proc/interrupts).

If I force the interface to 10Mbit (either FD or HD) then everything works.

Now the stangest thing, I got the motherboard with some kind of
basterized Debian installed on it. I couldn't understand it, so I backuped
it up and installed my mini Slackware. I used the same kernel from the
original distribution which has the ethernet driver compiled in. The
original distribution is not setting any extra parameters in lilo.conf.
And with that distribution hte interfaces work even at 100mbit.

I just can't find what that distribution does to make the interfaces work 
at 100mbit. Its not the kernel, I use the same one. Its not some
parameters to the driver... I don't know what could be the problem.

So, any ideas???



-- 
damjan | дамјан
This is my jabber ID --> damjan at bagra.net.mk <-- not my mail address!!!